DIGITAL AND FILM CAMERA RECOMMENDATIONS
(in association with Amazon.com)

This camera guide has been prepared to assist you with purchasing a new camera.  It is built in association with amazon.com.  I have owned numerous cameras including digital compact (point and shoot) cameras, digital SLRs, 35mm film cameras, and even medium and large format cameras.  So this page is put together to pass some of my knowledge on to you.  I know that there are numerous review sites on the web, but most of them do not really recommend a best product.  This page makes some recommendations based upon your specific needs.  While I have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, I try not to get too technical. In most cases, I do not discuss common features that you find on comparable cameras, and instead I focus on features that I think are different between comparable cameras, and/or are of greater importance. You can use the links for each camera to get the super low prices from amazon.com.  THANK YOU! 
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35mm Compact (Point and Shoot) Cameras

Under $100: Canon Sure Shot 115u 35mm Point and Shoot Camera

This camera has a 38mm-115mm zoom lens and high precision auto focusing.  It also has a good built in flash, data imprinting, and several creative features such as exposure compensation, portrait, action, night, and close-up modes, and real-time shooting so that it fires when you press the shutter. 

Under $100: Fujifilm 1000 35mm Date Camera w/ Zoom

Another great choice in this price range, the Fuji has a 28-100mm 3.6x zoom lens with autofocus and the famous EBC coated lens to produce excellent color fidelity.  It has a very good flash with fill flash mode (use this on bright days especially when your subject is backlit) and comes with a quartz date/yime imprinting option and an extra large LCD panel. 

Under $150: Canon Sure Shot Z180u Date Body

This camera has a tremendous 38mm-180mm zoom lens with a zoom-coupled smart auto focus system.  It also has an automatic light guide zoom flash with red-eye reduction and 6 programmed image control modes for making shooting very easy. Among the Sure Shot Z180u date camera's other advanced capabilities are the Light Guide Flash that automatically fires in low light and backlit conditions to ensure proper exposure under virtually any shooting condition. The Light Guide Flash also provides even illumination throughout the camera's zoom range and can be set to AUTO (with and without red-eye reduction), Flash ON, Flash OFF and Slow-Sync for combining flash photography with natural light. The camera also employs a CMOS light-metering sensor with automatic backlight detection capability and even offers users the option of manually setting their own exposure compensation plus or minus 1.5 stops. Camera also appears to be a bit more rugged than most compact cameras. 

Under $150: Yashica T4 Compact 35mm Camera w/ Zoom Kit

Why does a camera by a manufacturer most have never heard of with only a 28mm-70mm zoom make this list?  Because Yashica has been making excellent cameras for years and the zoom lens is none other than a Carl Zeiss Tessar f4.5-8T* lens with exclusive T* multi-layer coating.  Zeiss is known for excellent quality glass, which is why you see it in upper end Sony consumer digital video cameras.  This lens is fast, so you can get more light thru the lens and thus shoot with faster shutter speeds (up to 1/300th of a second).  The zoom is not long, but these cameras have a reputation of fine quality.

Under $200: Nikon Lite Touch 150 Zoom ED/QD Date 35mm Camera

This camera deserves its name weighing only about 7 ounces.  But that does not keep it for sporting a 4X (38mm - 150mm) zoom lens automatic film loading, a quartz date option, and a sliding lens cover to protect those awesome Nikon optics.  Small enough to fit in your purse or maybe even your shirt pocket.

Under $400: LEICA CAMERA C3 Compact 35mm Camera

The Leica brand is widely recognized as one of the best camera brands you can buy.  This camera body is aluminum, to provide a more rugged body than the common plastics.  The lens is a 28mm-80mm Leica lens with real glass, not plastic.  An integrated multimode electronic-flash helps to produce excellent flash pictures.  Skip the Yashica etc. and go with this one if you have the money. 

Around $1000: CONTAX TvsIII Point and Shoot 35mm Camera

If you want great picture quality and do not mind paying for it then you should strongly consider this camera by Contax.  Built to last with a Titanium body and legendary Zeiss optics (see the Yashica above), this camera is capable of great photos despite its limited 30mm-60mm zoom lens.  Personally, I would rather spend $1000 on a good SLR but if you do not want the weight of an SLR and/or do not want the hassle of messing with digital files (i.e. you would rather just drop your film off at the photo lab)  then this camera starts to make sense.