for which I do apologise (thanks for your patience!) I would like to rectify on the megapixel issue...and I really can't get to grips as to how this passed me by when reflecting on resolution needs etc...

Anyway, one of the big big plusses of digital photography is the ability to post process the images yourself of course, and without the hassle of the dark room chemicals etc...AND one of the cool bonuses available is to be able to "re-compose" your shot (crop/trim/zoom/change ratio etc...) prior to printing... For me a big advantage..and of course, to have the maximum flexibility, it is best to have a high resolution....I do still feel however that this should not be in detriment of image quality, but that is my personal bias...

So, even if you are not going to do much zooming in the timeline, it is good to have loads of pixels to "play around" with in the photo editing stage...

Just wanted to correct myself....I'll just have to keep reminding myself to think before I "speak.."

Regards,

Paul.

Some considerations:

Currently, Consumer Reports rates Sony and Canon as the most reliable. From most to least:

Sony
Canon
Olympus
Panasonic
Fuji
Casio
HP
Kodak
Nikon
Tohiba
JVC

The best value (and one of the best-selling) cameras is the Canon A70. dealcam shows the A70 at $270 currently.

I evaluated the Sony P-92, Fuji S5000, and Canon A80. The Canon came out light-years on top. It's a great value for a 4-meg camera.

David

I've recently upgraded my digital camera to the new Canon EOS300d. I whole heartedly recommend this camera if you want to progress your photographic skills. There is NOT a digital camera that can touch the quality for under $1000 (£1000). This is a 6.3m pixel camera but DON'T judge a camera by the number of mega pixels!!! A good example of this is the new Sony DSC-F828 which is 8mp but the quality is not as good as the DSC-F717.
You need to look at overall quality.
The Sony DSC-F717 as suggested above is a good camera but the quality does not touch the Canon. The Sony's noise at various ISO settings is it's main problem and also it suffers from Chromatic Abberation.

A couple of very good sites for an unbiased review of most cameras are:

http://www.dpreview.com
http://www.steves-digicams.com

Good look in your search.

David

If you have usenet access, rec.photo.digital is a group that might be worth a browse. In the past, I have read through message posts there to take the pulse of "whats happening now" in the digital cameras.

I also agree that the review web sites mentioned by others are great resources. I does help to already have narrowed your selections before going there.