Best digital camera under $200?

The Canon Powershot A550 is only $130 on Amazon. The A560 is $150 there. I own a compact Canon (A710) and it's excellent; at under $200 you're sacrificing features like image stabilization, longer zooms, and tiny size, but you still get the nice colors, well-designed menus, and extensive options and controls of Canon compacts. Those prices are superior to what you'd pay for a less advanced digital camera just four years ago.

I own a few Nikon DSLR's and I'd buy the Canon Powershot A630 or A640 for myself. These cameras have the larger sensor (1/1.8" or 5.2 mm x 7.2 mm) that is nearly double the sensor size you find in many point and shoot cameras and this translates into better image quality. They allow fully automatic use or total user control and offer several stages in between. The only significant difference between these cameras is that the A630 is 8 MP and the A640 is 10 MP.

If you're going to spend up to $200, look at a Canon Powershot A630. My brother has had his A630 for over a year and it's a very nice camera. You can get it at B&H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping) for $184.

If you can go to $300, look at the 10 MP Canon Powershot A640. This is an excellent camera. It sells for $260 and you can add a very nice memory card for under $40. The images from the A640 compare VERY favorably with the images from a Canon G7, which costs about twice as much.

For either camera, buy a 1 or 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera. The Ultra II would be excellent, but if you are really into video, you might prefer the faster Extreme III. These cards cost from about $25-45 at B&H and several other outlets.

A630: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Ca... (Read owner opinions)

A640: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_revi...
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona64...

my suggestion
go to yahoo shopping
digital cameras
digital camera GUIDE
be sure to check titles on the left side
the guide should answer your questions