Don't need any tech. information just the camera you like. I need something digital, EASY to use, small, great pictures and between $175 - $250. Am I realistic? The Canon a75? was listed in the last post. Does that seem my best bet?

I like my Minolta Dimage Xi which has been updated at least once. 3.2/3X opt and dig zoom, and I put a 256 SD card in.
Not the same as a full on 35mm, but lots more convenient.
M

The Cannon 'A' series are my favorite. Lightweight, rugged and takes good pictures. 3 times OPTICAL (the only important one) zoom, Uses 4 "AA" Battaries - Buy the NiMh rechargeables with the AC/DC charger (about $30), but in a pinch, you can always find emergency spares. The CompactFlash memory cards are inexpensive, durable and reliable. Liked ours so much, we bought one for our son and another for our daughter. Good, multipurpose rough use camera.

panucci, your price point does sound a little low for a quality (3.4 Megapixel or higher) digital camera, although prices may have come down considerably since last time I looked. I've been very happy with my Canon Powershot G1, and I know that Canon has lower priced digital cameras with less features (we wanted a hybrid between simple point & shoot and more features for my Husband who likes to fuss). Just note, for printing out photos, the quality below 3.4 isn't so great.

I bought the Canon A70 right before my recent trip and liked it very much. I'd say the Canon A75 would be a good choice. They are a nice size for carrying everyday . I used 256 mb compact flash cards for a 10 day trip, took rechargeable batteries and some regular AA ones just in case I couldn't recharge.

Thanks! Canon has some great deals on line too.

Where do you live ? I find places like J and R and BH in New York the most up to date with product offerings. They do internet sales of course also. You cant go wrong with the Nikon, Canon and various others. How much you are prepared to pay should determine the product although I think it is worth going at least to the 3.2-4 megapixel level if you can afford it. I would buy one that uses the larger flash memory cards because they are tending to evolve with large memory capacity and the costs of storage are of course falling.

May '04 Consumer Reports has an current review of Dig Cams.
The Minolta Dimage Xi has a flat lens, weighs 4.6 oz and fits easily in my shirt pocket.
The small battery and the tiny SD cards are wonderful.
M

I had a Sony Mavica...beautiful pictures but huge heavy and cumbersome. It broke...$200 plus to fix...bought a little Fuji for about what it cost to repair the Sony..I am in love with it! I bought a reader card...just whip out the little postage stamp size card, pop it into the reader and the pics are uploaded. Then I can erase the card and start over...it is so simple I am ecstatic, and the pics are great! It's plastic, so not at all heavy, takes video clips and much more than I need at this time.
Good luck!

Unless you are a photo expert, I found that my Fuji with 2 megapix and a 3x zoom was more that sufficient.

You don't need to have all the bells & whistles to get great pictures, and digital cameras are very reasonable these days.

We bought a Canon A80 in January and have used it in Costa Rica, Nova Scotia, and various spots up and down the east coast of the USA. It takes great photos, and fits easily into a pocket.

I've seen it advertised for $230 up.

I've had a Minolta Dimage for about a year and I've been delighted with it. It's so handy to just keep this tiny thing in my pocket, it's hardly bigger than a keychain.

It has served me well for everything from travel photos of all sorts to younger daughter's prom pix to capturing special moments with my new grandson to documenting landscapes for my design projects.

Take a look at a CompUSA ad on line. They usually have tremendous deals. There is a Fuji that has a 10X optical zoom--not sure of the price point now. I have LOVED my Olympus (bought for twice what it is now).Son has an Olympus also--small, compact and good lens system. I am sure it is in your price range.

Hi Panucci,

I have been very happy with my Canon A60. You can get one new from www.amazon.com for $140 - a lot less than I paid for it last year.

OK I am going to look at te canon and the Minolta. My broken camera ia a Fuji and it was fine, but a little larger than I'd like and with 2.0 megapixels my 5x7s and larger got fuzzy. What size flash card should I be looking for? Thanks everyone

What's a flash card?

Definitely go somewhere that you can handle and take shots with several different manufacturer's cameras. With the major brands at the mid to lower price level, I think the biggest differences will be in the physical layout, how it feels in your hand - ease of controls, and the menu system.

The 256MB cards are the best bang for the buck right now. You should be able to get an SD card for near $60 now, a little less for the CF format. 256MB should hold at least between 150 and 200 shots, more at lower resolutions.

I would recommend that you check out Ebay for digital cameras. You many find an excellent buy. They have all brands, some new and some factory rebuilt. You can bid on some or Buy Now with some. I purchased a digital camera there and was quite satisfied. I have an olympus and I am very happy with it. You said your old camera broke. Was sit a digital and if so, what kind of memory cards did you have for that camera and will they work with your new one.

As some pevious posters have stated CF (compact flash) cards are the most common digital camera media right now. CF's come anywhere from about 16 megs up to 256 megs. My 256 was $56 with a mail in rebate, and holds an estimated 800 photos at average resolution settings (fine for output to about 5x7). You can adjust your camera's resolution settings to increase or decrease quality and number of photos that can fit. The Card reader is a great suggestion, they're cheap and make it really easy to upload photos to your PC (without draining your camera battery). Remember that megapixels below 3.4 really do decrease the quality of your photos when you print them out.

My husband had recently bought a Canon PowerShot A80 before our honeymoon trip to Italy. Very simple to use, great pictures, and the batteries lasted our entire trip (even with us scrolling back through them every night). It was around $250, IIRC.