Finding the Perfect Digital Camera

I adore my Sony Cybershot! This is my second one. I got the first one in 2004 and my husband finally got me the newest version for Mother's Day in 2009. My old one, from 2004, still works beautifully tho!!! I just love how easy it is to use. It takes great pictures!!!! I get compliments on my pics all the time. And I am no professional photographer, that's for sure!!! LOL I really can't imagine ever owning any other camera. I will continue with the Sony Cybershots for sure. =0)

I have always LOVED my Canon cameras--had a few different models and they were all great! Great color and pretty quick at taking the picture. A good resource for researching digital cameras is cnet.com. Whatever model you're interested in, you might check it out there first.

I'd highly recommend finding a camera shop in your local area, telling them what you want and seeing what they recommend.

My husband and I thought we knew many years ago, and we ended-up buying something completely different. We've stuck with Canon, but my husband bought himself a Sony camera a few years ago that he loves as well.

He also wants to start taking photography classes through a local store to really understand how to adjust lighting settings, angles, etc. to get the best shots.

Just fyi, the delay is the camera focusing. You cannot get rid of this unless you get a professional camera that you manually focus. There are some cameras that do it faster and some that do it slower, but any SLR camera is going to do it.

Another thing that is good to look for is a high optical zoom. The higher this is the better you can zoom in and get clear pictures. Digital zoom makes everything pixel-y and is useless in my opinion. Megapixels are really just a buzz word. Unless you are going to be blowing up your pictures to gigantic poster sizes, and modern digital camera really has plenty of megapixels.

I really like my camera...it is a Canon but it is an older model that is discontinued. I have tried Sonys as well but the flash always seemed really harsh to me...kids looked like they were in shock in all the pictures.

I would look up digital cameras online and then write down model numbers that look interesting to you and try to find sites that have reviews of them. Newegg.com is a good place to look, always has good prices and lots of reviews.

I just did a ton of research on "the perfect digital camera." Only to find out there is no perfect camera! HOWEVER, I read tons of reviews and finally decided on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. Has the best lens on the market -- Leica. It has 12x zoom, I believe, 12 megapixels, HD movie, quick start up and follow through, face detection, stabilization (for shaky hands) etc. etc. etc. I LOVE IT!!! If you're into manual settings, it also has that. Check out ratings on CNET's site; it's rated "excellent." Also, there is a super knowledgeable guy who posts on Amazon and I really enjoyed reading his write-up. Would-be buyers have asked him questions online, and he always answers. Just look the camera up under it's name. Good luck & have fun!