Need a new digital camera. Going to be used to family photos, vacations candid pics of kids etc...Going to be printing pics from internet company and local drug store.

Needs to be small to fit in wifes purse since I will be already holding a camcorder.

Choices are:

--Olympus Stylus 500 (5 megs)

--Sony DSC-P200 (7 megs)

--Canon Powershot SD-3000 (4 megs)



Thank You

I'm partial to the canons, small, fast, and great picture quality. also has a decent movie mode.

Olympus is also small and is water resistent (wich may come in handy with the kids) image quality for the average person is good, if your a little picky your probubly better off with the canon.

The sony is good also, decent image wuality and an outstanding movie mode. Memory sticks cost more then SD cards especially since everyone with a PSP are grabbing them like mad.

Did you think about maybe a kodak with the printer dock?
something like the LS743 or LS753 (4mp and 5mp respectively)
Kodak cameras are pretty fast, decent movie mode, pocketable, and with the printer dock, leaving it on the dock when not in use make sure the batteries are always fully charged. and you will be able to print your pictures out right at home.

Yeah thought about doing a Kodak easy share camera and printer but the costs are prohibitive. If I am not mistaken it is still pricey to print at home vs. Drug store.



I really like the Olympus Camera but I haven't seen a good report on it yet. All the review sights say the same thing...OK Pic Quality. I think they put their money into the LCD screen which is great but skimped on the Pic output quality. One review sight said that the Olympus will print out fine pics but viewing online you will be disappointed. Too bad it's good looking with a great LCD.



Looks like I am going to go with the Canon SD400.

I own a P200 and can't say much about the other cameras. The P200 has been a very good camera and the only complaint I have with it is the 1/40 default flash shutter speed. This can be worked around easily by setting the shutter speed manually or using the "Sport" scene mode.

My top three reasons for choosing it was its speed, easily pocketable size and fantastic battery life. Secondary reasons were lens quality (for a point and shoot camera), protected LCD screen, real time histogram and a basic manual mode for setting aperture/shutter speed. I was surprised that I couldn't find any other ultra compact cameras (in Feb. '05) with this combination of features. The P200 has many more than these but they played a smaller role in my decision process.

Hope this helps.

Good cameras all. Look also at the brand new Olympus D535 (called C500 in Europe). Its actually cheaper than the Oly Stylus 500 you listed, yet still is 5 megs with so good features. It is very simple for the spouse to use, yet gives you manual control options when needed. Both Beach and Willoughby's have it for only $201. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05021710oly_d595z.asp