Thoughts of a Prince

I'd say it depends on if you're looking for a simple point-and-shoot, or if you're looking for something more advanced like a DSLR.

For a point-and-shoot, they're going to be mostly the same within a given price range, so the big decisions are cosmetic. AA batteries vs. built-in Li-ion, size of display, ease of use, shiny colour, etc. A good rule, though, before buying any electronics, is to do thorough research online before you buy it. I'd suggest going to some stores, finding some models that leave a good impression on you, and going home to check out online reviews.

DSLRs are a bit out of my expertise, so I can't offer much comment there.

Edit: If you like to add some random chance to your retail experience, try checking www.woot.com; they semi-regularly have digital cameras on there.

What do you want it for?

If it's just uploading party photos and the like to Facebook, most people can just use a cellphone.

DSLRs are a bit out of my expertise, so I can't offer much comment there.

If you do not carry it around all day, or don't like to carry a heavy camera don't do it. There expensive, everything around it like lenses are expensive. Takes a lot of practices to.

Most that own a DSLR also own a point and shoot camera as its way more compact.

About the only advice I can offer is to get one with the best resolution you can afford and try and get one that has optical zoom as well as digital zoom, it will give you better quality pictures.

Higher resolution doesn't equal quality, it's even true that lower ones have better quality.

There are basically two things that determine quality with digital cameras: resolution and the lens.

The resolution of the camera is the maximum detail the CCD can render.

A higher-quality lens will produce pictures that look nicer. This however is pretty subjective, but it's why companies like Minolta charge more for their cameras than cameras made by other manufacturers with the same CCDs.

It might be out of your price range, but the Cannon G11 is the best point-and-shoot camera I've ever seen, both in quality and feature set. It exists in the nebulous zone known as pro-am (professional-amateur), between cheap consumer cameras and high end SLRs.

Anyhow, if you google "how to choose a digital camera," I'm sure you'll find some good guides that outline how to pick the right camera for you. After you do that, find a few in your price range, then do a little research online to see what people are saying about those models (as others have already advised).

-Craig

Well I'm kind of into photography, versus just taking pictures of mates and putting them on Facebook. Something to take some (at least) decent (if not better) quality outdoor/nature pictures, not that I won't be taking pictures of people.