Hi everyone, this year was my 10th at my current job (will be 11 in february...).

I received a gift in the form of 500$ cash yesterday at the christmas party   So, the time has come to upgrade my 7 years old, Kodak DC3400 camera !

I am most likely looking at a Canon since i like the pictures and colors they are usually making but, i am open to all possibilities right now.

I am not sure wether to go for a compact or normal model, compacts beeing more expensive and sometimes having less features than their normal size counterpart. Will have to be 7 or 8 megapixels, i dont think i really need more than that anyway (advices on that please). Also, i want it to have a VERY GOOD flash. My mom bought a compact Nikon last year and i find my Kodak still better for lighting (for colors as well actually, even thou its only a 2 megapixels, it was an awsome camera for lighting and colors).

Of course i want to make videos with it, as good as possible but i dont want to overspend if i dont have to. Videos and sounds... of course.

Budget : 500$ MAX with all accessories, the lesser the better, of course, i'm not a professionnal and will use it only for my personnal use. Please dont base your evaluations on price alone, i learned that the better products were not always the most expensive....

Cameras i read about so far : the Canons SD850 IS and the SD870 IS models, i just started reading but i figured i would post it since i'm sure there are a few digital camera whiz in this group

Again, colors/picture quality and good flash is about all my requirements (i think they all does videos now anyway).

Thanks in advance for all your recommendations ! Oh and if you are aware of a store running a good special on a very good quality camera right now, please let me know !

Sylvain

Canon G9 12 megapixel

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canonG9/


499$ !!

For what it's worth, we've had two bad experiences with Sony Camera's.

The first was a 4.1 MP which my wife received as a gift from her law firm.
It worked well for about 1 yr, then, all the pictures became dark.

Something with the light sensor was screwy and all the pictures were coming out dark.

So I waited for boxing day sales last year, and the best deal I found was on a 6.1 MP Sony.

I figure the first problem was a fluke, so I did not hesitate to buy another Sony.

Six month later, the auto-focus sensor went screwy and all the pictures were out of focus.

"Thankfully" having bought this one, and still within the warranty,
we brought it back, and it was repaired .

It worked OK, until last week  (...just before X-mas ) ...
Same problem ...

So I took it back  (...2 weeks before the 1 yr warranty expires... ),
and it's in the shop again.

I suspect it will come back [ after X-mas... ] and work for awhile before breaking down again.


... at which point, we'll swear off Sony ....

Buyer beware...

Steph

my vote is for Canon as well very happy with it.

Spent most of the day reading reviews, thx to those who responded.

I was really tempted by the G9 MrHide, really nice cam.. but then with a 4GB SDHC card the total was over 600$..

So i went with a compact one, SD870 IS. Futureshop had a special at 329$ and total with a 4GB SDHC card + taxes = 440$.

Will see later if i'm happy, the battery pack is recharging right now...

technically over $500 but only by a bit ...

http://www.futureshop.ca/catal.....S10082555&catid=

in other words, get yourself a DSLR and never look back to "point and shoot" digital cameras ever again ..

Az, let me know what you think of that camera as I was looking for a cheap point and shoot because I want to add this ...
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-WP.....197901458&sr=8-1

There would be no way I would take an SLR under 60 ft. of water  

Quoted from Meat Popsicle

Az, let me know what you think of that camera as I was looking for a cheap point and shoot because I want to add this ...
http://www.amazon.com/Canon-WP.....197901458&sr=8-1

There would be no way I would take an SLR under 60 ft. of water  

WOW cool ! Thanks for that link, didnt know there was an underwater housing for it  

Well so far so good, i am VERY happy ! Clear pictures, excellent colors (as expected with Canon). I even made a video outside last night and it apparently has some kind of light compensation because the vid is as clear as i was seeing myself, actually might even be a bit better, two thumbs up ! (ok, this is not 1080p HD obviously but 640x480, 30fps, more than enought to capture my little ones having fun which is basically what i wanted).

I'll have to try and learn the options cause when i tried to take pictures (again outside last night), the cam was focusing on the snow flakes , nice pictures but...

Also, the flash is very good for what it is, which is also something i was looking at. As i mentionned previously, my mom has a 8mpx Nikon and the flash is very poor, as soon as the room is a little dark the backgrounds doesnt show well.

If you want to pick one up locally, Futureshop has it on sale until December 20th at 329$, i think its usually 399$-429$ depending on the store.

Sylvain

I'll see what boxing day holds .. as its under $300 regularly on amazon.com

     The future is definitely digital SLR....I just bought my wife the canon Rebel XTI with 10.2 MP...unbelievable when compared to std.digital. BTW EBAY is great for this stuff...I got it with a 75-300 extra lens, tripod, flash card, tripod,UV filters,CF Card reader, etc....for $865 plus tax...when you add everything at Future Shop its over $1300 plus tax!!!!  Got it on EBAY and it was a local Ottawa store!!! ( Galaxy Camera). Just had to drive dwtn. and pick it up...now I'm in the good books for a while so I can get away with buying a Pin or two!!