symesa

Canon. I love Canon.

BTW, you should have Jay researching here:
Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photograp

_Sue_

We have a canon.

jalapeno_76

Jodi, I was in the same place you were last year! It ended up being a 6 week search for the perfect camera (mostly because my DH is a crazy researcher).

Anyway, first I wanted the FujiFilm similar to what you have. Then it was going to be the Olympus. But we finally settled on the Kodak Z612 (part of the EasyShare system).

Gotta say that I love the camera. It's point and shoot, with lots of manual options if you want to play with them. Very little shutter lag. Long zoom with optical image stabilization (hard to find in this price range). And I think when I bought it was like $229 at Staples. Yay! I feel like it's a good bridge to an SLR, which is what my next camera will be.

Emma

I have 2 canons. ONe is the Rebel XTI and then I have a Powershot. Love both of them. I would recommend something like this:


It has amazing zoom

or this (also with great zooming)

Lynni

We are in he same boat!! I was at the store to buy the Canon like Jenny's, only I'm not that camera savvy. I got frustrated and left.

Please, someone, I need something that takes great pictures without having to fiddle with lenses, settings, lighting, etc. I am so photo stupid, it is sad.

8marie

We have the similar but older Kodak and we also love it. I get compliments on my pics all the time. Easy and takes GREAT pics. I also have never run out of battery life. I only charge it every 2 weeks to a month and it holds battery well. My mom's Olympus SUCKS battery life right out of the camera....she is ALWAYS searching for batteries.

jalapeno_76

YES! And the model I have came with the Li battery and charger. It holds a charge forever and charges completely in about 3 hours. Not all Kodak models come with the battery and charger, so beware of that.

My parents have the Kodak that's a step down... similar zoom, but no image stabilization. So anything they use the zoom for comes out fuzzy... the image stabilization really important. Theirs also didn't come with the batter and charger...

baseballmama

I love Canon cameras too. After buying my first one, I vowed never to go back. I have had 3 of the Canon Powershots like Emma posted. They are point & shoot - idiot proof But they take great pictures and the camera is so small I can carry it in my purse. And no lenses needed!

murpheyblue

Well, you'll be really happy with a dSLR regardless of what you pick. I have a Rebel and I love it so I'm biased. The kit lens on most of the dSLRS isn't anything to write home about but if you're just shooting on auto it's not something you really need to worry too much about. As you/if you get more interested in photography you can expand your lens collection. A 50 mm 1.8 lens is a great lens to add on and is super cheap (less than $100). Or just buy the body only and get the 50 1.8 in lieu of the kit lens.

Like Jenny said, the Rebel isn't hard to use. It had auto modes that make it as user friendly as any point and shoot.

brandanaleighana

I just want to chime in with Jenny and Ali about the DSLR. They have auto mode and the cameral does all the work. It's like having a point and shoot but the quality of the SLR. I'm partial to canon but I'm sure other DSLR brands are just as good.