It is getting to be the holiday season and I have been getting a lot of questions from friends and clients about purchasing a camera.  Many people purchase cameras this time of year as gifts or for recording their own family memories.  They often ask my opinion as a professional about what camera they should buy.  I have put together a list of a few of my favorites:

Favorite Point and Shoot Camera under $200:            

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 Digital Camera – This camera is remarkable in many ways.  It has a compact, stylish body that is small and easy to carry. The camera’s 8.1 effective megapixels of resolution means that you can make larger prints of your favorite images. Best of all, the camera has a Leica brand lens.  Leica lenses are typically only found on more expensive cameras.  These lenses are incredibly sharp and well made (equivalent to 28 - 280mm on a 35mm film camera). This versatile camera is well suited to a broad range of shooting opportunities both close up and wide angle.

Favorite SLR Camera under $500:      

The Nikon D40 Interchangeable-lens Digital SLR – This camera boasts handling and performance advantages that do away with the frustrations often associated with compact digital cameras. For consistently crisp, clear and better images SLR cameras are the way to go.  It features a high-resolution 6.1-effective-megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor and a highly advanced Nikon Image Processing Engine. Furthermore, Nikon’s exclusive 3D Color Matrix Metering II assures accurate exposure control even in difficult lighting conditions, and an AUTO ISO feature makes the most of available light by automatically setting the camera’s light sensitivity from the available ISO range of 200 to 1600.

This camera comes equipped with a specially designed 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens.  Because it is a SLR camera you can change out the lenses and upgrade as you become more interested in photography.  The D40 is light and compact, making it easy to carry anywhere. The camera’s design also incorporates fewer potentially confusing controls then other SLR cameras, allowing those who are not professionals to still take great photos.

I hope you find these tips helpful.  Remember that the most important camera tip is to relax and have fun taking your photos regardless of your equipment!