I want to buy my boyfriend a digital camera for Christmas. He is a teacher and would be using it in his classroom for students reports, taking pictures of the kids and presentations. I don't know how much he would be printing stuff out, but I want to get him a relatively good one-not top of the line because I can't afford it, but something that would be useful for him in and out of school. The only problem is my budget runs a maximum of about $400, maybe a little more, but not much. Can I get him anything good for this price and his purposes? Thank you for your time. I hope you can help!

-- Jennifer Hills (Jennlh@javanet.com), July 18, 2000

Answers

Jennifer, Christmas is a long way off and everything changes monthly, weekly, and sometimes daily on pricing on really good digital cameras. My advice is to be patient, do a bit more research, and make our decision much later.

-- fred (fdeaton@hiwaay.net), July 18, 2000.

I'm with Fred, spend the mean time researching and looking at new models. Keep an eye on the news and reviews pages at www.imaging-resource.com and www.steves-digicams.com and other digital camera sites. You'll learn a lot and see all the scuttlebutt. Keep an eye on the "deals" page too!

I'd suggest checking online merchants and Ebay by doing a search for "digital camera" and seeing what pops up in your price range. If you check completed auctions in your search you can see what the units you're interested in have been selling for. After you develop more of a clue what he'd like, and you can afford, you can check out reviews and images at places like www.imaging-resource.com and www.dcforum.com At the second place you'll find actual user reviews from a variety of individuals. It may be prudent to discount the best and worst of these reviews.

I'd look for at least a 1.3 megapixel unit, and imagine at best you might find a 2MP unit with a zoom lens in your range. Look for a metal alloy case for durability, a USB connection for the best connectivity (you don't mention whether he uses a PC or MAC?), rechargeable NiMH or Li-Ion batteries, and a lens that retracts and automatically caps itself might be nice around young fingers. How old are the kids he teaches? For school newspapers and reports, 1.3 to 2MP will probably be plenty.

If you were working with a greater budget I'd recommend the new Toshiba PDR-M70. It has the alloy case, a 3.3MP sensor, 3X zoom, Li-Ion battery, charger/adapter, a bunch of manual options, movie mode, etc. You might check out the Toshiba PDR-M5, or the new M60 when it hits the market real soon now... The M60 will have about the same resolution as the M5(1800x1200 instead of 1600x1200), but appears to have the superior case etc. of the M70 design, and I imagine will sell somewhere near your range when discounted prior to Christmas.

Best of luck!

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@surferz.net), July 18, 2000.