I bought a Canon Powershot for my brother. The shutter lag is as short as my Rebel Xt - takes really fast shots in good light. Although he can't switch lenses, it takes really nice pictures. He can fit it in a pocket and I'm lugging a camera bag.

When I bought it, Dell had them on sale and Best Buy matched the price. With a nice bag and fast memory card, I paid $200. Best Buy had to match prices on the accessories as well, but it was a great price for what I got.

Canon seems to make new models every year and then the older models are priced better.

I've used an assortment of inexpensive point and shoots (Canon, Olympus, Nikon) which mostly work okay, but this is the first camera I picked out more carefully and spent a little more. I absolutely LOVE this camera. Despite some minor flaws, I was hooked from Day 1 because the picture quality is amazing (supposedly it's the Leica lens).

They have an assortment of Lumix models, and some of them are probably closer to your price range.

Taking good pictues with this camera is easy peasy. Just point and shoot (for the most part). Here's some pics I've taken in the last couple weeks to give you an idea. These are cropped and sized down, so they aren't even as clear as the high resolution image the camera takes.

Color on some Sugar maples in town -

Sunset over a nearby pond -

http://www.amazon.com/Camera-Photo-Film-Canon-Sony/b/ref=sa_menu_p5?ie=UTF8&node=502394

From their site, you can familiarize yourself with what's out there, from high-end to low-end, details about each, read up on customer reviews (and those were really helpful and honest evaluations) and get some pricing ideas. You can search from lowest price to highest. I used them when I first started looking for a digital camera for myself and all that information was really helpful. Better to be armed with information before walking into a store and trying to pick one. They also have "deals" that are pretty good.

As best I can figure, camera manufacturers have sacrificed the viewfinder to add other features and keep the camera compact. Personally I would have preferred the camera be a little bigger, and include the viewfinder!

Trying to compose a photo without a viewfinder is awkward, and near impossible when the sun is behind you and the glare is making the LCD unviewable. What on earth are these people thinking? Oh well, I crop and resize almost all the photos I take anyway.

I took photo below with my camera. I have had it since Feb. I love to take pictures, but I am not an expert. I don't really play with the camera too much in terms of technical options prior to shooting. I don't play with much besides flash, and zoom levels. I am happy with the camera, and have taken some nice photos I think.

Type the model into google and find some reviews online.

I have a Kodak point/shoot easy share. It takes ok pictures but I haven't figured out what I want to upgrade to as of yet.

It probably sounds like I have an agenda recommending this camera, but not so, just very happy with the photo quality. We'll see how well made it is and if it holds up over time, since I treat it a bit roughly because carrying it with me gardening, hiking, etc.

It has a ton of settings on this dial you turn.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/W170/W170A.HTM#

That link should show the photo of the back view of the camera where the dial is. My camera is red. They have an option for automatic shooting where you dont play with any settings besides zoom/flash. Then they have a setting one one up where you can change a few more settings. Then a more advanced setting where a lot of settings can be changed.

The link says its $300, but it isnt. I bought mine through Wal Mart on sale in Feb. I dont see them there anymore though. You can buy them online though.

The camera has a child or adult face detection mode, smile shutter (neat where it will automatically take photos everytime someone smiles). The smile shutter can also be adjusted for the level of smile needed to snap the shot.

It also has Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, and Twilight using a Tripod. Those are more of the settings on the camera. Either the twilight or the backlight option can make a photo taken in pure darkness, light like taken in the day.

Standard Scene modes include Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Fireworks, Smile Shutter, and Underwater. The Sony W170 Menu system gives you access to Twilight, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, and Underwater. The others are on the Mode dial.

I laughed so hard using the creative effects to photos after you shoot using any of 10 editing functions, including: Trimming, Red-Eye adjustment, Soft Focus filter, Unsharp Mask, Cross filter, Partial Color filter, Fish-eye filter, Retro, Radial Blur and Happy Face (really funny). The Happy Face effect uses photo retouching to put a smile on faces, with smile levels adjustable from 1 to 5.

Danielle