My wife and I have decided to take the plunge and get a digital camera for Christmas. I've never purchased one before so I don't know what all to look for in a camera. What I do know is this (in order of importance to me):

- I want a FAST shutter response. I don't want to push the release and then wait for 1/2 second before the picture is taken. This is my primary criteria. Push the button and the picture is taken as close to instantly as possible.

- money. I don't have much. We're talking sub-$400 (US) here.

- I want a nice LCD. I wear glasses and there's nothing worse than trying to look through a tiny viewfinder or squinting at a dark LCD screen. 1.8"-2.5" screen a big plus.

- My wife wants to be able to print at least 8x10 pictures. So this equates to what in megapixels? 4.0 and higher?

- Picture quality. Yeah I can monkey with levels, curves, channels, etc. but why waste valuable chopping time just to get grandma to look better? No noise/artifacts please.

Am I realistic in my wants vs. my price-range? Any recommendations would be great. As an added point of hassle my wife has decided that she'd like to have the camera before Christmas (ain't she a peach?). So shipping is out of the question on this one. Best Buy, Staples, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Shopko/Target are what I have to work with here (oh and the mom & pop camera stores that are still left after Wal-Mart's invasion).

Oh, and I've been reading the reviews at ZDNet, CNet, and Epinions. But I want to know what people I trust think and not an editor says.

mate, i have had a 35mm slr for years and have always sworn that i would purchase a digital SLR when i made the jump.

I work as a copper and decided to speak to our photographic forensics branch for advise. they stated that they recently tested the Panasonic FZ30 and could not fault it, they were all in the same boat as far as getting a SLR however they have since changed their mind and are all about to purchase the FZ30.

I did mountains of reasearch and read a billion reviews and as a result i was so impressed that i purchased one myself about 3 weeks ago. It is simply an amazing unit. it has all the adjustability of a SLR however it has a fixed lens and you are unable to change them. the up side of this is that the FZ30 has a huge focal range (35-400) and to achieve this in a SLR you would have to purchase at least 2 different lenses at big $$.. you can, if you like, extend the zoom range by adding a telephoto or a wide angle lens. trust me you wont need to.

In a couple of reviews they mentioned that you may get a little noise when at the 400iso range, this in reality is so slight it is not worth thinking about, I took a couple at the full 8meg RAW format and found that there was a little noise but, i ran it through a free program i have called "Noiseware comminity eddition" and the noise just disspears. honest there are no issues there.

here is one of the reviews that pushed me over the line to my purchase.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/index.shtml

i have taken hundereds of pictures already and printed them at a photo bay at 4x6. they are just as good, if not better than my old SLR.

with great features like anti shake and the fact the zoom is huge you cant go wrong.

oh, and from the moment you turn it on you can press the shutter and take a shot, it also has rapid fire and i had the same concern about the button press/shutter issue which is not a problem with this camera!

fark any one yould think i was a rep for panasonic!

It's difficult to find responsive digital cameras for under $400. The most responsive digital cameras are the D-SLR's, but those are pricy.

Check out www.dpreview.com

I'm sure, if you look through the reviews, there are some pretty fast sub-$400 cameras. You just have to research. I would suggest a Canon, Olympus, Sony, or Nikon. They're pretty respected when it comes to optics (Sony uses Carl Zeiss (sp?) clones in some of their cameras).

Yeah i recently got A FZ20
5mp 12x zoom
That was just after the FZ30 came out and i didnt want to spend 550$
The FZ20 is good except for crummy movie mode.
I paid 400$
(can send test pic if you want.)

We bought the Canon Powershot A75 almost a year ago...and I think it's awesome. I sometimes have to take photos for ads that I design, and have used this camera with a lot of success. It takes great macro shots, takes video, has a microphone, and a good zoom lens. It's only 3.2 megapixels, but I've been able to get ad-quality shots, and you can change the settings within the camera to increase the dpi and size of the shots.

We paid less than $200 for it (US), and that included a tabletop tripod, the card, all the software, and so-forth.

I'm sort of a novice when it comes to photography, but I've yet to be limited by this camera. Here's a review of it:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_a510_a520-review/

My husband researched for about a month before we bought a camera...and this seemed to be the bet of the lot, according to him.

.

The Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W5 has most of the features you're looking for.

A few months ago I purchased it as a present for a 75 year old great uncle.

I was looking for a camera that was reasonably priced, easy to use and had a large display (2.5") for his poor vision. As with many Sony cameras, the response time is exceptional and the image quality is quite good. This model is a 5 megapixel but there's also a 7 megapixel version (DSC-W7).

The gift was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm and delight.
Many hugs. Many kisses. Some light jumping for joy.
Four months later, he has yet to open the box. Literally has never touched the camera.
I promised I'd teach him how to use it but he keeps putting it off.

Looking back, I don't know what the hell I was thinking getting a digital camera for
a man who thinks microwave ovens are for astronauts.

Canon has a great track record with digital photography.

I don't know your budget - so I'll assume that you ain't gonna go cheap and you gonna want to get a camera you can keep for years.

The new REBEL digital SLR by Canon is an amazing piece of camera for the money. About a $1000 Canadian. The basic lens that comes with it is pretty simple, but you can save up for better glass as you go.

I use a D20 - its a serious ass semi-pro camera but will run you around $1900 CAN for it. But you can do almost anything with it and it is built tough and feels like a serious camera in your hand.

The Panasonics are very impressive though - my buddy has one. He has the FZ20 and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO frickin LIGHT! I though it was a toy camera when he first handed it to me. But it does take great pictures, and as long as you are more interested in telephoto shots than wide angle it is dandy. And that light weight comes in nice on long hikes!

I suggest whatever you buy you get it from a dealer that has a good 14 day or 1 month return policy. You need to shoot with it a bit to know if your hands and eye will love it.

And remember that it is more what's BEHIND the camera than what is IN the camera that matters to a good shot!

Your right in wanting fast shutter response. That probably aggravates people more than anything.

another thing to consider --- what kind of batteries it uses. Digitals suck LOTS of battery power. most have some kind of rechargeable battery but unless you're close to a plug-in or have a bunch of extras, you will find yourself down now and then.

try to get one that uses AA batteries. A dozen AA's don't take up much space on a camping trip and on the road you can get a set of alkalines at any mini-mart.

Canon Ixus 40 or 50! I have the 40, it's great! Fast, large LCD, easy to handle, very sharp pictures and you can zoommmm also when the picture is taken! And the memory cards are less expensive than sony memory cards! Cheers!

I use this site http://www.dcviews.com/ and it will provide you with reviews and links to reviews. I went digital about six years ago and purchased a 2.1 mp camera for about 1200 Cdn. You can get twice the camera for 300 now. The thing is not worth as a trade in more than 50 Cdn, which you could probably get anyway by negotiating. However I have taken over 6000 pics. if you do the math if I had developed all of these with a conventional camera I am probably ahead by tons. I only develop what I want to share with someone who doesn't have e-mail. Believe me I don't know anyone any more who doesn't have e-mail.

On the subject of batteries if your camera has a built in battery you are stuck with that un less you want to pay $100 for a spare battery and more for a charger. Some cameras can shoot 500 or more pics on one charge. I have never shot anything close to that in a day.
If the camera takes AA you want to use NiMH ( Nickel Metal Hydride batteries) I bought 4batteries and a charger for $28 Cdn at Costco. You will probably get 500 recharges from them before you have to toss.

I think you should look at you present needs and see if there is a $400 camera that will suit these needs, however, look down the road, if you will be needing more camera, you will get nothing for it as they get to be pretty obsolete by the time you hand over the cash. Ditto everything that Reinman said. If you look real hard you can get a Olympus SLR E 500 for around $600 US and for a $100 more another lens.

Wow! Some great advice so far. I spent last night going over my budget and I have a grand total of $550 (US) that I can spend on camera, storage card and any extras. So I think I'm looking at a $400 (US) camera and the rest on a 1GB storage card. Maybe I'll choose the card first and then see what I have left for a camera.

I actually had been looking at the Panasonic FZ20 and liked what I saw so I may look at the FZ30 after reading the review that jeff pointed out. I have also been looking at Canon cameras but I'm leary of the "E18 Error". Seems that the retractable lenses are susceptible to jamming and are expensive to fix once you're out of warranty. We live in a very sandy area and will be doing a lot of outdoor photography (soccer games, camping, etc.) so I think I'll avoid the retractable lens cameras. My sister and brother-in-law ran into this problem on their camera.

I'm not much of a photographer right now but I want to be. I don't know much of anything about ISO, f-stops, etc. but I will definitely learn. So I do want a camera that will allow me to "grow it". By that I want to be able to add lenses and/or filters and experiment with different exposure settings. This points me back to the DSLRs (and similar) does it not?

Basically I want a digital camera that will allow me to take snapshots at family gatherings, action shots at my kids' athletic activities, nature shots outdoors and close-up photographs of whatever I think would make for a great picture. I don't want to use the camera to make movies (I have a digital camcorder for that).

Oh and I don't ever envision needing a professional level or even "prosumer" type camera. The occassional family portrait is about all I can think of for a larger picture. So I think I'm safe in the 5-6 megapixel range.

tOfU IS RIGHT ON WITH HIS COMMENTS ON retractable lenses....they are extremely fragile ....look at them wrong and the will go outta calibiration....and as I sit here looking at my desk which currently has two cannons ...one fuji finepix and two Olympus ...all torn apart ....waiting to find timne to reset the barrels on the retractable lenses ....all results of one time drops or turning cam on w lense cover on (olympus)

I have used most Fujifilms cams ...great zoom....6 x optical (in most their cams) and nice features....eat batteries like nothing and are like beliek china to handle...whatever ya do dont drop one lense out or retracted they are delicate things

Sony back in the day their cybershot and dsc lines were bulletproof IMO ya could hammer nails w em.........as of late Im not real impressed ...seems they feel smaller is better ..and may be for some...

Cannon...great bang for your buck ...again though battery hog and those w retractable lenses beware.

Olympus I really like although user interface can be tempermental ...not an outta box point and shoot!!!IMO

And Ricoh years ago ..not the most impressive.....nowdays great point and ahoot ....shudder lag and battery hog

shutter speeds on fuji and cannon very quick and both have rapid fire.....

Hope some or any of this helps .....Im now curious to see into thispanasonic every ones raving about

bottom line D_SLR is the way to go although big $$$$ every one heres really hit the rest on the head .......battery usage and type (rechargable and if so what type ?)
I'd be sure to get minimally 3x optical...and as Im sure ya know disregard any info ya hear about dig zoom........

also ber sure to chk warranties cause these puppies do break!!!!!
a heavier cam isn't necessarily a bad thing !!!! durability!!!


goood luck!!!!!!!

Here Is a review site this is the most thourough Ive ever seen.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/
The Fz20 has a retractable lens. It doesnt seem too fragile though
It was sitting on a desk and the strap caught on a drawer handle I picked it up and the strap yanked it backit landed on the carpeted floor It was Fine.
An lenmar Equivelant extra battery was 25$-30$ in september
while the Panasonic battery was 50$.

Heres another good review
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz20-review/index.shtml
And another
http://arneberg.com/digicams/fz20/

Okay I think I've narrowed it down a bit since yesterday. I'm still looking at the Panasonic but I am also considering these two:

Kodak EasyShare Z740
Fuji FinePix S5200

Both are rated for fast buttont-to-shutter responsiveness (is that shutter lag?). Both have decent zoom and adjustability. I'm leaning toward the Panasonis still but money is a big factor for me on this purchase so I may have to sacrifice a bit I suppose. Much will depend on the inventory of the stores I check out tomorrow night.