Have you tried Fujifilm A405?  Maybe even Fujifilm A340?

I have a particularly high regard of Fuji cameras after seeing some shots
taken at Easter and comparing them with my Nikon Compact.  On top of that,
Fuji have instore machines to print out your digital images.

I am off to look at one for the first time later today - so I count this as
a double plus for support.
I reckon most of the website comparison engines really focus on the good
points and often don't mention the poor ones.  For example, both the cameras
I listed above have power, video and mini-USB sockets exposed to the
elements without covers (?!?)

I am prepared to stick a bit of gaffer tape over them because I prefer the
image quality of Fuji CCDs especially in B&W.  hey-ho perfection does not
exist after all

I am new (and enthusiastic) to digital imaging too and realise it is a bit
of a minefield out there

Some digital cameras will allow you to use optical zzom while recording in
video mode, others will not (you'll be surprised at the brands that do not
offer it!)

Hope this helps

bagal

BTW support - it aint just a camera you are buying, look for:
image quality
print support
driver support (software drivers)
product support
image processing tools with your camera
batteries, batteries and even more batteries (my preference is NiMh 2300
rechargable - if you don't know what this means you will within one week of
receiving your new camera

B

pps - is it worth it?  all the hassle I mean
Ans you betcha - it is a very creative media when coupled with a modern
computer and you don't need all those lenses and chemicals for darkroom
stuff


"Andrew Rae" <raean@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4097fbb0_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...
> Hi, I'm in the market for a digital camera. My price range is around
>