cameras
I am in the market for one as well, so about a week er so ago I emailed my step brother who is I figured knew quite a bit more about what to look for in digital cameras than I (he works in the IT fied and etc)...for what its werth below is his email copied and pasted with what he told me to look for:
"That sounds like some great specs for that kinda $. Basically, the higher the megapixels, the larger you can blow the pic up without distortion. If I remember right, a 2MP camera will provide a quality 8x10, a 3MP will provide a quality 10x12, etc, but you'd probably want to do an online search or call Star Photo to verify those numbers.
The digital zoom really isn't that big of a deal, because when you use it, it provides distortion. What you really pay for is the optical zoom. That's why you see alot of cheap cameras w/no optical zoom. I have 3 opt on my camera, and I wouldn't go with anything less. That doesn't zoom in very far, but it's adequate, and you can combine it with the digital at the same time if you don't mind some loss of quality. I've seen 10 optical zoom cameras out there that will let you count the hairs on a fly's back, but you'll pay alot.
The absolute FIRST thing that I'd check when buying a digital camera is what type of batteries it uses. If it doesn't take a type of battery that you can get as a rechargeable at your local Walmart, like AA or AAA, I'd run. These cameras eat batteries like you wouldn't believe, so you may as well figure about 6 batteries and a recharger into the total cost. (Cheapest place: Walmart.)
Also, you're gonna eventually need a memory card for the camera, as well as a memory card reader that plugs into your pc tower's USB port.
It all adds up, but sometimes you can get the readers at Staples/OfficeMax for free after rebates.
It's better to transfer/view the pics from a memory card w/reader because if you're ever viewing them directly from the camera to the tower, and your camera batteries run dead or your house loses power, you can wreck the pics AS WELL AS the camera. So it's kind of cheap insurance.
Plus, the amt of internal memory that they supply these cameras with won't hold many shots at the cameras highest settings."
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