Advice about getting a camera

[dvduval]

While price is not a huge deal to me, I wanted to see what you think about this...

The guy at Wolf Camera was telling me there really wasn't a huge difference in the quality of the pictures I would get from a $250 camera versus an $800.

Being more of an amateur right now, do you think it would make much of a difference at this point?

 

[Eastw77]

I believe this guy may have been talking through his A**!

 

[soylentgreen]

DO NOT go by what the salesman tells you! He's a salesman. He'll sell you a box with a hole in it if there is a profit to be made. Sorry, I have bad experience with Wolf Camera. Though I never bought anything from them, everytime I leave the store I need a shower. Anyway, if the salesman was referring to the difference between P&S and DSLR's; I would have to slap him up side the head. They're not even in the same ballpark.
You did the right thing by researching this matter since there are endless sites and forums on just this subject to help people decide on the right camera for them. That's what it all boils down to.
It really depends on what your level of "quality" is and budget. Are you going to print it for your album, e-mailing friends, scrap book, show grandma? Than IQ really isn't that big of a deal since the latent 72dpi will print just fine on small prints. My Canon A460 does a decent job for smallgroup gatherings, parties, etc. where I do not want to tote my D20 around. I think they are up to 8MP on P&S now. But you can only cram so much many pixels on a small sensor before image quality degrades. Where you will see the difference is in low-light, high ISO settings where the images on P&S really degrade, shutter speed, horrible flash, etc. Forget about enlarging prints for that matter. The larger DSLR-type point and shoots are pretty impressive though. But for that price and size, I rather get a DSLR. With a P&S you are pretty much stuck with it as is.
The more pricey DSLR's are more versatile with interchangable lenses and have larger CMOS sensors, faster shutter speed (since it actually has a shutter), better pixel to noise ratio, the list goes on. It is a good choice if you plan on growing into the field and develop as a photographer.

 

[oldnavy170]

If your looking for something for a beginner but something you can grow into without it being a DSLR, might I suggest the Canon S3 ($300) or maybe the new Canon S5($400).

 

[Mike_E]

A $250 camera that you can buy is better than an $800 camera that you will never own. The $800 camera will cost 3 or 4 times that before you are finished. Canon, Fuji, Nikon and others all make good P&S cameras. Look for something with Optical Zoom and Manual controls. Be sure that it has a glass lens. Really.

You can take tremendously good photos with a P&S IF you can take tremendously good photos. I'm not cracking wise here it's just that a good photographer can take a great shot with a coffee can. That being said, the DSLR makes it a LOT easier to take good shots. (It'll get you more dates too!)

Call your tune, pay the piper and dance to your heart's content!

mike