Would like to keep the dollars UNDER 400 or so. I'm NOT looking to do the digital SLR.....but something CLOSE....like the Canon S3 IS, where you have "Some" manual adjustments...and a decent Zoom...that's better than the Mom/Dad T-ball camera zoom. I like the 12X on the S3. Recommend a good place ONLine to purchase? I'd like a MIN of 6 Megapixels. SO MANY models to choose from..........HELP!! Thanks VERY much! (I always award the "best-answer" points!) The S3is is an excellent camera for the price. You may also consider looking into Panasonic - they use Leica glass which is very high end, and have some nice manual as well as automatic features. It's been a while, but look for the model that has a 12x zoom - it should be around $300-400.
Check www.bhphotovideo.com and www.ritzcameras.com for decent prices on new products. Canon S3 IS is about the best for what you want to pay. All other good SLR are beyond your budget. Stick with this one and learn how to handle the settings; read a book or two, take a class at the local YMCA/YWCA or at a community college. Otherwise, get the Canon S3 IS and read the instructions and somehow learn the jargon used in photography so that you can go to the different sites on the Internet and ask questions and know what they're talking about when they reply. Good luck and best wishes. DSLR is a digital slr. You want to keep the price down so perhaps you need to haunt ebay and use a sniping site to get your bids in.
I highly recommend the Olympus evolt series.. they have the e300 and e500. I suspect you might pull off a 300 with that price range, but think you might have to go a bit higher to get a 500.
https://www.ezsniper.com/error.php3?type...
is a sniping site that gives you I think 10 free winning bids before they start to charge you anything.
http://www.silvaspoon.net/cameras.html
has links for camera deals other than doing the ebay thing. | 