Thanks Nathan and everyone else for the good advice and links.

There as a lot of camera shop chains locally so I will have plenty of places to do some window shopping, " kicking of tires " etc.... So I will not be doing my shopping by internet. ( Research yes, buying no ! )

So far I have been mostly looking at the Nikon Coolpix series, I should have a look at the canon offerings for comparison before I decide.

Still the advice about the possible down side of buying from sources without warranty support is generally good advice.

As long as I resist buying something else first, I should be getting a digital camera soon: I have to look at it as something that will make posting here more fun rather than one less sword or piece of armour, period clothing etc..... Well you all know how that works ;)

I'm enjoying the Nikon CoolPix 5700 Nathan used for much of the photography for this site. You can find those, used, in the $400 range. It's a very nice little camera. Check E-Bay but be careful. Unless you know lots about the item up for auction, stay away from stuff nobody else is bidding on. I've had good luck with E-Bay, getting a wonderful deal on a pristine Canon 35mm SLR.

There are good reasons to buy locally (especially in support of honest independent dealers, who charge what they need to make a decent living) but I know of no reason to avoid a reputable online dealer such as B&H. And I see no reason at all to shop at a local chain store rather than shop at B&H. In fact, I've overheard many local store employees using bait-and-switch tactics and pushing novices into purchasing equipment they neither need nor want-just like the folks at some online NYC "discount" stores (not B&H). I once taught photography and had a student show up for class with a "basic" camera outfit pushed on her by the kind folks at the local independent store-It was a new Nikon FM2N with Nikkor 50mm Macro lens. That's not unlike going to the car dealership to get basic transportation for your sixteen-year-old and coming home with a Bentley. The point is, you're almost as likely to get ripped off locally as you are playing roulette online. That's why I recommend sticking with B&H.

I have used B&H exclusively for over six years for my big film and new equipment purchases, both US and so-called "grey market", and have never had any kind of problem. They're super-professional. As for the grey market (which is in no way unethical, illegal or shady, by the way) B&H has an excellent guide to this stuff:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/ho...Static.jsp

The main reasons to buy grey market are:
• Price-often significantly cheaper
• Features-some international models have features unavailable on US models. in 1998 I bought a Canon EOS 5 (US model A2E) partly because of the price difference and partly because it had a useful metering feature that the A2E did not have. I used a cheesy NYC dealer because money was tight and I figured I wouldn't get pushed. I didn't, but still paid the ridiculous shipping markup. So, I got the international model I wanted for a bit less than I would have paid for the US version from a reputable dealer. I purchased a Mack 7 Year warranty, too, and got much more than my money's worth out of that because the Canon /A2 series have a design flaw that leads to constant breakage of a certain dial. That's another lesson-do enough research before buying so you'll have some idea what typically goes wrong with a particular model. Search Google for , say, "EOS 5" AND "problem" (or "design flaw" or "bug" etc.) and see what comes up. That'll help you decide whether or not to get an extended warranty.

By the way, the main way the online "too-good-to-be-true" crooks will get you is with bait-and-switch and "standard shipping of 15%". The former technique typically follows this scenario: You call to get the great advertised price on a Nikon lens and they tell you that it's so popular they've run out of it. But this is your lucky day! They'll sell you an even better lens by Shagasoku for the same price as the Nikon (plus standard shipping fee of 15%). The same thing happens locally, I assure you (minus the shipping but at higher base prices).

I have a Nikon Coolpix 4600 (four megapixels). I've taken a few pictures of swords and posted them here and they've turned out quite well. I got mine at Target for about $200. Obviously, I mostly use it for casual picture-taking so 4 megapixels is perfect for me. Plus it has its own independent memory that allows it to hold about 15 pictures without an SD card, which I still have yet to buy. It's pocket-size is what I like most about it -- great for taking to Renfaires! :)
-Ted