Like was mentioned earlier, there are alot of affordable cameras out there now. Just have to decide how "fancy" of one you want. Do you know how to use/or need all the extras and manual controls that some of the pricey ones offer? My family owns 4 different Fuji cameras, and all take good pics. Only downside to Fuji is that they use the XD cards, which are a little more than the others. I don't consider it much of a downside, considering you will probably not buy but one, maybe two cards unless you lose one. In my opinion, more important is the battery the camera uses. I prefer one that uses AA batteries. Key is to buy a good set of rechargeable batteries/and a good charger, such as Powerex battteries and Maha chargers. I keep one set of batteries in camera, and one set in the charger, so they are ready all the time. If you don't use it alot, you may only need one set, as the better quality batteries last for a lot of shots. Check out Thomas Distributing on the net( I think that is the name) for those batteries/chargers. Sorry so long, just my two cents worth.