Best bang for buck digital camera for $200 or less?

[josh6079]

I've got a friend who wants a good digital camera for under $200. She doesn't want something extreme and as long as it looks good and takes decent pictures she'll be happy. What camera should she look in to?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Slugbait]

I did some research for my sister two months ago, she ended up with a Canon A540. Very nice camera for under $200.

 

[mithrandir2001]

Many will say the Canon A540 which is a "does everything well but nothing extraordinarily" kind of digicam. That's the mainstream pick.

I suggest the Panasonic Lumix LZ5. It has an optically-stabilized 6x zoom (unusual in the under-$200 category), 2.5" LCD and can take a ton of pics on a set of NiMH AAs. Image stabilization is great, I wouldn't want a camera without it.

 

[Seekermeister]

When asking a similar question lately, here is what was recommended to me:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120040

But here is another that caught my eye, only because of the megapixels:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=335880&pfp=nov26

According to the following article, I suspect that CompUSA's camera lacks features:

http://cameras.about.com/cs/choosingacamera/a/megapixels.htm

 

[josh6079]

Hey, thanks guys! I'm sure she'll like one of those.

 

[benplaut]

i have a A540. It's a good camera, but not much for manual adjustments. For my sister, the budding amateur, it's Kodak Z760 till death. that camera rocks

 

[scarywoody]

www.dpreview.com is a good site for camera reviews.

 

[sniperruff]

you can easily find a canon SD600 under $200 these days.