[firebug]

Seeing that this is my line of work currently, i will give a few suggestions.

Canon A75- what all the popular kids drive. Certainly a very good camera, but make sure to take an honest look at some of the other contenders out there. Pro's-Good picture quality, loads of features, cheap memory (CF), and a big screen. Con's- Large size, no rechargables included,

Fuji S3000- the best performance of the class, fastest lens (aperture wise), longest zoom (6x), best picture quality. Fewer features than the A75, a clunkier design, most expensive memory (XD).

Nikon 3200- as good a picture quality in the real world as the Canon, smaller size, less money, simplified design, includes rechargables, and has a two year warranty. Con's- slightly more expensive memory (SD), shorter battery life (only uses 2AA), no manual controls.

Olympus Stylus 300- (my fav.) Best all-around brand (Canon #2). Small, simple, stylish and weatherproof. Good picture quality. Li-Ion rechargable (best battery life), remote control. Con's- no sound with video, expensive memory (XD), no manual controls.

All of these cameras are less than 400, and all of them take a better picture than what you need.

You need to budget about $150 in accessories to make your purchase really usable. Memory Card, rechargable batteries, and a carrying case.

Brands to avoid:
-HP
-Kodak
-Sony (under $600)

I have sold over 500 digicams in the past year working part-time while going to school, and my suggestions reflect the responses of many of my customers.

Shop at a place like Vistek, the Camera Store, or London Drugs (I work at the store on MacLeod & Heritage). The people who work at these places know photography and are usually very experienced with cameras. Other places will tend to push products that are spiffed the best (Kodak and HP).

PS- Whatever you buy, don't shoot in the B&W or sepia modes. Shoot full colour and use your computer software to tweak it. B&W is much more difficult to shoot well than most people think. Doing it in post-production gives you much more flexibility to try different things eg yellow, green, orange or red filters. Plus, if you shoot B&W you can never get a colour version, while if you shoot in colour you can get any effect you want afterwards.

PPS- If you are really serious about photography, buy an old manual SLR like an Nikon FE, Pentax ME Super, or Canon AE-1. Your results will be far superior to digital, your composition will improve, and you'll have several hundred dollars more in you pocket to buy film and developing.