Ok - All of you

[momoftwins]

stop speaking a foreign language! This newbie needs to start from scratch. I have an old Kodak Easyshare and I want new camera - but OMG, photography has moved light years since I bought the Kodak.

I have no clue what half of you are even talking about

Ok, everyone baby steps ...where do I begin.

The only thing I know is I want a digital. See wasn't that easy? Now, what do I need to know?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Tell us what you plan to use it for, how often, etc.

 

[tinksdad]

Yep! You need to decide what is important to you. Do you want to take a few snapshots and have them come out pretty well? Do you want to start learning about the wonders of light and how to control it? There's a LOT of range in between. I enjoy the learning experience and the journey is half the fun.

You also need to determine how much you are willing to spend with knowing the old adage "You get what you pay for"!!

 

[AbbysFamily]

Along with the 'you get what you pay for'.... another major issue:

You need to pick -> what are you willing to carry around... For a fairly close price you could choose between 3 cameras (ignoring the SLR issue):
(Canon line example):
S3 IS - Fairly large, 12x zoom
A710IS - Mid sized 4x zoom
SD630 - Small sized 3x zoom

The moral of the story is not that these specific models are exactly alike, but that you can get a different sized camera for the same price with very similar features... Then once you pick a size, you can tweak the features to get one in your price range.. by looking for one with Image Stablization (IS), or different megapixel, etc.

 

[boBQuincy]

Along with the 'you get what you pay for'.... another major issue:

You need to pick -> what are you willing to carry around...

You bring up a good issue that is often not considered.
My camera with lens weighs almost 3 pounds, my camera bag with a (small) lens is another 3 pounds. Is this something you wouldn't mind carrying around all day? If so, call me, I have a Sherpa job for you!

Seriously, some of us carry that much (and more) in order to get the photos we do. It sure isn't something everyone wants to do, and I don't blame them one bit, this stuff gets heavy after 12 hours!
But a small light P&S is not going to get the same images as the larger SLR.

 

[jann1033]

maybe think what you like and hate about your present camera..ie i wish it took photos in faster sucesssion but i like the size..i wish i could take close ups but i like the sd cards etc..that might help you limit your options some.
http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html
this site has easy to understand reviews with a glossary for when you get stuck...the cameras are also divided by type and have the prices at the bottom of the review page. you can always just skip to the conclusions and weed it down to a few then look at those in more depth.. and it's easier to ask about a few cameras than 100 s.
probably you don't want much more than 5-6 mp in a point and shoot unless the review says the photos are great quality

 

[momoftwins]

Thanks for your responses. I forgot how much there really is to think about when buying a camera.

I know I want a camera that I can grow into. I like to take pictures of everyday events, but I also would love to learn to take more challenging pictures - night, landscapes, etc.

I would think a budget of $300 - $500 wold be a good price to get a decent camera. I do like to take my camera to Disney, so I don't want to lug around a lot of extra weight.

I know with the Kodak I have the one big thing I do not like is the amount of time it takes to access a place on the memory card for the next pic. I hope I explained that right. When I turn on the camera, if I have a lot of pics on the memory card, it takes a while for it to get to the next space.

When there are shots that I want to get fairly quickly, I have to wait for the camera. Maybe this is inherent in digitial cameras I don't know. I have been reading the Digicam site, but here I can get personal experiences.

Thanks to all again.

 

[Lachesis00]

dpreview.com is another excellent place for researching cameras. Always my first stop