Digital camera recomendations

[Popeye]

Thanks for all the replies folks. I'm headed to Jacksonville this afternoon so I plan on taking the recomendations with me to do some shopping. Pat

[scorrpio]

Well the LCD on the back should only be used to review your photo's. Not to compose and take the shot. Imagine a rifle with a video screen. You are still going to hold it tight to your shoulder and get a good stable shooting position...When you hold a camera out in front of you you do not have a stable shooting position.....I have seen some cameras without a view finder....

I dunno, comparing a rifle (which produces recoil when you shoot it) to a 5oz camera is a bit off-kilter. Heck, when you shoot a pistol, you don't press it against your cheekbone or shoulder, do you? Why would a two-hand grip on a say, 2lb Beretta92 (which also got recoil) be considered stable, and a 2-hand grip on a 5oz camera not? Not to mention that viewfinder on most P&S cameras is a very simple affair, virtually useless to determine what's in the picture and what's not - especially if using zoom or in macro mode (viewfinder messes up closeups due to parallax). I find myself using viewfinder on a P&S camera only when the sun is so bright that is 'drowns' the LCD.

On an SLR, where you have a rather massive lens that needs support, and the viewfinder 'sees' through the main lens, it's a whole different story - here, you use viewfinder for picture composition, no argument.

[Knottscott]

I don't have alot of experience with other digital cameras, but we've been really pleased with our Kodak Z740.

[gugie]

My best advise is to find one that is just on the other side of not being made anymore. 6 months ago I did my research online and thought I had selected the best camera for my needs, then found out that all the local retailers didn't have them, but would gladly sell me the replacement model. Went online and found the camera I originally was looking at for nearly half off.