Have any suggestions on a good all around digital camera?????????? Simple easy to read and funtional!!!!!!!! Thanks

Functional**** digital camera!

I use the Sony 2.1 Megapixel Cyber-Shot camera and it is idiot proof. Simply point and click. It takes about an hour fooling around with the digital menus to understand its capacity but that is it. I have a wide angle lens for it (after market) and shoot at 640 x 480 resolution. Also, consider extended memory for the camera. I purchased a 128 Mb Memory Stick and can shoot well over a thousand pictures without changing anything. All of the pictures in my MEGA reviews were taken with it so you can get an idea of what the results look like.

If you are going to use it for the web primarily you don't have to go with a more expensive camera as you will never use the improved resolution on the web., Actually a 1.3 Megapixel is as sufficient and any thing larger for the web as the highest resolution you can get is 72 dpi anyway.

I would save money by buying a low Megepixel camera and then bite the bullet and purchase Adobe Photoshop 7.0. It will allow you to improve the quality of your images and also optimize the results for the web.

Have fun with it.

Tom

Tnank you that is the one i was looking at! It is great to hear from someone who has used the camera! My son will be home from summer camp so we have a week before our Alaska cruise on the Carnival ~ Spirit. Thank you!!!!!!

I used a Nikon CoolPix 775 on my cruise in January. It is small and easy to take on and off the ship. My husband is a photographer and he was amazed at the night pictures I took along South Beach.

Thanks for the suggestions. We are going to look at the sony tommorrow. I'm still taking my old minolta-its heavy it clicks and whirls and I love it. I think I have to look for a pair of binoculars too. ~ Just on the tv nbc the lost plane of gold in Alaska~ mystery for 50 years~ Hummmm Anyway also will take our digcam. So much to do so little time!!

thanks Brenda!

We just purchased the Sony Cyber-Shot! It's small with extra memory sticks. My son just loves it . Right now he is reading and practicing and setting it up.

It is a really great little camera. The pics are so clear and detailed. So Alaska here we go! The weather here in Southern Cal is cool and we had a little rain now . I think it is what we will get in Alaska if so OK. Not bad!

Digital Camera Pros and Cons
Interesting topic - thanks to all. Here's my view, as a non-professional with many years use of a 35mm SLR with a wide range of interchangeable lenses: after about 8 months use of a low end (2.3 megapixel HP 318), the HP is all I've been using.

CON: The film camera gives higher resolution if needed (and it generally is not)
The digital camera is so automatic that it's difficult to try photograper's tricks like usng a low f stop to blur foreground or background. Seldom a problem for most shots.
In low lighting without flash, the "shutter speed" is likely to be slow enough to blur fast moving objects. But the film camera might not get anything, without flash.

PRO: The camera and "film" are so compact they can be carried everywhere.
The depth of field is great, since the focal length (without optical zoom) is low.
Shots are possible in much lower light than with most films and f stops.
Computer software makes it possible to enhance the photos (contrast, brightness, color balance) in ways that still amaze me. Tom Ogg, I coouldn't agree with you more!
It's easy to snap a quick shot and produce the desired zoom by cropping the picture - so you don't lose the opportunity while selecting zoom or making other adjustments.
Digital "film" (flash cards) is not affected by airport X-rays.
Flash is often not necessary in low light. So the distraction of flash is avoided, and the natural light gives great depth of field. With flash, only the objects at a narrow distance away are correctly exposed. Everything else is either bleached out or too dark.
You can preview your shots instantly, and redo them where desirable. You can erase second rate photos so that your flash card holds only the cream of the crop. No need to keep 1000 photos on your flash card unless you want to.

FYI: Use of flash, viewing photos on the camera, and downloading to a computer use up batteries quickly. Besides flash cards, you might consider rechargable batteries and a charger. I carry 3 sets of batteries in my case and have never run short of power.