Originally posted by AmberLee
I'm a not sure which features to look for in a camera -- would you mind saying what your favorite feature is in your camera and which feature you don't like and why?
I can't help you with the clutz part - I've dropped mine once but it was OK.

What I like about Sony cameras is the batteries they use. They are Infolithium batteries and they last a long time. With my camera fully charged I can shoot all day without having to worry about my batteries going dead. I shut the camera off between shots to save power, but some digital cameras can go through a set of batteries after 10-20 shots, that would be a hassle.

I like a smaller camera. My Mavica is so big (the lens is huge) and it is no fun to carry around.

I like the fact that my camera takes good pictures in the automatic mode, but if I want I can switch to manual and get full control over focus, shutter and aperature.

I like the recording mode, I can record small movies for as long as my memory stick can hold, with sound, but honestly I don't use that feature very often.

I like using the memory sticks, but some people don't like them because they can be more expensive than other storage media. But I waited and when I found a good deal (128 MB for $30, with rebates) I jumped on ot and got most of my memory sticks very cheap.

What kind of camera you buy depends on what you plan to do with the pictures - if you want to print out larger prints, like 8"x10", you will want a larger Megapixel camera. My 4.1 MP prints out great 8"x10"s. If you only plan to use your pictures on websites or in emails, the extra pixels will be wasted, as you will need to size down for those purposes.

Overall, I would say do your research -
Steve's Digicams is a good place, also DPreveiw is another good place.

Spend some money and get a decent digital camera - I have seen so many people turned off by digital cameras because they bought the cheapest one they could find and were disappointed when the pictures look bad. One thing to remember about digital cameras is by design they are not good in low light situations, and people who are used to taking pictures indoors are often disappointed when they start taking indoor pictures with digitals - they get grainy, dark pictures and often that is just the nature of digital cameras. The trick is to shoot in the most light you can, turn on all the room lights even if it is the middle of the day, open curtains, shoot by the windows.