[Cavaliers03]

I am looking for a digital camera. One I can use with my iMac with iPhoto. One that is $400 or less and one that isn't so advanced because I am a beginner at this. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good camera for a starter that is under $400? Thanks.

[Nobody]

There are quite a few threads here in the forums with plenty of recommendations. Type in 'digital camera' and select 'Subject only' in our blank>forum search and you'll come up with a reasonable list of messages.

The market is always churning - Jeff Keller, who runs the blank>Digital Camera Resource Page, does a column for us in Macworld, and his site is a good source of what's coming out right now. (Another great site is blank>DP Review, although he tends, for the most part, to focus more on cameras in the prosumer and professional range.)

Personally, I really like the Canon PowerShots - there are a bunch of them that play in the $400 area. One that I've recommended to a lot of people is the PowerShot S30, a compact 3-megapixel camera that takes great pix. Some of the Digital Elphs are also very good. (You can get an idea of prices on PowerShots blank>here.)

The reality is that there are a lot of great cameras out there in the $400 range. I would go with a 3-megapixel camera, if at all possible - it will give you room to grow, and let you print (via your printer or an online service) larger-size prints.

Hope this helps.

Rick

[Cavaliers03]

Thanks

[Cavaliers03]

Ok, how about the Canon S200, I know you said 3 megapixel, this is 2 MP. How much of a difference does that make? And.. .is the S300 - 3 MP or 2? Thanks.

[Soul_of_Wit]

The main problem with a 2MP camera is prints larger than standard snapshots. There aren't enough pixels to create a decent quality 5x7, let alone 8x10 or poster size.

iPhoto has some basic editing capabilities. It makes cropping to a standard photo size (snapshot, 5x7, etc,) quite easy.The MP problem becomes magnified if you start cropping (using just part of the) pictures. The part you use, of course, only gets the corresponding pixels in the cropped area.

That said, there are cheaper 3MP cameras in your price range. The main trade offs seem to be lens quality (a minor quality issue to an amateur photog) and bulky size of the camera itself.

[ 10-25-2002: Message edited by: Soul of Wit ]