There are many quality, small, point-and-shoots that are well under $200, and the picture quality is excellent. Almost any of the Nikon, Canon, or Panasonic cameras will be more than adequate. Do you have access to a Costco store? I just looked at their selection and they have a Nikon Coolpix L22 with a 3.6 zoom, 12 megapixels, a case, and an SD card...on sale for $80. You can also find good deals at Target, Amazon, or Fred Meyer.

There are so many good, cheap cameras out there that it's hard to say: "Here are the best couple." My suggestion is to go to a site like Amazon, where there are many product reviews, and just see which ones have good reviews at a reasonable price.

I have the Canon Power Shot, my daughters (12 and 14), neice aand nephew do also. Very easy to use and upload pics etc. Can get onine or Target usually has good price on it.

Get one with easy access to the SD card so you can just pop it out, and pop it into a USB card reader (a separate purchase, but worth it). That's much easier than the patch cord, and if it's easy to get the card out, you can change it on the fly if you want to keep shooting.

Framing is a bit of a bother with a little digital camera, so an easy to operate zoom is your friend. A macro function is also useful.

Mine has a video function that I've never used. I can dream up things it would be useful for, but I never do use it.

My brother, who is a photographer, chose mine, and I find it very easy to use. It's a Canon PowerShot, also. The thing that's specific to it that I really like is the grip on the side. That is, the bump in the front. Makes it much easier to hold and shoot one handed. OTOH, if you want to put your camera in your pocket, you might prefer something flat.

I have some very fine 35mm SLRs. They do take better fine photographs. The best of them will blow your socks off with how amazing the snapshots are, but it's a pain to use. The digital is quick and easy, gives you instant preview of what you've taken, and only wastes a little battery life to retake, not materials, chemicals, etc. A little digital camera is a great thing!

The Nikon at Costco is right up my price range. I said my price range was $200, but in all honesty, I'm a total tightwad, so cheaper is always better. That's an extra $120 I can spend on the kitchen : ).

med22 and plllog,
My husband and I have always owned Canons, so I'll take a look at the Power Shot too. Is there a model # you recommend? I see there are a few listed.

Our current smallish digital camera (not DH's SLR) is a Canon G2. It's not one you can easily tuck into a purse or take to a store to get a picture of tile. Plus, it's going on 9 or 10 years old, practically a digital dinosaur.

Mine is a few years old: A720 IS. Extra features aren't as important as ease of use and ease of carry, along with picture resolution. Mine has a lot of features which, being a trained photographer I can see myself looking up and using for special occasions, but which I don't use on a daily basis.

There are models that sell as low as $99 and as much as $350. Your best bet is to check out the Nikon and Canon that cost least and see which one is easiest to use and feels best in your hand.

Point and shoot that is good in low light

Canon S90 if you can find one or S95 if not.

These are head and shoulders above other point and shots for Image quality and low light capability.

Avoid the Kodak EasyShare; unless you plunk down an extra ~60.00 for a rechargable battery pack and charger, you'll be going through lithium batteries left and right (it only comes with a non-rechargable battery pack), and the camera won't load without the very bloated (and not very functional) software installed, what a disappointment this camera has been to us.

I have canon power shot sd1200...think that has been replaced with sd1300 and sd 1400. I think it goes for about $125-150 at Target. SD card is easy to pop out, but we just use the cord no problem.

HTH

Good to know. ghostlyvision, thanks for the info. I'll definitely avoid the Kodak Easy Share. I'll check out some of the Nikon and Canon models listed here and see what feels best and are easy to remove the card, etc. This has been so helpful in narrowing down the field.

Thank you!

We bought the Sony Cybershot about a year ago and are very happy with it. It has a surprisingly good wide angle lens which helps when taking pictures in small spaces. I want to say it has the widest angle available in a compact point-and-shoot. It also has settings for taking good pictures without flash in almost no light.

I have a Nikon D 200 which has a marvelous lens and I love to use it at home but it is so heavy and bulky that like the OP I have also been looking for a "field" camera. I took a course a while back and the teacher had a Panasonic Lumix. I'm not sure if that is still a good choice but it is one I would look at.

I, too, was only using my iPhone to record the new house being built so I didn't have to carry around the large Digital Dinosaur that my old Sony was. I wanted a new small camera but with as much zoom as I could get with a lens that closed (not a cap to remove/replace), and a rechargeable battery. I ended up with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. I love it (12x optical zoom). The best price was found online.

I have a Casio Exilim which is a good general camera if you're not flash dependent and it has a super video feature.
Easy to use, long battery, decent in medium light, lightweight and portable. I had 10 px.

Recently upgraded to Canon S95 which has a better close up feature, excellent in low light, good video and better flash. But also heavier and much more complicated to use -- I'm still learning. Many more adjustments.

For a beginner or casual user the Casio should be great.

I buy cameras from buydig as I found they have good prices and quick shipping.

I also just got a Casio EXILIM (14MP, which is kind of silly). I'm really happy with it, for what it is. It was $79.00 on WOOT, and takes nice pix and video. If you're not a purist, it has some built in image processing that can handle much more challenging lighting really well. But you have to realize what you're getting: these will have smaller apertures, noisier sensors, smaller zooms, won't deal well with low light, and have small flashes located right near the lens. But under the right conditions, they can do quite well. (One issue with the Casio: It takes a special Casio battery, rather than the AA or AAA batteries that I have all over the place. But their battery lasts a couple of days. )

By way of background: I'm a major (D)SLR guy, with a big canon rig and lots of Canon lenses. Our living room is decorated with lots of my landscape and wildlife (full disclosure: some from the zoo, of course) and other shots. I love photography.

I got the Casio because I wanted something that I can always stick in my pocket. The best camera is the one that you have with you when you need to get the shot :)

Remember: Subject, lighting, and technique beat out equipment every time.

We also have a Canon S3-IS, which is a higher-quality point-and-shoot. Under the right conditions, it can take pix that are really close to anything I can shoot with the DSLR. It's newer siblings are great cameras too (like the SX30 IS). It's kinda big, though, for a point-and-shoot. I think of cameras in this class as "crossovers" -- big enough lenses and sensors for very good pictures, but small enough to not require a big dedicated bag.

If you want the best P&S picture quality, lots of zoom range, and don't mind paying a bit more in $ and size, the Lumix or Canon "crossovers" always seem to be the best bets to me.

If you want a simple hand-held P&S, there are lots of options, including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, and Casio... and lots of sites with high-quality reviews: www.steves-digicams.com, www.dpreview.com/ are good.

Love my Panasonic Lumix, from Costco. Waited a full year to finally have the money to purchase it. Think it was approx $200. Did lots of research before hand. DD has Nikon Cool Pix w/ Touch Screen - ($130) she loves it.

Have fun!

I went to Costco. I saw the Canon Powershot 1300 I believe. It seems nice. I had inadvertantly set off the alarm at the camera display. The guy who came to shut it off couldn't say enough good things about the Nikon S6000 saying it was a better camera for around the same price (within $20) as the Canon. Of course they didn't have the Nikon in stock, so I couldn't compare the two side by side. I'll be heading to Target today to check them out, hopefully they have them both.

10K I saw the Lumix. I think DH would be leery of the Panasonic. He's a Canon guy like people are Ford or Chevy guys. He's been not-so-subtley steering me to the Canons claiming we already have the software, know the format, blah, blah, blah. I kinda stopped listening to his list of reasons.

What features do you like about the Lumix?

So, once I had mentioned to DH that I wanted a camera, it became his deal. He started by dictating that it HAD to be a Canon as he's a Canon guy. Then, I went looking and couldn't find one I really liked, so I dropped it. We're just about to go into the serious, final push of getting the kitchen done, so it was NOT the hill I wanted to die on.

So today, out of the blue, he gave me a camera. It's a Nikon s8100. When I said something about it not being a Canon, he said he realized that it wasn't for HIM and that the Canon thing is his personal hang up.

Now I can finally get some pictures of the kitchen that don't look like they've been taken in a cave!

LOL! Wonderful, have fun with the new camera!

I work with a pro photographer sometimes and he says Canon is for copiers - camera division has really slipped apparently. Nikon and the Panasonic Lumix are what he recommends for us point and shoot types. Enjoy your new camera.

>I work with a pro photographer sometimes and he says Canon is for copiers - camera division has really slipped apparently.

There's no bigger division on earth than that between Canon people and Nikon people. North vs South, Mac vs Windows, gas vs induction are all nothing to that one. :)

"When I said something about it not being a Canon, he said he realized that it wasn't for HIM and that the Canon thing is his personal hang up"

LOL! That DH is a keeper! Enjoy your camera!

Interestingly, I have a Canon Powershot point-n-shoot and my Iphone takes WAY better pictures and has a wider angle lens. All my recent pics on GW are Iphone pictures.

"When I said something about it not being a Canon, he said he realized that it wasn't for HIM and that the Canon thing is his personal hang up"

LOL! That DH is a keeper! Enjoy your camera!

Interestingly, I have a Canon Powershot point-n-shoot and my Iphone takes WAY better pictures and has a wider angle lens. All my recent pics on GW are Iphone pictures.

I am a Sony girl.

I love the Sony Cybershot W370. Super cheap under $200
and is a compact point and shoot digital camera.
Perfect for me. Easy to use too.

I also love my fathers's Sony Alpha camera. He is not
a techie guy but is a photography guru. His pictures come
out fantastic but at $600 they should.

~boxer