[artsifartsi]

Hi,

I really want to get a high quality digital camera. The price range I'm looking for is around $300-$600. Nothing too expensive.
I've been looking at the Nikon Coolpix P80 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18K, but I don't know what I should be looking for in these professional cameras.
Primarily, I want a camera that can zoom in and produce high quality macro photos and also ones that have good stabilization, so the photos will be clear and sharp.
I'm going to be mostly taking pictures of flowers, etc, so I want the camera to be able to produce sharp, saturated pictures that can focus on one object.

Any recommendations on what kind of camera I should get?
By the way, that's a megapixel? How does that affect photographs?



This is the Nikon Coolpix

[h2obubbli]

Canon powershot G9 even though its a p-and-s its consdiered on par with dslr

[erure]

Sorry to be a pain, but a professional digital camera can cost thousands (if not tens of thousands) of dollars, so a more accurate label would be high-end digital camera (it's still a point and shoot, or P&S). As the user above me suggests, Canon PowerShot G9 is probably one of the best P&S cameras out there and it's highly recommended, as long as you know its functions and are able to use them.

Megapixels affect the size of your photographs, and nothing more. Unless you're going to print out poster-sized photos, you don't need anything over 5 megapixels (the G9 is a whopping 12, but I wouldn't take photographs at that size -- it just eats your memory up)

[terrorist]

i got an xti. for 450.

DSLR. if u dont know what DSLR is .. look it up.

i bought it on craigslist.

[lovemelody.]

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=114260

[erure]

I don't think you should get a DSLR unless you know what you're getting into. With your price range, you could get a beginner DSLR kit, but what people don't take note of is how much money they WILL be spending in the future for lenses, flash, new bodies, etc. I say stick with point and shoots until you can use it to its fullest extent and want something better.

[watcher]

Canon powershot G9 even though its a p-and-s its consdiered on par with dslr

not at all!! noise performance in and of itself puts DSLR many levels above the g9.

I don't think you should get a DSLR unless you know what you're getting into. With your price range, you could get a beginner DSLR kit, but what people don't take note of is how much money they WILL be spending in the future for lenses, flash, new bodies, etc. I say stick with point and shoots until you can use it to its fullest extent and want something better.

forreals.... they suck up so much money!! [but to be honest, it's my own real greed. you can probably get by many years with just a 1K setup.]