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Originally Posted by JasonL
MEGA-Pixals is the key, I'm thinking - no less than 3MegPix these days? Shannon is the shudder-bugg, I'm sure she can guide ya..
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First off, if you've never visited
DPReview, now is the time to do so. Loads of information, including reviews, sample images, product specifications and more. You can even sort all the reviews by
rating to give you an idea of "what's hot". The ratings are usually spot-on, written by the DPReview staff.
It'd probably be difficult to find anything other than a camera phone that offers less than 2-3 megapixels these days. What's funny is what was once considered a "high end" digital camera 3-5 years ago was no more than 3 megapixels. The digital cameras Justin and I use today (Canon EOS 1D Mark II) capture 8 megapixel images, and there are newer models that capture more than 11 megapixels. After you exceed the 3 megapixel mark or so, the rest is just gravy -- excess you only need if you plan on printing the resulting photos as poster size larger prints.
Photo quality comes down to a lot of things, including:
(1) quality of the optics (lenses and the camera's innards)
(2) total data the camera can convert a scene into (megapixels)
(3) size and ease of use
#3 is probably the most important one to your daughters. If it's too big, too bulky or too hard to use it will get left at home instead of capturing memorable photos of their friends and activities. All the camera makers have firmly latched on to this market and offer good choices, but I tend to nudge people towards either Canon or Fuji. Justin and I have experience with both, so that's why the recommendations tend to go that way. We still own and use a Canon point-and-shoot -- Canon Powershot G2 (4 megapixel, solidly constructed but heavier than I might have liked for a "take everywhere" camera) for photo scouting and taking snapshots.)
I don't have specific model recommendations, except to say if you want something that offers a good value, I'd focus on the models listed in the "Recommended" category on
DPReview's ratings page. A lot of the cameras listed in the "Highly Recommended" category are aimed at high end consumer or professional cameras, which almost universally are digital SLRs (single lens reflex) which means they have interchangeable lenses and will, by that fact alone, cost more. For example, the "Highly Recommended" category includes the $4,500+ cameras Justin and I use in our business!
I generally do a lot of reading on DPReview, both the reviews of particular models and the forums where new and prospective owners of that camera model can air their questions, comments, complaints or suggestions about the camera. I then usually head over to Amazon and see what the "unwashed masses" are saying about the particular camera(s) in their reviews. Somewhere in there, I find which camera is the best one for my needs.
PS: I'm partial to cameras that use CompactFlash media for storage. They're readily available, relatively cost effective (compared to Secure Digital cards) and come in all sorts of capacities, up to 4 gigabytes! Avoid any proprietary media format (like Sony's "Memory Stick").