h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am in the market for a good quality digital camera, but no idea which one to get.

I want to be able to use it for everyday use, particularly while i am here in the Uk....people, scenes, events etc etc, however i also want one that is going to serve me well for wildlife photography, including birds and small animals.

Is it better to get a digital video camera that one can print pictures from or should i get a normal one?

Clueless

Equally clueless...

Anything to avoid?

Good question.....i'll second it....anyone?

I've just been given an Olympus mju 300 Digital - 3.2 MegaPixels is perfectly adequate. They're about £240 to buy online, £300 in the shops. I'm really pleased with the quality, and it's weatherproof and feels very sturdy. On top of that, few of the mid-range digicams use a non-AA shaped Li-Ion battery now - the mju does and the battery life is good. The software is basic, but functional. Oh, and it can even be hooked up to a telly!

To avoid - some shops carry Kyocera cameras. They're chunky and weird. Kyocera make the insides for a number of other firms' cameras - their own case design teams aren't so talented, IMHO. They even do one with a huge screen on the back (which, of course, eats batteries).

I've also heard good things about the Canon 3.2MP job (NOT the Ixus)...

Whoami?

Damn - there goes my cover...

Whoami?

Thank you kindly good people...i have as much cake as you can eat for you.
I have been looking further since i posted originally.....is the 3.2mp good enough for publishing?

I make our school magazine - a photo-quality annual review (96 pages in full colour) - and it'll do a half-A4 photo at that quality. If you've got the cash, why not get its sister, the mju-400, which is practically the same, only with 4 megapixels, not 3.2?

Only, for that money, you could probably find the 5 megapixel Sony camera...

Whoami?

5mp sony sounds good...i have not seen that one. I did see a 6mp camera (not such a well known brand)but it was a bit bulky which put me off....good for safaris but not so good for the streets.

Your school mag sounds interesting....need any articles or features for it?

It's kind of a 'review of the year' - an official thing. The biggest section is the sport, which runs to forty pages - which I'll be editing on Sunday...

Whoami?

good luck with that then....i guess it is specifically for news related to your school only.....just thought i would ask....you know, nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.