What criteria do you look into when buying a digital camera?

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you should purchase the new canon Power Shot G7. 10 megapixel 24X combined Zoom and image stabilizer plus many more things. I know this is the camera that i would purchase is only 600 at walmart or find it cheaper online.

You should start here ... http://www.dpreview.com/

Well - the real issue nowadays isn't exactly pixel count, unless you want to create wall size posters or HD movies. In which case simply shopping around is your best bet. The real issue is lens quality. An 8 megapixel cameral with a bad lens (plastic for instance) will produce worse images than a camera with 4 megapixels and a quality lens. http://google-cnet.com.com/4323-6530_7-6509037.html http://www.steves-digicams.com/ http://www.pcworld.com/product/pricefinder/browse/category.html?id=11074&page=1&CMP=KNC-SEM&HBX_PK=pcw_01-CAM-SHOP-GEN&HBX_OU=50&tk=pcw_01-CAM-SHOP-GEN&gclid=CJDUuozKz4gCFSZmYwodqzMbaA And other sites provide reviews that you can read through to get a better idea of what type of camera meets your needs. One note - most sales people actually know very little avout what they're selling - so the adage 'buyer beware' is appropriate. -dh

Just to clarify, SLR stand for "Single-Lens Reflex" camera, not short long range camera. As someone point out above, Mega Pixel should not be the key factor on your buying decision. Just like you won't buy a book base on how many pages it has. Lens is always the most important item for the camera. However, you don't really have a choice on lens if you are buying a compact point and shot camera. The only time you can choice your own lens is when you are getting a DSLR "Digital Single-Lens Reflex" camera where you can change lens. These type of camera provide better image quality compare to point and shot camera and the Mega Pixel counts are always good enough for any average consumer. But there is a learning curve to it. Once you know what you are doing, the possibility are endless. Note that you cannot record video with DSLR since they are made for one purpose, to take good quality picture. I personally don't recommand using a digital camera to take video. They usually have very limited function compare to a camcorder. Some won't even let you zoom in or out while in video mode. My recommandation for digital camera with $800 range. For point and shoot compact, the Canon SD900 IS will be my choice. For DSLR, Nikon just came out with their D40, you may have to wait a little for the camera to hit the market. Another option will be the Canon 350D aka Rebel XT. Make sure you get yourself a all around lens with either camera (The lens came with these camera is not that good). If you want something in between, go for a SLR-Like digital cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7 or the Sony DSC-R1. Have fun shopping.

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*Blurry Pictures* Test the camera before buying it. Most CHEAP digital cameras will have blurry pictures when you slightly move. You want a high speed camera instead. Look for these features: - High Speed - 5 MegaPixels or more - Long lasting Lithium battery (rechargeable) - Good pictures in Low Lighting - Built-in Flash - memory card (make sure the cards are easily availble, not obselete) Same with the battery. Don't buy something to only find out a year later that a replacement battery costs more than the camera. Also, look for a camera with the least amount of "moving parts", such as hinges, sliding parts, or any piece that can easily break including the removable battery cover and memory card. Try the camera a few times. My camera is a pain, only because the memory card pops out on accident sometimes. Some genius designed the camera to have the memory card eject at the same place you hold the camera when pressing the button to snap a picture.

well you should first look at how well it takes pics. and video. in some stores, they let you have a test picture/video with it. you should also consider the size in case you travel with it.

The basic elements that you would need to have a kool camera are: 1. MegaPixels: The more the MP's the better the resolution, and when you zoom into the pics, the pictures dont' deteriate in quality. meaning, you don't see small squares appearing, which make the image harder to recognize. but buying the a 10MP pixel would be really expensive too. so it's upto you to buy somewhere between 4 to 8 MP camera. 8MP's are more sharper than a human eye. 2. Storage card: if you want to have alot of high resolution pictures or you want to make lenghty clips, its better that you buy a separate high capacity memory/storage card. camera memory cards, basically have an outline on the front or back, explaining how many pictures you can save in which MP resolution, and how many minutes clips you can make. or you can calculate it yourself, but checking the size of a file in different MP modes, and compare that to your storage card. Cameras come with a built in storage capacity, which is not alot. but some cameras come with free high capactiy memory cards depending on the deals. 3. Flash: It should have a really good flash, for taking good pictures in a dark place or in the night. not to mention you can check out what other softwares come with the camera, and what built in functions the camera has, like red eye reduction and etc etc etc. 4. SLR or zoom: SLR (Short Long Range) cameras, they are pretty good, used by semi pro and professional photographers. A Camera should have a good amount of zoom in it (depending on your needs) and the result with the zoom should be really good. These days, there are Carl Zeiss lenses and other stuff. which are pretty kool with amazing results. you should check out the cameras digital zoom and optical zoom. 5. Battery: the best batteries are the lithion ion recharging batteries, it's better to have a rechargable battery, then to have a camera that eats separate batteries. also it's a good idea to deplete your battery all the way down, before fully recharing it, this helps give the battery a longer life. and when charging make sure you charge it to the full before you plug it off. 6. Design: some people like to buy slim and sexy digi cams, while some like it the other way round. this would depend on how careful you are with the camera, most cameras that come slim have touch screen lcd, but you have to careful with them, to enjoy them. These are just some of the things, that i think you should look into, when buying a good digital camera. As to buying a comcorder, it's similiar to a digital camera, where as you dont need a storage card, the media for storing your video are like a dvd or a mini dv. and some camcorder have a built in hard drive of 20 to 40 gigs. so this depends upon your liking, what you would want to have. I hope i have answered your question. Khwab