3/28    Hey motd -- I was looking to buy a decent quality starter digital
        camera without spending too much money.  Eventually I'd like to move
        up to something really nice, but at the start I'd just like decent
        quality, affordable equipment that can easily download to my
        win2k machine.  Can anyone offer any advice/suggestions/warnings?
        TIA.           -mice
        ps.  Thanks everyone for answering the mp3/audio question I asked!
        \_ I'd wait for slickdeals to post a deal on the SD400/500/550.
        \_ I have an old powershot.  Cheap, does the job but nothing special.
           Maybe the new models will take pictures faster but mine is useless
           for anything moving faster than a snail.
           \- there are lots of people who can give you advice, but you
              have to tell people more about your budget and plans.
              there is a big difference between a $1k budget and $400 budget.
              and are you looking for something that weights ~8oz and
              can fit into pocket/purse/belt or a real SLR where you are
              committing to carrying a camera bag? are you mostly looking
              to shoot landscape or indoor candids of people etc. dont worry
              about easy download or "the future" at this point ... if you
              move to something "really nice", you will essentially start
              over. also see dpreview, kenrockwell[somewhat opinionated but
              basically resonable] and http://photo.net. ok tnx.
              \_ Fair enough: I think $500 is my absolute upper limit for
                 this first purchase.  I'd be doing a fair mix of indoor
                 and outdoor photography, but I seriously doubt I'll be doing
                 much in the way of landscape or action shooting.
                 Smaller is better, but within reason, size is really
                 secondary to my needs.  Thanks for the links!    -mice
        \_ http://www.dpreview.com .  I really like my Canon Digital Ixus SD500
           as a portable camera, but all the Ixus models in that class are pretty
           nice--I also have an EOS 350D as an SLR--they were ca. $500 and
           $1200 respectively (the 350D with a nice non-kit lens).  On the off
           chance that you are in the NYC area, B&H Photo Video
           (http://bhphotovideo.com has decent prices but I've found them to be
           tops in terms of advice and customer service three times around
           already.  Plus, what psb said.  -John
           \_ The dude wanted a starter camera, and you are talking about
              all these expensive ones.
        \_ If you want to get a DSLR, I'd look for a used Digital Rebel on
           cl or http://keh.com. The DRebel is a very nice camera (I love mine)
           and should be ~ $400-$500 w/ a lens.
           Otherwise I'd go w/ one of those little Canon cameras, whichever
           is best suited to your budget (they are all pretty good).
           \_ Also there are refurbished Nikon D50s for $479 with lens. Try
              http://pricegrabber.com and select the "used and refurbished" results.
              I have no idea how the refurbs are but it is a good camera.
        \_ Please define "affordable" for you. i guess I'd recommend a tiny
           camera like John suggested, although I don't specifically recommend
           (or not) that Canon but I don't think you can go far wrong. The
           portable will still be useful even if you get an SLR later.
           \_ I think $500 is my upper limit (though of course I'd rather spend
              less if I can do so and still get decent equipment).     -mice
              \- $500 is under the SLR threashold. get a decent compact canon.
        \_ Canon "A" Series.  If you don't care about manual override, then,
           Nikon Coolpix 4xxx is pretty good.  Those things runs about $200.
           Try to get the *LOWEST* pixel beyond 4Mpxel.
        \_ price is not an issue.  what you want is.  You may be one of those
           who would only carry a small camera with you.  You may be the type
           who don't mind carry your two camera body and 4 lenses with you
           when you travel to Europe.  You need to decide how much you are
           willing to carrying with you.  Most of ultra-slim camera takes
           *LOUSY* pictures.  Canon "A" series is decent as it has manual
           override.  dSLR is beyond your price range and the "kit" lens is
           usually not THAT great... and it's heavy and bulky.
           In general, make sure you have easy access to 1. exposure
           compensation, and 2. white balance override on the digital camera,
           as you will be spending a lot of time tweaking it.  Otherwise,
           most of the camera on the market is actually pretty good.
                kngharv