Looking to buy a digital camera

[I_Love_Nuge]

Hello, I'm in the process of looking at buying a digital camera. I want a camera that is more than just a small dinky point and shoot camera good for just taking pictures of peapole and whatnot. I would like something that would be good for outdoor shots and wildlife shots but could also be used for those few indoor people shots too. So, I think I would like a camera with a good zoom and have been looking at a 12x optical zoom. I have heard very good reviews from Canons and so-so reviews from Kodaks and Olympus. I'm kinda on a budget where I wouldn't like to spend really anything over $300. So far I have narrowed my choices down to a Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP 12X optical zoom for $280 on Amazon. Does anyone have any experience with this camera? Or something similar? I'm not a big computer or photo guru as I am just really getting into photography so I'm trying to keep it fairly simple and work from that after I get some experience. Thanks!

[mcary]

My first camera was Canon's S1 IS (the predecessor to the S2). It takes very nice images. It has a nice zoom for wildlife and a good built in lens for picture clarity. It also has a variety of manual functions for when you become more comfortable with the camera and would like to start experimenting with settings. Due to my past experience with this camera, I would personally recommend it.

[Roofer]

I have a Kodak Z650. It takes good pictures and has a good zoom. It is hard to take pictures with the zoom out very far though. Look for a camera with a steady shot feature. It is real tough holding it still while zooming out more than like 100 yards. A tripod would help I guess, but I don't do that kind of picture taking. Anything over 4 megapixel takes very good pictures. There are a bunch of cameras to get for that price range, but anything better is over $500.

[I_Love_Nuge]

Thanks for the replies. The Canon S2 has Image stabilization which should help with those long zoom shots. But I'm sure a tripod is the best answer for steady shots. Also, I couldn't find any info on the warranty on the camera. I did a search and kind of found an answer of at standard Canon 1 year limited warranty. Does anyone know if this warranty is right?

[DTro]

I've heard a few good things about the Panasonic....Lumix I think is the model.

One of them has 12x optical and also active image stabilization, with a high quality name brand lens.

[fishinchicks]

I have the Canon S2 IS. I really like it. It is a great camera for someone like me who doesn't really know how to use all the options on a higher end camera. I would recommend a tripod. Even with image stabilization, images that are taken in low light conditions will be difficult to shoot well.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

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I've heard a few good things about the Panasonic....Lumix I think is the model.

One of them has 12x optical and also active image stabilization, with a high quality name brand lens.

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my wife has a new s3 IS canon and it does well. we also have a sony dsc h-2 which does well. i recently bought a Panasonic fz 20 lumix just to see if all the rave reviews it got were hogwash-they're not. it has a HUGE Leica lens,and blows the canon and sony away-completely away. there are a few things that each will do better than the other,but if you want 12x zoom,IS, and a truly awesome lens try the panasonic fz 20 or fz 30 or fz 50. i bought a new non-current fz 20 for the simple fact that it holds f2.8 all the way to 12x! the fz20 is 5 mp the 30 is 8mp i think the 50 is 10 mp i went with the 20 also because it was not as prone to "noise" as the higher mp models in their new line up are. 8-10 mp is too much for those tiny sensors i guess.