I hope no one is offended about a post for a digital camera, however, my husband and I leave for Italy in one week and finally became hip to buy a digital camera for the trip so we can bore everyone when we get back. I'd love suggestions on a camera that does both stills and I guess a bit of video? yet fairly small in size...medium price, but willing to spend if necessary. Thanks so much in advance..I'll download trip when I return for all to see.

You might try a search in the Travel Tech forum: http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...e=5&LastLogin=

In the mean time I'd advise the Sony P5 or P9, they are priced well, do stills and video, are small and have excellent battery power.

I'll second the advice on the Sony DSC-P9. It has 4 mil. pixels (plenty for most types of usage), allows for stills and short movies (of very good quality) and with the memory sticks is very very easy to use. I�m not a Sony fan and find some of their products a bit gimmicky, but this camera, which I got about three months ago, is simply awesome. It�s also small enough to not be too noticeable, which is pretty useful depending where you travel.

A little advice: buy an extra battery and one or two 128kb memory sticks, you�ll need them.

Is this thread off-topic? Oh, well. Might as well add some fuel to the fire...

I'd recommend a camera without proprietary batteries (as most/all of the Sonys have). I have an Olympus C-4040 that takes rechargable AA's and in a pinch will accept alkaline AAs.

Bware ofcameras that don't have an optical viewfinder. The LCD viewfinder is the biggest consumer of battery power on the camera. With an optical viewfinder you can leave the LCD off while you're taking pictures.

Count on taking more pictures with the digital than you would with a film camera. So you'll either need a couple of 128Meg or larger cards or some means of moving the pictures off of the card onto something else. There are devices (one of which has the trade name "digital wallet") that are essentially a hard drive, battery pack and card reader rolled into one so you can have what amounts to unlimited picture storage - certainly enough for a trip of a week or two.

3 meg pixels is OK for most photos but I went ahead and got a 4 meg camera so hopefully I won't want to upgrade again quite as soon. You're looking at $500-700 IMO.

I have a Sony P9 as well and I LOVE it. My father, a camera nut who seems to get a new one every week, has given me a Nikon Coolpix 5700 and an Olympus E-20. He keeps telling me to put away 'that toy' and use a real camera. Guess which one I use 99% of the time. The SONY!

The quality is great, the ability to shoot short movies (with sound) is a lot more useful than it seems at first, and the memory sticks are VERY durable and easy to use. Get two of the 128MB sticks, you'll love having so much space for pictures. My only complaint is that the batteries don't last nearly long enough. I carry three with me and it can be a pain keeping them charged but I often go through them all.

Geek minds think alike

I also recently bought a Sony Cybershot DSC-P9! I actually have FOUR batteries for it and don't think that is excessive.

I love the camera, but have to admit that even with discounts, the costs with all the accessories can really add up! Not only did I buy extra batteries and memory sticks, I also bought another charger. The on-camera charger that comes with it is fine, and permits you to run the camera on AC (for reviewing/editing, for example), but I found the separate dual-battery charger to be useful as well and so purchased it.

A couple of tips if you purchase a Sony camera:

Register it online within 30 days of purchase and you'll get an online coupon good for $20 off an accessory purchase at sonystyle.com.

http://www.sonystyle.com/home/promo_...682&promoid=13

I used my $20 off to purchase a Cybershot "starter kit" consisting of a battery, a camera case, and a memory stick case (hard shell, holds 8 sticks). List price of the kit is around $80, and the battery alone normally costs $60-70, so not a bad deal especially with the discount.

Another tip: If you travel without a laptop for a lengthy period, you'll need more memory sticks to hold your photos (maybe someone already said that -- sorry). Also, if you use the camera for shooting movies, those take up a lot of space, so you'll need more memory sticks.


Kathy

P.S.: I used my Sony DSC-P9 to shoot my SeaDoo IV pictures (see Flyertalk Miles Community topics).

Just be very careful in Italy when it comes to pickpockets. Rome is notorious and you wouldn't want to lose your new camera.

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I Love New York -- Viva Espa�a

If its your first digital, you might start out with a more modest camera. Look for anything with at least 2 mega pixel resolution, which is good enough to print 5x7's and maybe even larger prints. Better resolution is better generally, but the higher resolution cameras are usually more complicated to work and definitely more expensive.

I started out with an Olympus d360--they make a similar model now with 2 meg resolution for about $200 that is much improved over what I had. It takes AA batteries which is great. Stop by Target and get a set of lithium rechargeable batteries and a charger.

I have since moved up to the Pentax Optio. 4 megs which I rarely use. It is a sleek camera that is smaller than a box of cigarrettes. However, it is much harder to use.

If you have and use a point and shoot, get the same brand. Shorter learning curve.

I don't like Sony, as they have propriatary batterys, memory, and storage software.

Get a camera that takes AA batteries and std memory chips. Get extra batteries and memory.

Get a USB card reader for your memory.

Buy a 2 or 3 megapixal camera for $3-500 and play with it for a while.

A good 3 megapixel camera to look at is the Olympus 30x0 line. I have the 3040, and love it. (At the time I bought it, it was a HIGH-end camera )

AA batteries, good form factor, excellent shots. I've gotten 20"x30" prints made off this camera, and it's not even one of those new-fangled 4- and 5-megapixel cameras I've been drooling over

The Olympus served me quite well on my recent European Roller Coaster Odyssey ( http://www.gregleg.com/coastershrine/Europe/ ).

[This message has been edited by GregLeg (edited 08-21-2002).]

I bought a Canon s110 (now s200) for my wife for her birthday last year. It's a 2.1mp camera, but it's really small and light.

Our first trip with it was to Rome, actually, and it worked great. It does take small video clips w/sound - 15 secs on high quality, 1min on low. It also has a fully metal body so it is hard to ding up/break etc. It's smaller than a pack of cigarettes. I did buy an extra battery and a 128mb card. Should be less than $400 for all.

Everyone we show it to is amazed...had a whole pub crowded around us in Ireland!

The sony's are nice, but more expensive and bigger/heavier.

Greg

I'll second the S200. I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. The form factor, zoom, and metal case made it the camera of choice for me, even though it is 2.1mp.

Cheers,

birdstrike

I have the Canon S300 (now the S330 with some enhancements). I love my camera for the reasons stated above. Also it has a cable which allows you to play back your pictures and/or video on a TV set.

Downside to the S300 however is that the battery life is not that great. Admitedly I usually use the LCD viewfinder (thus sucking up power) but my understanding is that other cameras have better battery life. Also, low-light and flash situations could be better. I understand at least the power issue has been improved with the S330. It does use a proprietary battery, so make sure you have the correct adapter to use with the charger while you're overseas.

For all of you who responded, I send my true thanks! I knew I could count on Flyertalk participants for the most intelligent answers and it seems you are 50%50% Sony/Cannon. I am all set with my decision (not telling so I don't insult the other half)