There are many fine cameras out there within your price range. Personally I swear by my Olympus because not only is it the only brand I ever had thus the only one I know about, but also because of it's ease of use, I basically keep it on auto and let it do the work for me although it does have all the bells and whistles if I ever decide to actually learn to use them, lol. But whatever brand you chose, I am going to make one suggestion to help in your choice. Make sure it has at least, more is better but never less than, 10X OPTICAL zoom. I have physical problems that makes it hard for me to get up and close to some blooms, but I just zoom in and I'm right there. Also helps in wildlife photography since most wildlife don't let you get too close, lol. From my personal experience, MP numbers depend on what you plan to do with the pics. Higher MP numbers are for someone who wants to print pics bigger than the standard 8x10. Mine is only a 4mp and the few pics I do print out at 8x10 are great, sharp and clear, any bigger and they would look like crap. For the most part, my pics are saved on an external hard drive, viewed on a 19" lcd monitor and they look great to me. Of course, the higher the mp's the higher the price, again, a personal choice and there will be some here who will argue with me on this, again, it's a matter of personal choice and experience. Anyhow, if I may show a few pics to show that not only does the optical zoom work, but the fact a little 4mp camera can show details.

http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x208/garden_path/field%20wildflowers%205%2008/ I took these pictures after reading some of the instruction booklet. In taking these pictures there seems to be a big problem taking photos in strong sunlight. The view finder will show alternating, a very deep color then white color, and the actual photo is washed out to white/gray. I changed some settings (f-stop?) and that helped, but only if I shaded the object (see album). I still cannot get a really good closeup in focus, using both the macro button and the telephoto toggle on the top of the camera. I know those of you with this camera can get better shots so I am thinking I may have the settings off or maybe a defective camera. Hoping for some suggestions....

The Canon Rebel XTI is a digital single-lens-reflex camera. It can be left on Auto and used with the lens it comes with, but, frankly, if that's all you do with it, you're wasting your money. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, and Sony all sell cameras worth considering. Some things to keep in mind: - Image stabilization will let you get a better picture in low light and maybe fix some "user errors". But it won't fix every motion problem. You still can end up with blurry pictures. - Don't buy just megapixels. The way the camera handles the picture after you take it ("image processing") is even more important than the number of pixels. For the size of pictures most people will put in their homes, 6-8 megapixels is enough. Worry more about your options in managing the picture. - Watch the zooms. It sounds really good to have a 10x or 15x zoom, but most zooms get really dark at the far end. In addition, image stabilization will work the same at the wide and tele ends of the zoom even though that, too, may result in some unwanted effects. - It really helps to get your hands on cameras you're thinking of buying. Any given camera may seem too small for one person; too clumsy to handle to someone else; too difficult to operate. Take pictures, but also try some scene modes, formatting a memory card, and try deleting a shot. - If you can, either get return privileges or see if the store will either print some of your pictures or display them on a large screen. The little LCD on the back of the camera is not adequate for judging color, sharpness, contrast, or focus. - If you can, shop at a camera shop. Though it may be hard to believe, camera shops will sell the same cameras at the same prices as discount stores or big-box electronics stores. And you usually get the benefit of a wider range of cameras and accessories and a salesperson who isn't just substituting from Small Appliances. I realize this is a lot to read, but it can help you from spending a lot of money on a camera that doesn't do what you want it to do.

Eric did you see anywhere that it stated is has a resizing option? The biggest reason I want to use this one, I already have the freebie and I figure it would integrate well with 5.0. Plus it's not too expensive. I figure the better ones are for professionals, really, not for an amatures (ok, how do you spell this word?) like me. Thanks for the input, Mona