Recommendations for new digital camera please

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

First I will begin by saying that I love my Sony Cybershot. It must be at least 4 years old and is only 1.6. I have never had any issues with it it takes a beating, and the rechargeable battery has a good life span before running down. It is very Lawren-proof!

The difference in quality between my <then state of the art> 1.6 mega-pixels and the 4 & 5 mega pixel cameras is amazing and I'd like one but don't have tons to spend.

I also am not a photography person. Usually they just get used on vacation. Would be nice to have it in time to take to Sedona with me.

I'd like to find something that is just as intuitive to use, relatively indestructable, has rechargeable batteries and if possible cost less than $250 and actually less than $200 would be super. Are there any options out there for me?

TIA

PS I do see the Sony Cybershot 6megapixel DSC600 for $200 at Best Buy and Walmart, but I thought I'd get some input before buying. Besides it doesn't have the lithium batteries and the 1G memory stick is $105 though. OUCH

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

For the $200 range the Nikon L1 is a steal with 5x optical zoom.In the $300 range the Nikon S4 with 10 x optical zoom.

L1 link http://www2.buydig.com/shop/product....PL1&sku=NKCPL1

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

We have a Kodak EasyShare Z740 Digital Camera and we like it a lot. It has a 10x optical zoom and is available at circuit city for 299 with 12 months interest free financing.

The only feature it doesn't have that I thought was pretty cool when I saw it elsewhere was something called stitch. A guy at work has a sony, I think, that has this stitch feature that allows you to stitch together multiple pictures so you can get a wide angle kind of feel. He stood in his kitchen and took pictures as he slowly turned in a 180 degree arc and the camera stitched them all together so you could see the whole room in one picture. That would be great to have in Sedona to put the whole view of the landscape together.

[vacationeer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vacationeer]

I just got the Olympus SP-350 for $250.00. It comes with 8 Mega Pixels 2.5 inch monitor, it has 24 scene selection, you can record video and WOW the colors are great. The camerar cost $350.00 I got it on sale at newegg.com for $300.00 and olympus has a $50.00 rebate. You can even buy a telescope lens and a wide angle lens.

[garyd210 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close garyd210]

Kodak Easyshare is good and easy

I bought my daughter and wife the Kodak 5 megapixel cameras and they have been well used by both girls. We had a fun Hawaiian trip to Kauai last year with friends and we hooked it up to the condo's television each night and the camera provided a slide show of that day's photo shots. A lot of fun! With new and improved digital cameras all of the time, I like reading what Consumer Reports had to say about the latest digital items. I bought both of the cameras at Costco. Walmart.com has closeout specials. Nikon has an amazing productline for those photographers that enjoy the best and are willing to pay for it. Personally the Easyshare for us has been ideal for us.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Finally bought the camera

I'd like to find something that is just as intuitive to use, relatively indestructable, has rechargeable batteries and if possible cost less than $250 and actually less than $200 would be super. Are there any options out there for me?

TIA

PS I do see the Sony Cybershot 6megapixel DSC600 for $200 at Best Buy and Walmart, but I thought I'd get some input before buying. Besides it doesn't have the lithium batteries and the 1G memory stick is $105 though. OUCH

I ws debating over the Kodak easyshare but I got more bang for the buck with this one. Plus I have a personal bias towards Sony cameras.

BestBuy had the Sony Cybershot DSCP200 7.2meg for $229 and threw in a $30 gift card when I bought it, which I used for the ScanDisc Memory Stick Pro 512.

So far I like it a lot and the reviews are very positive.

It has a very short 1 second ready time and the infamous "charge lasts forever" Lithium rechargeable battery ( which is what I LOVED about my DSC-S30 ) and it is a lot more user friendly than my original one.

SO DS will get the old one to play with and I have a new toy.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

Most companies make nice cameras to fit different budgets. You just have to match your budget to your wants and needs. Three things I look at in a digital camera is the start up time, the lag time between pictures, and the brightness of the LCD monitor in bright sunlight. I do think Sony’s new point and shoot DSCN1 camera is very impressive.

[travelSFO Member Find all posts View Profile Close travelSFO]

We just purchased the Canon SD-550 for it's size and Canon quality we have come to know. We are long time Canon Elph fans -- our last purchase was the Canon S250 (2.5 MP) in 2001 and the only reason we have purchased its replacement is because we recently got a Canon Rebel Digital SLR -- our little Elph had to come up to date although we have no complaints about the photo quality of the old one.

Old one is going to Dad who has never used a digital camera before.

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

I don’t own a Sony camera I own a Nikos D70s. However if I were going to purchase a PS camera I would surly look at this Sony. This new one from Sony is pocket size, it is 8 mega pixels, and has excellent start-up time. The LCD monitor is the best I have seen. In direct sunlight you can see outstanding picture color. It has a touch screen to navigate the menus. The price is not bad at $500.00.

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

Sorry I didn't see catch this thread earlier. Since you already purchased the camera most of what I would post now would not be real helpful.
I think that the Sony is a great camera, picture wise and it gets very good user reviews. The onlything that I don't like about the Sony cameras is that they take the memory stick instead of either the Secure Digital card or the Compact Flash format of cards which are the two most commonly used type of memory cards. That means you can usually find them a bit cheaper. You are starting t see Memory Sticks manufactured by other folks such as Lexar and these are usually priced a bit cheaper, just watch the adds for CompUSA, Best Buys, or Circuit City or other places for sales.
I'm sure you will be happy with the camera, the 7megpix is real nice feature.