~$150.00 Digital Camera for girlfriend

[Charger69]

Hi,
My girlfriend informed me she wants a digital camera. The one we currently have is my old Sony Cybershot DSC-P71 and I'm really getting damn tired of Sony's bullshit with their exclusive memory sticks (not to mention I just bought 3 sticks of 512 from Lexar and NONE of them will be accepted by the camera, even though they are built to the same specifications). So in other words, I don't want anything Sony if at all possible (unless they've changed this).

The camera needs to be in the ~$150 range (although we can probably go up to $200 if the difference is substantial).

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks,
-Charger69

 

[young wing]

2 excellent choices are...

Canon SD 750

or

Canon SD 1000
---------------------------

750 - 3" LCD

1000 - 2.5" LCD

The 1000 can be had in the 150$ range, whereas the 750...200$+.
I just picked one up for 206$

 

[rcf1987]

this one is really nice my bro got 1 for christmas

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=2&productNr=25584

 

[WesM63]

Don't know if i'm too late or not.

Either way, we got my mom a Fuji Films S700 for christmas. Its a nice little camera and works well for her needs.

Newegg has it for $189 with a free 2gb SD card.

Edit: Here is a pic taken with the camera last night.

 

[Grentz]

2 excellent choices are...

Canon SD 750

or

Canon SD 1000
---------------------------

750 - 3" LCD

1000 - 2.5" LCD

The 1000 can be had in the 150$ range, whereas the 750...200$+.
I just picked one up for 206$

Go with one of the Canon SD Powershots. Great cameras and all take great pictures and are very reliable.

The Nikon point and shoot stuff is not the most reliable in my findings. Have had 5 or so nikon point and shoot cameras in the family ranging for lower end to high end and all have been replaced with canon SD cameras over time as they have failed in various ways

I mean they are nice cameras, just our luck with them was not very good...

 

[Charger69]

Thanks for the replies!

With a quick examination, it seems that Fujifilm S700 is quite a bit ahead of the others... any reason why its not much more expensive but seems to have much better features??

Fujifilm S700 w/ 2GB SD card - $168.00 @ Newegg
Features: 2.5" LCD, 7.1MP, 10x optical zoom (Damn!), 4.8x digital zoom

Canon Powershot SD1000 w/ 1GB SD card - $169.99 @ Newegg
Features: 2.5" LCD, 7.1MP, 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom

Canon Power Shot SD750 w/ 1GB SD card - $209.99 @ Newegg
Features: 3.0" LCD, 7.1MP, 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom

Nikon Coolpix L15 - $149 @ Nikon website (can't find on Newegg)
Features: 2.8" LCD, 8.0MP, 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom

Looks like I'm leaning on the Fujifilm... but, why are the others (the Canons) so expensive with little to offer in raw abilities? Do they have some kind of special thing I overlooked that is better than the zoom? (I was always taught optical zoom is a highly important feature secondary to the MP)

Thanks again guys!
-Charger69

 

[WesM63]

I wish I knew. Maybe it doesn't have the reliability that Canon or Nikon has. To early to tell for me.

Its also SLR like, not as compact as the others, that may play a role in its price vs the others.

I think optical zoom is a huge feature in the PS category, you can't just change lens's to get more zoom like with a dSLR. I was never a big fan of Digital Zoom, so i never take that into consideration. The S700 actually comes with digital zoom turned off, other than that I can't find anything wrong with it. (playing with the one we got my mom)

 

[Charger69]

Awesome.. I think I'll probably get her that if no one offers anything groundbreaking about the Canons.

I actually dislike tiny cameras... and I would never buy her one based on compact size (hell I carry around a 17" laptop at college because I hate tiny screens) because I find ability > portability. Plus my fingers are clumsy......