If I've never owned a digital video or still camera before, what would be recommended to buy?

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

i have a panasonic DMC-TZ1
its 5mp, 10X optical zoom and 4Xdigital zoom
price approx:USD$350-400
There is a panasonic1 which is lik 6or 7 MP wit 12Xor so zoom if u want more
i dunno that model no
but that wil be a bit exp
hope that helped

Kodak cameras are great.