Low budget digital camera

Well the topic pretty much explains it. I am looking for a digital camera for under $200 for my sister for christmas. Ive looked at several brands and tested some out at Bestbuy and I like KodaK, Sony and Canon the best.

I really dont have any idea about cameras. I dont know what makes a camera good. My sister will mainly jsut be using it to take pictures of activities she is involved in at college so I am sure she will not need anything major

Heres one of Kodaks bundles I like:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US
It also comes with a rechargable dock station all for $219.95

Also here is a link to there other clearance cameras from Kodak:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQueri...q-locale=en_US

With those three above Cameras, the price just seems to good to be true... I'm afriad those cameras would end up being crap

The camera I like from Sony:
Cyber-shot DSC-S500:
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...uctSKU=DSCS500

From what I can tell this Camera seems to be me like a very nice one since it has high mega-pixel but Im pretty sure when it comes to cameras that isnt everything.

Cannon Cameras:
Powershot A530
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=12914

From what little knoweledge I have about Digital Cameras I think from the cameras ive put above the Sony Cybershot DSC-S500 is the best deal. If anyone owns any of these cameras let me know what you think about them or if you think there is a better camera out there that is still in my price range. Thanks

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Noob

You have picked a very good camera in the Canon Powershot A530. For the money, it is a very solid camera. If you buy her a memory card and some decent rechargable batteries you will have an awesome camera for under $200.

Personally, Canon makes awesome camereas, I can live with Sony, but Kodak is worthless...

Here is a link to the A530.

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Minnesota Genocide Intervention Network

That Canon is good. I f you need a lower end point and shoot camera that has decent white-balancing than the Kodak does well.

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Any thoughts between the Sony and Canon ive put up there? Any difference between them? People have told me Sonys are very nice its just that they tend to be expensive.

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Noob

Canon Advantages:

• Canon has 4x optical zoom, Sony has 3x
• Canon has more manual controls
• Canon can shoot at higher ISO's
• Canon uses Secure Digital (very low in cost compared to Sony's Memory Stick Duo)

Sony Advantages:

• Has 2.4 inch LCD (versus Canon's 1.8 inch LCD)
• Sony has more megapixels (6 megapixels versus 5 megapixels)

So it really depends on what you want. Also, something to add, sometimes people focus solely on the amount of megapixels that a camera has and that is a bad thing to do. A 3.2 Megapixel camera will print 5x7 pictures just as nicely as a 10 megapixel camera will print 5x7 pictures.

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Minnesota Genocide Intervention Network

Ok well thanks for your advice.... I am pretty sure I will be going with the Canon A530. Should I just buy from newegg? I notice there is a combo package for 10 more dollars ( $142.97) which comes with a 1 gig stick (which I would end up buying seperately anyway), Camera Case and Cleaning Kit. I assume that combo from newegg is a very nice deal.

Also has anyone used or have a model like this? Last year my parents bought my sister some unknown Wal-Mart brand camera for like 100 bucks and all the pictures are to dark and if you use the flash everyone looks like ghost? I jsut want to make sure I wont be getting this problem. I am sure I will not because it is coming from such a known company. Just want to make sure

Also would anyone recommend I go up a series or 2???

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Noob

I should add that I have had actual experience with the camera that is just a step lower than this, the A520. It is an awesome camera.

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Minnesota Genocide Intervention Network

My experiences with camaras/camcorders have been "you get what you pay for". That being said I've had 2 canon Analog camaras and 1 digital from them. They have never failed me. The digital one has lasted since '03. I took alot of pictures with that one on my two trips to europe.

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