Yes, another Newbie seeking a camera....

[Lori Mack]

Hi Folks,

Not a photo tekkie, but trying . Trying to find a digital camera $200 - $250 range with the following criteria:
-Not super technical to use
-Both auto and manual functions, so I can learn and improve my photography skills
-Subjects tend to be people, mostly outdoors, but I shoot alot of rooms inside my home. No action shots required. Some emailing of pics.
-Good range of features (I will be experimenting with black & white, pics up to 8 x 10)
I'd like to be capable of taking decent low light shots
-Additional accessories are reasonably priced and accessible (I currently have none)
-USB port on a memory card
-Uses Ni-MH batteries, would be a plus if it took AA too
-Pics will be downloaded to Windows 98 - like tto get 15 - 20 good quality into a download
-Size is not an issue

May help as well that I used an Olympus D460 and I hated it. I know it got great reviews and WAS very simple to use but it's angle was way too narrow (?-if I tried to take a picture of one of the rooms in my house I absolutely could not get it all into the picture) plus the battery consumption was horrible. The pictures, however, were decent.

I was advised to buy the Sony DSC-P73, and it seems to have great features and superior resolution, but the video option would not be used at all, neither could I take advantage of low shutter lag, and per the reviews I've read here, obtaining a wide angle lens (which would be apparently be needed) and additional memory (needed?) would be costly and time consuming.

The other brand I would consider would be Canon. Suggestions? "Anyone?....anyone?"

Also, is it true most digitals are sold with the 16MB memory card/chip? This seems very low when I see reviews of people using 256mb in casual photography.

Thanks so much!!!!!

[Acadia25]

I think that the Canon A75 would fit the bill quite nicely. Canon makes great cameras, and compactflash memory is cheap, readily available and reliable. It takes AA batteries as well (including Nimh). You should be able to get it for under $250.

Good luck and have fun shopping/shooting.