Originally posted by: dnuggett
This has got to be a joke. You mean he found anandtech, but can't find a website that sells cameras?
Thats what I was thinking.
But I'll help him out anyways. He came here for help and its good for me to do research.
Lets get started. For 300 dollars you can actually have a very nice camera and accessories.
Just to keep it simple we'll start at Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/
This is the site most of us use for general purchases. Overall they are fairly reliable. You will occasionally hear somebody complain about their service but considering the ridiculous number of sales they make its just natural that they would have a hiccup now & again.
Some folks here have special sources just for camera stuff. You may want to look at them when you finally decide what you want.
The cameras are here.
http://www.newegg.com/Store/Su...2&name=Digital-Cameras
If you look on the left side you have tabs for Guided Search, Advanced Search, Power Search and Learning Center.
For a new guy like yourself I recommend the Guided Search which should also be the default when you first enter the site.
You said your budget was 300 dollars and I assume that means everything: tax, shipping and any extras you wanna buy with the camera. So on the left side under Price we see a $200-$300 link. Click it.
On the upper right hand side of this page you will see a pull-down menu with the options Lowest Price, Highest Price, Best Rating, and Best Match. Select Lowest Price.
When the list refreshes you should see some cameras starting at around $204.99. I recommend you start researching these.
The first one I see is a Canon Power Shot SX110 IS. Its available in silver. Click on it.
On this page you can get some pics of the product, some general info, some user reviews, and detailed specs.
But we arent going to research here. Bad idea. Go to a proper camera site.
http://www.dpreview.com/
These guys are awesome. Go to the review of this camera.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0...082603canonsx100is.asp
OK, they dont have an actual review, just a really detailed press release. But even that can tell you about this thing. Read it.
Now that you know a little more about it, go find an actual review on Google.
I found this one early in the results.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/...-PowerShot-SX110-IS/p1
Again, read it. Notice there are multiple pages you can access from the bottom numbers.
On the top of each page he keeps his scores and recommendation. This puppy gets all 8's and 9's. And he also has a Stamp of Approval.
That means he thinks this camera is a good buy. Usually when a reviewer makes that statement its in relation to other cameras in the same price range. Obviously this wont perform the same as an EOS 10D, but its not supposed to. Its 1/0th the price.
He gave it a good score based on its class and targeted consumer. For people who want to spend this kind of money its a darn good camera.
Now, if you're smart you wont just take his word for it. You'll go back to Google and find a couple more reviews.
Repeat the same process for each item on the list at Newegg.com until you are sure you have found the camera you like.
Do NOT ever make a purchase like this without a little bit of research online. You may find out it isnt right for you or it had a factory recall for some sort of defect. When you finally make the purchase it should be the best one possible.
It only takes one day to do some serious investigating, but an RMA usually takes weeks.