I am living in Spain next semester for six months,and I am trying to figure out the best, and best priced, digital camera to take over there. I love pictures and I want them to be great!
Also, I am on the search for a really good and everyday jacket to take to Spain in January...I hear it is pretty cold there.
Thanks for any advice you have!

There are lots of good deals right now because of Christmas. Many people get hooked into buying cameras with 6, 7, or 8, megapixels. Unless you plan on blowing them up to 16x20, you don't need them. The vast majority of photos are printed off at 4x6, 5x7, emailed, or used on a computer photo show. YOu don't need that. Any brand name camera, Olympus, SOny, Kodak, Minolta, Nikon, Canon, Fuji, etc., etc., with 4-5 megapixels will be decently priced, have all the features you need, and will produce wonderful pictures if you take a lot of time to use it and practice with it before you go.
Also, don't get hooked by the salesperson and opt for the very large memory cards. It's putting all your eggs in one basket. Kinda like having 1 very large roll of film. If something happens to that card, you may lose ALL your pictures. I like to by memory cards that will hold about 150-200 pictures at the resolution I"ll be shooting most of the time. When a card gets full or near full, put a new one in and put that card in a safe place. Those pictures are safe unless you use it.
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Check out www.cnet.com for camera reviews. One thing I considered when buying my camera, was the type of batteries it takes. I wanted one with AA batteries, because they are a lot easier to buy at the last minute, if your camera suddenly dies and you don't have a spare battery (think, Cliffs of Mohr). I bought the Canon A95--5 megapix.
Good luck in your search!

Heatherkay, one suggestion for a jacket would be a Colunbia convertible. It has a rainproof outer layer with a hood that can be rolled up into the collar. It also has a nice fleece lining that can zip in and out and is completely finished so you can wear it alone. So you can wear the rain outerportion if it is wet but not too cold, the fleece portion if it's chilly but not wet and both if it is cold and wet. Three jackets in one. Check out your local sporting goods stores and watch for them to go on half price sale closer to spring.

Hi H,

As noted, you won't need more than 3Mpx.

Go for as much optical zoom as you can afford.

I have a 3x zoom and, even with a telephoto lens (another 2x), it's not quite good enough.

I don't agree with the folks recommending smaller megapixels. Get the bigger ones and you can crop the photo and still get a nice print. People will be much more impressed with your photos.

When you compare the cameras, also look at the cost of the memory. The different types have different costs.

As already mentioned, get as much optical zoom as you can. Digital zoom is useless.

Try to get megapixels times optical zoom of at least 40. For example: 5 Meg x 8 optical = 40. Higher would be better. (I have 64)

No sense buying a camera and wishing you had more a year from now.

When you have found the camera you want, try jr.com to see if you can get a bargain. They are also a good source for memory cards.

Be leery off any online seller, unless you have a personal referral. There are a lot of scams, particularly companies that will offer a teaser price, then insist that you buy something more expensive.

Keith

I agree with Keith.

The resolution depends on what your expectations are. Are you very critical of your work or do you just want decent snapshots? The higher the better. An old Poloroid user will be happy with anything, a picky professional wants the most he can afford.

A 6, 7, or 8Mp camera can be reduced to several resolutions before shooting. This can allow you to shoot what you want for the situation.

Decide on how stong a zoom you want(optical), how large a camera you want, and how much to spend. Can a wide angle lens be attached?

As stated above, use several cards, just in case something happens to one (they can and do go bad).

This next is based on my customers problems (8-10 a week); be sure to pack your charger and cables. Be sure not to leave them in hotel rooms after you check out.

LOL, JSLee.

The motel mailed the cable after I called them.

Keith

In my previuos post, I made a comment that could be taken wrong. Poloroid people would be happy with the lowest resolution they could get. I did not mean that anything but a high Mp would be a Poloroid person.

A 3.2Mp will make an "ok" 8x10. 5Mp will make good enough 8x10 for most peoples likes.

thanks for all the advice! Everyone is so helpful!

For Christmas we bought my daughter a Canon ELPH for her upcoming semester abroad in Italy. It's so tiny, it can fit easily into a pocket or the smallest of purses. The least expensive of the ELPHs is the SD200, 3.2 megapixels and 20X zoom. It's $189 on amazon.com right now. I think the SD200 is being phased out, as most people want more megapixels, but that's the one we got for her because she mainly posts her photos on-line and e-mails them. They rarely are printed. And we have had great success with the other Canon camers we own. Have fun in Spain!
Also agree with the Columbia "system" jacket. I saw one at Costco this month, too.

A few years ago 3MP was more or less standard for a point & shoot digital camera, before that, even less. Remember the old Sony's that used floppy disks for memory?

Now things have moved on, and 5MP is more or less standard. Canon has recently introduced the A610, an updated version of the A95, which is getting very good reviews, and sells for under $300. You can see a review of this camera on: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A610/A610A.HTM

I have just bought my daughter the A620, which has 7MP but sells for $100 more.

Remember when buying a digital camera you will have to budget for memory cards and a spare battery. The A610 and A620 use AA batteries, and when used with rechargeables are said to get up to 500 photos between charges.

Costco.com has a 7.2 megpixel Casio, very small, good reviews, for $229 (without memory card). I just picked one up for my daughter. You probably will not get better bang for your buck.

I just ordered a Nikon Coolpix L1. It has 6.2 megapixels and 5x optical zoom. I agree that, unless you're going to be making extremely large prints, 5 megapixels is about all you'll ever need. I would like to have had more optical zoom, but wanted a small camera (I've traveled with both a full blown SLR and point and shoot cameras), and the Nikon appeared to have about as much optical zoom as you will find in the smallest cameras. I paid $329 at Best Buy (they were not in stock, and will ship it to me).

If I was going to get anything more bulky, I'd go ahed and opt for a full blown SLR, which gives you the option to change lenses, add a flash, etc. If you're really going to want top quality resolution, I can't see why you'd settle for the more expensive, but less versatile, point and shoot models with 8+ megapixels and 10x optidcal zoom or better.

I love my Canon A95, with 5 megapixels, but I must say it gets heavy when I carry it around in my purse. (The coolest feature of my camera is the LED screen that turns different directions and folds away for storage.)
But I got the ELPH for my daughter, because it's so small, and she'll be traveling a lot. And I think the 3.2 megapixels will be plenty for how she uses it. Her current Canon is the A series, and she's worn it out after two years of hard use!

Camera. Kodak is touting theirs as being easy to use. In fact the story notes that they were designed for 'non-techies'. Believe them! Zoom is important. Pixels are important. Each feature allows editing. Wal-Mart prices are low, Sam's are even lower! Use a lock type bag to store, carry and organize all of the paraphernalia. Safeguard the instruction manual! Use CDs to store pictures. Photo shops offer this service. Don't forget a power circuit adapter. USA to local.

Jackets. Light colored for visibility! Drivers can't/don't see pedestrians in black. Inside zipper pockets for safe storage of papers. Water repellent, Down is super but plastic will do. Add a down vest. Style? get a matching hat and gloves. Mittens are warmer. Let us know what you buy and later your experiences with your choices. I always think of the ladies who buy shoes a size too small.

Get the most camera you can afford...anything in the 5mp & up range is fine. Choose one that feels the best to you. I like the new little Casios.

A 3mp, or less, camera is OK. But along with an upgrade in megapixels, the newer cameras have shorter write-times, larger buffers, less shutter-lag, and generally offer more in a smaller, lighter package.

Have fun in Spain.