Digital camera...

[Carl Smedberg]

> My family wants to give me a digital camera for Christmas, but I know
> nothing about them.
> 
> I need your comments and opinions on what a good camera have/not have.
> Thanks.
> 
> jane

Jane,

I would look into a simple megapixel Kodak like the DC240 off of ebay for
the following reasons...

It will be pretty inexpensive and allow you to get started and learn what
features are important to you and what is not.

A megapixel camera can still shoot great 4x6 prints and the images can be
sent as attachments pretty easily, even to your friends who don't have High
Speed internet service.

A 5 megapixel camera is great, but if you only shoot snapshots, it's
overkill.  

When you finally learn more about digital photography and decide to upgrade,
you won't mind letting the kids use the camera that you learned on.

I also have one more suggestion.  The Kodak's use Compact Flash cards, so do
the Nikons which is what I hope to eventually upgrade to...  Sony uses their
own memory sticks.  My dad has an Olympus, which uses the smart media cards.
I don't like the smart media cards because the contacts are exposed.  They
are smaller but...  So the suggestion is just to be aware of the memory
format requirements.  You may want to invest in digital film that you can
use with more than one camera.

I have 2 sets of rechargeable batteries and have never been left needing
more power to shoot pictures.  I also have flash card reader connected to my
Mac.  Don't bother connecting the camera directly to the computer.

Let us know how you make out!