Digital Camera for a Novice?

[jgbishop]

I'd like to get into digital photography, but I don't know a whole lot about it. I'd like to buy a digital camera that's easy enough for a novice, but has all the advanced controls available for me to learn with (I don't want to have to buy 2 cameras - one now and one later).

What cameras do you recommend for such a purpose? I would probably use the camera on trips I take, and macro-photography looks cool. Doing night photography would also be neat (now that I live in a dark location and can see lots of stars).

Any suggestions? Just for kicks, let's assume my budget is unlimited.

 

[jgbishop]

bump

 

[RandomFool]

I like my canon sd110 but it's getting old and the zoom isn't great. The sd400 is the newer model I believe...it's small, easy to use and takes great pictures. There's probably something better for what you want out there. I know Kodak makes a good one.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Maybe a Canon S2?

My own Canon A40 is still chugging along after 3.5 years.
I got some lenses to allow me to do macro shots and I've got some options for longer exposure control for night shots that etc.

The Canon S2 seems like a nice point an shoot with some options that you could expand on later to give some more control over what's going on.

I'm not a camera expert or anything though

 

[imported_Stew]

Canon Powershot A520 or anything from the A-series by Canon. Great for beginners. Tons of features for any skill level

 

[ElFenix]

get a fully manual pentax and learn to take pictures first.

 

[jgbishop]

Thanks for the suggestions folks! Any other recommendations?

 

[BriGy86]

i suggest canon

cheapest one we sell at work would probably be an A510

 

[0roo0roo]

a610
279 at amazon
has automatic settings, or loads of customization, uses their newer digic 2 chip so is very fast.
runs on 4 aa, so u can fiddle as u please, just use nimh rechargable aa and it'll last quite a while.

s2 if you can afford it. is bigger and has image stabilization.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Originally posted by: jgbishop
I'd like to get into digital photography, but I don't know a whole lot about it. I'd like to buy a digital camera that's easy enough for a novice, but has all the advanced controls available for me to learn with (I don't want to have to buy 2 cameras - one now and one later).

What cameras do you recommend for such a purpose? I would probably use the camera on trips I take, and macro-photography looks cool. Doing night photography would also be neat (now that I live in a dark location and can see lots of stars).

Any suggestions? Just for kicks, let's assume my budget is unlimited.

Sounds like the Canon A520 I have. I'm not a photographer and can't compare it to a lot of other cameras, but it's good for those just getting into photography.
You can set it to AUTO and let the camera do the work or you can set to manual and adjust shutter speed and aperature. You can also adjust metering, white balance, and flash intensity. It's got predefined modes like, indoor, beach, foliage, night shot, fireworks etc.
It's only $160 at this point.