Is this camera good, considering its (relativly) low-mid range price tag? http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/54...igital-cameras I want to take some pictures of my MINI with a decent camera, but don't want to break the bank to do it.

 

I am personally a Nikon guy. I know little about the Panasonic Lumix model you gave the link for but consumer reports gave the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 (which is a 10.2 mega pixel) a rating of 75 out of 100. The Nikon P4 is rated a little less than the LX2 and is currently $299 on the ritz site. Depending on how much you plan on using it I would make sure your investment will do the job for a long time and dont skimp on quality.

 

A friend of mine hated her Lumex but others like them. I would look at the Nikon D40 which is in the sub-$600 range.

 

What was her complaints against the Lumex?

Does the P4 support manual focus, it dosn't say anything about it on the Ritz website.

 

First, ritz price is TOO high. Adorama or Amazon has it for under $300

Second, for $200 more you can get the new lowend Nikon DSLR, a MUCH better buy.

Last, for under $300 you can get a Canon 640, 10MP, review is here http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640.html

If your going to get serious about photography, I would advise to forget about the point and shoots, you will outgrow it and waste the money. Save $200 and get the new low end Nikon DSLR. Then you can grow with the camera since the money is really in the lens system.

 

For a point and prey camera, I have been very impressed with the Leica V-LUX 1 series. Have lots and lots of options, great lenses and won't break the bank.

So simple to operate, even I can take decent pictures with it …

 

After the responses against the Lumex, I did another search and found the 'Kodak EasyShare P712 Zoom Digital Camera', any comments for that model? Or maybe the 'FujiFilm FinePix S5200 Digial Camera-10x Zoom'.

 

You can find good reviews of many different cameras on http://www.dpreview.com

For a good place to buy, the most reliable discount house is B&H Photo http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

I had a bad experience with Adorama and wouldn't use them again.

 

I went with the Fuji...I think it will do just fine .