Looking for advice on digital cameras...?

That's a big question.

Higher megapixels = better print quality but larger file size so less pics per memory card.

Optical zoom = good. Digital zoom = bad. Go for a minimum of 3x optical zoom. 10x is great if you're into wildlife/bird photography. Forget digital zoom. It's a waste of time.

As for brands, I tend to go for those who also make decent film cameras, like Canon.

You don't say how much you want to spend, but have a look at the Canon A630. Or if you want a cheapy check out the Samsung S850 which is currently £99 in Argos.

Best of luck!

About 5 mega-pixel is good enough unless you print very large sizes. Then it will be the cost of paper and ink that will stretch your (mum's) budget. With so many cameras on the market you can really get confused, but you might try this approach. I have a fujifilm fine-pix S5600 (150 euro). This is the model BEFORE the newer S5600 SD. (460 euro) which has "face detection". You can do face or any other detection on any camera once you learn, and how many time do you need this "feature" on landscapes anyway. I suggest that you look at the "model before the latest" of ANY make to save money. Now, you MUST have a viewfinder (some "latest offerings" don't have one which makes them useless with the sun behind you. Also, its much easier to keep the camera steady with the viewfinder. An optical zoom of anything 5 - 10 is OK. But remember a zoom is just a large telescope that MUST be held steady. Digital zoom is just plain nonsense. Look for a camera with rechargeable batteries (standard AA). If you must be suckered into a magnificent large screen, OK, but it will use greater battery power. Other replies may help you with specific makes of camera. Good luck.

Don't get blinded by the Mega-pixel mania. Anything about 5mp and over will be fine for normal use.

Often higher specs does not mean a better picture. Many companies cram in extra mega-pixels and zoom range and other surplus stuff at the expense of important things like build quality, lens quality and sensor size,

Go for a known Brand like Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Sony etc. You may see another brand that you have never heard of the seems to offer a lot more for the same money such as 10mp instead of 7mp ad more zoom range etc, but then you have to remember they have cut corners to make a camera that looks good on paper but may not be as good in the real world.

also

Cheaper cameras seem to eat batteries at a remarkable rate which can be expensive in the long run so a camera that uses a rechargeable Ni cad type battery will give a much better life per charge and save money. (but cost more initially)

Remember to budget in for a memory card.

If you get the choice, go for the well known brands like Canon.

These days look for around five mega pixels and upwards. Quality brands are more likely to have quality lenses which is of equal if not more importance than the resoloution. A cheap seven mega pixel camera with poor quality optics will just give you a bigger poor quality image.

3x Optical zoom or more (for a compact camera)

Digital zoom is next to useless and not worth bothering with, I wouldn't even consider it when comparing cameras.

Look for anything from 4-10 megapixels, though even the 4 mp cameras will give you fine pictures. 3x optical zoom is good, 4 or more is better (though costlier). Avoid digital zooms as all they do is magnify the existing image. You can do all that in the computer later.

Brands? For basic point-n-shoots, Canon, Nikon, Casio, HP, Kodak, Panasonic, Olympus, Sony, & Fujifilm make great cameras. That would cover the $150 - $500 range.

All this, of course, depends upon your budget.

If you're going $600 or more, look at Nikon D40 or Canon Rebel XT.

Here's one guide for you to look at.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/2007-05-what-camer...

It depends on what you're going to use it for.. If you got the money to spend, go for the higher mega pixels, and max optical zoom you can buy.. Digital zoom crops the picture, so it decreases the quality of the picture the more you zoom it. But if you're a little tight with the money, you can always choose acceptable megapixels, 5.0 is good enough. My phone has a 3.2 mp camera and it takes really good pictures, you only want higher megapixels if you're going to print really huge pictures. I suggest you go to sonystyle.com to see all sony cameras, camcorders and their specifications. You can also visit esupport.sony.com to learn more about sony cameras. I got to warn you though, Sony has really great cameras, but I worked as a sony tech support before, and if you have a broken camera, and it's you're fault why it broke, you are going to pay $200 for the repair of a $250 camera, but if its not you're fault (ie lcd suddenly turned white but you didn't drop it), they're going to repair it for free.. Building up sony then bringing it down eh.. Anyway canon has good cameras too..

It would have been easier had you specified your mom's budget.

- Digital Zoom is Nothing! Fake! just for marketing....

The REAL zoom is the OPTICAL zoom!!

- Optical zoom, the more the better!

- You don't need more than 6MP for printing your photos

- Ask for an image stabilizer (IS), that's an important feature.

- Brands: 1. Canon 2. Sony 3. Nikon

(don't go for cheaper ones)

Many cameras to choose from. Consider the Canon PowerShot A630. 4X optical zoom, 8 megapixels. Excellent 8X10 print.

To make life easy on yourself just check into brands of Sony, Canon and Fuji. Check into Website dpreview.com

Your camera should have the following specs to be a decent camera.. Here's one that does:

The best camera for under $200 is the Canon A550

* 7.1 Megapixel

*4X Optical Zoom

* Very good photo quality, noise levels low through ISO 400 (in good light)

* Well built for the price

* Very good performance

* LCD visible in low light

* Some manual controls

* AF-assist lamp, good low light focusing

* Good movie and continuous shooting modes

* Impressive software bundle

* Uses AA batteries; great battery life

* USB 2.0 High Speed support

Fujifilm Finepix A920 I've got the E900 and it's the best camera I've ever had. It's easy to use wit hexcellent battery life and superb quality photos. By the way Battery life is an important thing to consider as my Olympus ate them in no time at all!