I'm looking at digital cameras in the $200-290 range. I was going to get a Kodak dx4530 , but other than being 5 megapixels I have heard it isn't do hot. I'm also looking at the Canon A70.

I'd like for the camera to also be able to take good low-light and closeup shots (like underneath a car ).

What can you all recommend?

Photography questions I can handle. (I have way too much money in my gear and just ordered a digital SLR to go with it all).

A few things.

Are you planning to make prints from your digital camera? If so, how large. A good 2 meg camera will do an 8x10 (pretty well) and 5x7's look great. If you don't plan to make any prints larger than that, you don't need a 6 meg camera (not that it is not nice to have "overkill").

I'll suggest a few.

Nikon Coolpix 2100 and 3100. They were released last year (at $259) and the 2100 I had did an excellent job. They just changed models again (not sure why, the 2100 was excellent) and they are being sold for $159 (www.adorama.com and others). The Coolpix 3100 is a 3.1 meg camera (I think it will still make your budget due to being replaced).

Fuji Finepix s3000 (slightly over budget at roughly $329). 3.1 megs, 10x optical zoom (nice). Again, www.adorama.com.

Or, fuji has an S700 (again slightly over at about $320). It is a 3.1 meg in a "point and shoot" style body with a 3x zoom. The reviews on it look quite good.

Or, the Cannon you mentioned. I've not used one of those, but my friend has an A60 (I think) and likes it. I'm sure it will also do what you are asking.

Hope that helps.

8x10 is the biggest size that I plan on printing. I just sold my Nikon FM-10 that I used in a photography class a few years back. With everything going digital now I figured I should get out while I can. A digital SLR would be nice but I'm not spending that kind of money, nor I am as serious as I used to be.

Thanks for the suggestions I'll look into them.

If you think you'll print more than a few 8x10's, I'd probably consider a 3 meg "just in case", though the coolpix 2100 will do 8x10's pretty well, not all cameras are created equal.

Have fun.

That FM10 is a nice camera. I am shooting with a Nikon F100 these days and I just ordered a D70 (digital SLR, should be out this month).

I'd also recommend you go for as much optical zoom as you can. I bought a Kodak DC280 2.1MP, 2X optical zoom back in early 2000, and love the camera to this day, but wish it had a little more zoom. It prints 8 x 10's ok, and I even recently had a 20" x 30" poster of the Z28 made up, and that came out remarkably well!! I can't believe I paid $550 for a 2.1MP back then, and $190 for a 96MB extra card.....man how technology changes!!! 3MP should be good, anything more than that is overkill for most people and the pictures take up more space on the memory card.

Look at boot up and picture cycle time.

Nothing more frustrating than having action taking place in front of you and you get that damn blinking light while the camera cycles ...

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'm going for the Fuji S3000-it's got a lot of great features and is
only 245.00 shipped from newegg. 3.2MP 6X OPT

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-122-018&depa=0

That Fuji is about the winner in the "bang for the buck" category and a real nice camera as well.

Have fun!

Oops, you are correct, 6x optical, the S5000 is 10x.

I recently bought the Canon A80, anyone know how it stacks up? It seemed pretty good from the reviews. I'm still learning the ins and outs the. All I ever owned before it were disposables.

4 meg, 3x optical zoom. I prefer more optical zoom, but I'm usually outside shooting stuff that is far away. With Cannons reputation and the specs on that camera, I don't think you'll be disappointed with it, it looks like a real nice piece. I would trade the for a larger size with more zoom for my use, but that is small enough to carry everywhere, and as I was once told, you'll never get any pictures with the camera you don't carry. Every camera suits a purpose, I suspect that one will fit yours just fine (and probably many others as well).

My thoughts.

For the rest of people shopping for digicams, here's a few great sites that offer reviews, test images, and other useful things:

The Imaging Resource (Dave's Picks are a good place to start, there's different categories)
DP Review
Steve's Digicams
DC Resource (the Buyer's Guide link can help find out what cameras best match the features you want in a price range)

-Jeff