The camera I mentioned takes video as well. A lot of video too. I take videos of my daughter all the time, and upload them onto private youtube for her great grandma to see. It has a ton of settings on this dial you turn. http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/W170/W170A.HTM# That link should show the photo of the back view of the camera where the dial is. My camera is red. They have an option for automatic shooting where you dont play with any settings besides zoom/flash. Then they have a setting one one up where you can change a few more settings. Then a more advanced setting where a lot of settings can be changed. The link says its $300, but it isnt. I bought mine through Wal Mart on sale in Feb. I dont see them there anymore though. You can buy them online though. The camera has a child or adult face detection mode, smile shutter (neat where it will automatically take photos everytime someone smiles). The smile shutter can also be adjusted for the level of smile needed to snap the shot. It also has Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, and Twilight using a Tripod. Those are more of the settings on the camera. Either the twilight or the backlight option can make a photo taken in pure darkness, light like taken in the day. Standard Scene modes include Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Fireworks, Smile Shutter, and Underwater. The Sony W170 Menu system gives you access to Twilight, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, and Underwater. The others are on the Mode dial. I laughed so hard using the creative effects to photos after you shoot using any of 10 editing functions, including: Trimming, Red-Eye adjustment, Soft Focus filter, Unsharp Mask, Cross filter, Partial Color filter, Fish-eye filter, Retro, Radial Blur and Happy Face (really funny). The Happy Face effect uses photo retouching to put a smile on faces, with smile levels adjustable from 1 to 5. Danielle

I think I finally found a winner. I am going to be posting shots from the other cameras too. The Nikon coolpix S8200 does great zoom shots and can get good closeups of flowers and that wasn't even on the macro setting. I posted some pictures here. Great detail on the sweet alyssum and that was a zoom taken from a standing position. The gazebo close up one was taken from the deck at the top of the property. The gazebo is almost at the bottom. You can see the difference between using the zoom and taking it wide open. Also see the property denuded of trees. DH has been cutting down all the Monterey Cypress but that is another story. Clare Here is a link that might be useful: Camera comparison

check out the Canon Power Shoot series. I have the older S2 model. later models may have corrected a few of the shortfalls. One flaw was when using the default settings, it tneded to burn out highlights. This can be fixed by moving the mode wheel from 'auto' to 'P' (programmable). Now in one of the menus, adjust the exposure to -1/3 f-stop. This adustnemt applies only when the mode wheel in on 'P'. Good features: 1. Very fast boot-up. Typically, is ready to shoot in 1/2 second after pushing the on-switch. 2. Fast image write and ready for the next shot. My delay between shots is 2 seconds, but is because I have the view time set for 2 seconds. After a shot is made, it is shows in the viewfinder or rear display for a short time to allow one to accept the shot or take another one. This delay time is adjustable and when set to zero, the required write-time between shots is very short. I find that the 2 second review time between shots works for me. 3. The auto focus is fast in good light. When the light falls below a certain level, a low level green led spot light turns on to aid focusing. This is effective over short distances. Learn where this spot window is on the camera and practice using hand positions that do not cover the spot light. My camera stores images only in jpg format. You may want a camera that can store in other formats.

Start trimming your wish list then if you want to trim the price. Try this: Canon PowerShot A560 Joe