Advice on digital cameras please?

My digital camera (a present a few years back) is banjaxed. So I'm asking my hubby for one for Christmas. The problem- he's clueless about cameras & I'm even worse! LOL!

What I'd like- excellent picture quality, no blurring (a problem I had with my current one!)- especially when using a 'zoom' option?, takes good pictures indoors under dark-ish light? (i.e. in restaurants/clubs?) & not too expensive (under $200 if possible?)

What features should I definately need? Are there any makes that are much better than others?

Any advice welcome & appreciated thanks!

I just bough a new generation Canon Powershot A2100 which I'm very pleased with having had my old Canon for about 9 years.  Cost about £200 but there are a lot in the same range at various prices.   To lose the blurring on zoom look for the anti-shake 'image stabiliser' feature (most have them).  For excellent picture quality get the highest number of mega-pixels you can afford - mine's 12.1    A good-sized preview screen is essential in my book.   Upgrade the memory card because they're always tiny.  And check out the power-source... do you have to carry around plenty of spare batteries etc.? 

I'm actually looking to buy a new camera in a few months myself, so i hope you get some good responses here. My sister has an older version of the Canon Powershot, and she LOVES it, and has taken some amazing photos with it.

What i can tell you is DO NOT buy the camera i have now:

Fujifilm FinePix Z10

it is the worst camera i've ever owned. TERRIBLE. Steer clear!

TIP.... with digital cameras take the picture without zoom and then crop and resize later via your photo-editing software.  You maintain a better resolution that way.

Thanks Jane, I'll have a look at whats available in 10-12 mp and an image stabiliser function- I really don't think my current model has it!! Most of my pics come out blurred? Then again, that could be just me?...

I have a great Kodak camera - the M1033. It's really good about auto-focusing and red eye has lots of different settings. Way more than I use haha. I stick to the basic one and am usually pretty happy. I don't know what the zoom is but I'm satisfied with it, although I don't take many shots that are super far away.

The only thing I don't like about Kodak is the easy share software. Granted it is good for people who don't know how to use a computer very well, but I'm very adept and it slows me down. May be something to keep in mind.

When I googled it, the results were less than $150 unless you got a specialty color.

I would stay away from anything Olympus! Their screens are littered with annoying details, such as file name, date, time, battery life etc etc, when you're trying to view your pictures, and there's no way to "hide" the details without waiting 5 seconds. Super annoying.

I used to have a couple Sonys and liked them a lot, too.

Once you have some ideas in mind, it's fun to go to Best Buy or Wal Mart and test them all out. The associates (at least at BB) are usually more than willing to help and answer questions. Good luck!

Canons are far and away my favorite brand.  My father in law just got this one for his birthday ($300 on canon's site but you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere) and we borrowed it for a vacation - awesome!  My husband and I both have older ones that we like but without the image stabilization feature, which makes a big difference.  They have quite a range of prices with several under $200.  Newegg, B&H photo, and amazon are all good for online purchases.

I agree with the above post - if you've an issue with blurring pictures, get a model with image stabilization.  It usually comes on the more expensive cameras, but it is well worth the extra few dollars.  This camera might be a good choice for you.

I had a Canon camera, by the way, and I loved it so!  I wish it hadn't been stolen.

I have a Olympus FE-360,  8.0 megapixel.  It's small, easy to use, takes great photos.  Has a good 3X zoom, and lots of nice features.  The photo-shop software is good, too. 

I've had great experiences with both Kodak (Easyshare models) and Canon Powershot.  The Kodak was more point and shoot with some basic features while the current Canon that I have has more features that I can play with (more like an SLR) but still works great for point and shoot.

Like others said, go for the most megapixels you can afford and look at optical zoom over digital zoom.  Optical zoom gives you better images while the digital zoom can be more pixelated.  Definitely look at image stabilizing feature too.  Typically the camera will use optical zoom first and then the digital zoom will kick in once you go beyond the optical zoom range. 

I love Nikon. At work I use a D2H ($$$$$ , it is awesome though), but that's probably not what you're looking for, lol.

From what I've heard though, even Nikon's smaller personal cameras are really good. Maybe look at a d90?