Need some camera advice

[Aimfred]

I'm sad to report that my beloved Canon Powershot A80 has bitten the dust. :crying:

Something seems to have gone wrong in the inner workings, as all my pictures are coming out with a pink stripe on one edge and a distinct pink hue to the background. I'm guessing it will cost more to fix than a new camera would be, so now I'm faced with the task with figuring out what to buy to replace it. I'm so dissappointed that it did not last longer, as I've only had it about 4 years. Of course, in that time digitals have come a long way and are also much cheaper. Four years ago I paid $300 for this one, and it is only 4MP. Since money is an issue, I'm thinking I might have to buy something super cheap for now, and get a better model next year after I finish school and have a job again.

Any suggestions for a bargain-basement priced digital point and shoot to get me by until next summer? I guess if I had to I could drag out my old Olympus film camera until I can buy something, but geeze, that seems like going back to the dark ages. Do they even still sell camera film? Lol :lol:

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[konslerg]

Since money is an issue and since you're probably not going to be printing any larger than 8x10, you really don't need more than 3 or 4 megapixels. Why no see what you can find used on eBay. Lots of folks upgrade to new cameras and auction off their old ones pretty reasonably.

I'd rather do that than buy something new that's really cheap. I think you'd be able to get a better camera for about the same price as a cheap new one ...and sometimes they even come with extra batteries or media cards.

[konslerg]

Take a look at this auction...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-PowerShot-A80-digital-camera-w-Extras-128MB-case_W0QQitemZ250249575114QQihZ015QQcategoryZ30014 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[TominPok]

How do you define "super cheap" and "bargain basement priced"? If you're looking for new instead of used, Canon offers a number of decent cameras in the $200 price range, including the A720IS (6x zoom) and SX100IS (10x zoom). Keep in mind that with the latest cameras, you most likely will not be able to use your A80's compact flash cards, and will have to shell out additional money for SD format memory cards.

[twinks]

Father's Day is coming and the store seem to always have good deals on electronics (cameras included). I purchased luvsPiglet a great little Nikon for $100. It is a 7mp, view finder & large lcd screen, etc. Watch and you can get a SD memory card cheap also.

Good luck!

[Aimfred]

Ebay might be the best way to go. Hmmm, I'll have to go poke around there and see how much the final bids are running. Thanks for the suggestion.

I was thinking I could probably scrape up $100 or so, since my camera is totally dead at this point. I tried fooling with it tonight, and I could not get it to take even one decent photo.

And of course it's really bad timing too - my niece's Bat Mitzvah is tomorrow and I have no camera!
:(

[TominPok]

I've always been leery about buying used electronics off of ebay, maybe you've had better luck. Overstock.com has a number of new and refurbished cameras in the $100 price range (http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/Cameras-Optics/(80,120),/price,/6/dept.html). You can use dpreview.com's camera database (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp) to check out the camera's full specs and user reviews, to make sure the camera doesn't have any quirks that you couldn't live with.

[Aimfred]

Thanks for the suggetion of Overstock.com. A couple of those cameras look like they might be okay. I've never bought anything "refurbished" before though. Hmmm.

Must keep looking - I can't go too long without a camera. I really hated not having one yesterday for such a major family event. The good news is there was a professional photographer there, and he will give us all the pics on CD - so I can print whatever I want at home :) But I absolutely must find something before we take our beach vacation in a few weeks.

[Photographer]

Keep an eye out for the Nikon Coolpix L11. I wouldn't be surprised if it went on sale again soon for say....$70.00.

[Aimfred]

Thanks for the tip Lisa. The reviews for that camera are very good, so I will definately be on the look out for a sale on that one! Even with an SD card I could still come in under $100 with a good sale.

[Aimfred]

Thanks everyone for the advice - today I lucked into an incredible deal on a new camera - I got a Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 7.2 megapixel camera for less than $100! I was at my local Sam's club and they had a few cameras marked WAY down - the one I bought had been returned, is brand new with all the stickers and plastic still on the camera, but the box had been opened and the manual was missing - so they discounted it! I went online to the Sony site and downloaded the manual and have been playing with my really cool new camera all afternoon! It takes great pictures and works wonderfully!

[TominPok]

Sounds like you got a great deal on a very nice camera! Looking forward to seeing the photos you capture with it.