So now I have a Canon 20D with a couple of Lenses as I have always wanted to get a better camera, but like Yvonne said up top it all depends on how much money you have got or want to spend. Canon cameras start at $229 and go to $13.999 so there is plenty there to suit everybody, and as Canon make more cameras than any other company in the world that should speak for itself.

I have seen lots of good pics on the forum but one camera that stood out was the Panasonic Lumix it took good close up and macro with its zoom. What you should do is research I spent six months researching before I bought my first digital camera narrowing it down to three then I looked up all the reviews to see what people that owned them had to say, believe me that helped a lot, no good listening to salesmen at department stores if you want info go and ask at a camera store.

Dont forget to budget for the rechargable batteries and charger and a bigger Media card as the ones that come with the cameras are not big enough.. Hope this helps....Cheers..MM.

I just got asked by SIL what I wanted for Christmas (she's going in with a couple of other rellies)...digital camera is top of the list!

1. Digital cameras are a marriage of two techonologies: cameras and computers. Generally speaking, it is a safer bet to pick a camera brand - eg Olympus - rather than a computer brand that has started making cameras - eg Hewlard Packard. That's because the most important component is the lens, and experienced camera companies will do this better. Like all rules of thumb, there are probably exceptions, but it's a good place to start looking.

2. Don't be taken in by "digital zoom" - it is just what you do on your PC later, basically cropping. Optical zoom is the one that matters.

Well I have said enough here I have got 22 rose bushes they have been photographed many times

Garden_worm ..........Rockhampton

Every good digital camera today can handle average shooting conditions with almost no problems, but when it comes to delicate and difficult conditions, your personal preference chooses the right shooter.

For me, it's delicate, low light photography, macro photography and portraits. To find a camera which handles all those situations with no problems was difficult, but I was lucky -- absolutely first camera with body-integrated antishake (optical sensor stabiliser) was introduced by Konica Minolta just few months before I've decided to buy my first digicam.

Antishake solved two big problems:

1. Photography in low light, where I'm now allowed to have 8 times longer exposures than with some other digital camera (hey, 8 times longer exposure is a BIG number! it makes impossible shots now possible!). I'm able to take shots with 1/13 sec exposure and they're perfectly focused. For a normal camera, it's hard to get a perfect focus even with 1/60 sec. This is a big plus for antishake.

2. Macro photography -- new camera helped me neutralise hand shake and thus made macros always perfect. You all know how macro photography is actually difficult -- you do have to have a mini tripod, lots of patience, great light source and so many impossible things around you.

But with this camera it doesn't matter any more to me how I breathe and how I hold the camera .. and I don't need a tripod, because hand-held macro shots are almost always perfect. Also, for just few bucks, you can buy on the eBay some macro filters. They're great, because that's an inexpensive way to transform your already great macro performing camera into a formidable macro beast -- when you attach them to your lenses, macro filters reduce camera's focusing distance by factor of 2, 3 or 4 (for example) so now you're able to focus on bee's wings just 10 cm away or even closer!

To do the same thing with some DSLR camera you have to spend at least $1500-2000 (camera body plus good macro lenses plus good macro flash).

So, at the end of my story, I advise you: first be sure what you want to do with your camera and then try to find out what's the best solution for you. Never listen to the salesmen -- they will sell anything, just to get rid of the stock behind the counter. Investigate first, browse through all camera brands and check how much you can spend. How much you get for the money? What are the unique cool capabilities of your camera? Is it easy to use? Is it well made (i.e. is it made of plastic or some metal alloy)? How much freedom and versatility it gives you in your photography, what picture file formats it supports (for example, does it support RAW?), can you attach external flashgun onto it, which shooting modes it supports (for example, is it fully "automatic" and full of predefined program modes or does it also supports manual modes, where you can adjust all aspects of a particular shot manually, as your imagination wishes) ... and so on.

The more you investigate, the happier you'll be with your purchase.

Von.

So glad you've got your new camera Greencroc - they are time-wasters as you'll soon discover! I look forward to seeing some of your photos in the near future!

Von.