I've asked the advice of a friend for purchasing a digital camera but don't know which make or model to purchase knowing nothing about cameras. My basic camera want list is as follows
Good quality lense
view finder
autophoto compact flash
5 or above mega pixill
3 x optical at least
2.5 viewer
memory card half a gig
rechargeable batteries but not recharging in camera.
Could I have you comments and advice please.
Many thanks
Jeanie

Check out DP Review for starters. They have a feature search where you can plug in some of the things you want, and work from there to narrow it down a bit.

I'm assuming you don't want a D-SLR.

Go with the Canon S80.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0508/05082205canons80.asp

The 3 inch LCD is gorgeous and it takes amazing pictures. A friend of mine is a professional photographer and that is her backup digital.

I'm going to have to pimp the nikon coolpix s6 or above. Beautiful screen, amazing pics, slides into side cargo pockets, wi-fi capable. Beautiful.

good luck and keep us posted!

Here's another vote for the Canon digital elph compacts.

I've owned a couple of them.

The SD700 has a 4x zoom, Image Stabilization & takes great pics.

If you want a wider field of view, the SD800 has a 27mm wide angle lens with a 3.7x zoom.

Marisa's right on. DP Preview is the way to go.

Just realized I posted on a thread for camera advice from almost a year ago...hope you've picked that camera by now

lol wanderlust I'm glad that I read all the way down to the end thus read your last post.

I was about to do throw my 5 cents in on DSLR choice as well.

So Jeanie if you are still around what camera did you get?

quote:

Originally posted by Wanderlust27:
Just realized I posted on a thread for camera advice from almost a year ago...hope you've picked that camera by now

No need to hold back ... future Booties might appreciate your advice!

Which is better: a camera that uses AA batteries or one that has its ow special rechargable battery?

If electricity supply isn't a problem, I'd go for rechargeable. Bear in mind that AA batteries can leak.

I didn't know there were cameras which take AA batteries! Saying that, I've used an old Palm that ran on AAA batteries.

My bid would be for rechargable batteries. The last point and shoot I purchased was a Casio EX-Z57. It came with rechargable batteries. Using the LCD I was able to get over 150 pictures a charge! A single charge lasted me upwards of 3 weeks with moderate use.

This was really good for me when traveling. I had some friends using AA batteries and one guy had to switch his batteries every day.

my vote goes to the Canon SD950IS or if you like more optical zoom Canon G9 .