Hello,

I've been meaning to buy a new camera for years now and something has always come up where I didn't have the money. Well, I am finally going to have a little extra money, and while I can't go wild as a broke college student, I'd love a really nice camera that I can enjoy photography with. Right now I'm using a HP Photosmart E327 camera I bought in 2006 for $90 (yes, $90 back then so you can tell it's a crappy camera), and I desperately need an upgrade as about every picture I take in motion or in low light is terribly grainy, and all I have is a digital zoom.

So anyway, we take a lot of family trips so I'd really like a camera that takes great landscape shots, along with good family photos. I also volunteer at an animal shelter and take pictures of hyper, running dogs for their website, and I need those to come out clear as well. I also take quite a few indoor pictures. So as you can see, I need a pretty versatile camera, and a good optical zoom is important to me too (as you can see in my examples) And I am not looking for anything over $250, though I may go up to $300. I'd really prefer not to though, especially since I'll also need an SD card and a case (and perhaps a tripod).

These are the cameras I have in mind so far:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Fujifilm-S1800-Black/14006048
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodak-Easy...Black/11070030
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Nikon/13432983
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kodak-Z981/14282304
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_1...1&blockType=G1

So, those are a few ideas. Also, something I was concerned about was that they are all HD cameras, but I have a pretty old computer (2002). I'm not sure if the pictures would even upload? I also noticed the HD examples some people posted, and most of them looked really strange (some blurry, some sort of pixelated), and I know if they really looked like that, they wouldn't have posted them in positive reviews. Will they look like that on my screen? I'd hate to spend that money on a camera, then not be able to enjoy my pictures on my computer.

Thank you for any help! I'm very excited to be getting a new camera!

E327-


Welcome to the Forum. We pleased that you dropped by.

Among the cameras you have listed is the Kodak Z-915 which is a very good camera for the price. However, the price at Walmart is $159, whereas the price at Amazon is around $100. That is a very good potential savings. Excepting for the Kodak Z981, which is a large camera, none of the other camera on your list are worth much consideration.

Sarah Joyce

Thank you! I think I have decided on the Z-915. And I'm pretty sure I'll spend the extra money to get it from walmart because of their awesome return policy. If I am not satisfied, I can just take it back and try another model. Also, are there any other models you would recommend that are not on my list? I am also still not sure about the HD images looking funky on my computer screen. Can I just bypass the HD images all together by using my regular SD card?

Thank you very much for the welcome!