Broke teacher needs camera buying advice

[danziger]

Hi, I'm traveling to the American Southwest (Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly) and don't have a camera. My budget is really limited, so I was hoping to get some advice on buying a camera, to take at least decent pictures of the amazing landscape, but was hoping to spend no more than $200. Is this doable? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[TCav]

Sony offers 5%-10% discounts to students, teachers, and staff, at its Sony Education Store. You might check it out to see if you can get a break on what you want.

[city_zen]

The Panasonic DMC-ZS15 is a very good camera that's currently around $200 at online retailers. IMHO, it's the best sub-$200 camera right now. It's also fairly compact and has a great 16x zoom that starts at a very wide 24mm eq., making it ideal for the beautiful landscapes you'll come across. You can read Steve's review here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camer...15-review.html

[danziger]

Many thanks for the tips! Appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[TCav]

As for landscapes, most Sony cameras have the Sweep Panorama feature that lets you depress the shutter button, and sweep the camera through a 180° arc, and capture the entire view. Here's an example of some shots I took like that:

[SIMON40]

I'm with city_zen... the TZ-15 is a good buy at the price....

[Guitarman]

I just bought a Panasonic (SZ02) and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with overall image quality of their stuff. The Leica lenses are very nice. I would definitely check out the Panasonic mentioned above.

[Big Red]

Originally Posted by city_zen

The Panasonic DMC-ZS15 is a very good camera that's currently around $200 at online retailers. IMHO, it's the best sub-$200 camera right now. It's also fairly compact and has a great 16x zoom that starts at a very wide 24mm eq., making it ideal for the beautiful landscapes you'll come across. You can read Steve's review here: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camer...15-review.html

I totally agree! My daughter got this camera a couple of weeks ago when Amazon had it on sale for $179.00. It also has a Panorama assist mode, and a great Intelligent Auto mode that makes it easy for beginners to take great shots. Plus it has the same sensor as the Panasonic FZ150, probably the most highly regarded "super zoom" cameras on the market today!

The ONLY drawback of this camera for me is the fact that it doesn't have a viewfinder and you have to use the screen to frame your shots.