OT: Digital Camera, Looking for the most bang for the buck Options

[ptravnic]

I'd like it to be able to capture short video as well - nothing crazy. I've been using a 2mega pixel HP PhotoSmart for a few years but it's clunky and doesn't do video...It's dated and is enough to get by but who wants to just get by?

What is the best size megapixel camera for the buck?

Ease of use?

Are video's easily uploadable/downloadable/edited?


I'm wondering if maybe I should get a camera for photo's and a digital recording device for video's... Thoughts, epinions?

-pt

[jsteele22]

I have a Canon that I really like. It's a Powershot SD200 Digital Elph, with 3.2 MP. It's a year or so old, so the model #s have probably changed a bit. I haven't used the video much, just once to twice to play around with it. If you really want to take video, a dedicated video camera is the way to go, but for occasional fooling around it's fine. The camera is the size of a pack of cards, and pretty easy to use. You can run a cable from the camera directly to a TV and view pictures and video : a nice feature for a quick slide show.

In terms of bang for buck, I'd say stick to a medium range of pixels. Unless you plan to do high-quality enlargements (big ones) 3.2 MP is plenty. Mostly I take "snapshots" to post online, send to friends, etc. and I keep the camera in a lower resolution mode.

In terms of convenience, I definitely recommend a model with rechargeable batteries. It's a real convenience to have 2 batteries : one in the camera and one in the charger.