I’d rather not get another kodak digital, the color always seems messed up and they take like 38578273689732872896 times to focus.
one with a lot of settings would be great and won’t break too easily, I mean, i’ll be careful with it but I don’t want it to break on me after using it twice, you know?
Either the actual camera or tips of stuff to look for in a camera
thanks 
Under $500
 KODAK BLACK C183 14MP EASYSHAR... 52.88 |  Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 ... 113.49 |  Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40 14.1 ... 311.49 |  KODAK PURPLE C182 12MP EASYSHA... 49.95 |
My first camera was a Nikon D40x. It’s a great starter camera. I have a D700 now.
What is your budget?
i would say a canon rebel, that was my first camera and it works great!
it depends on your budget. if you want a good all purpose camera then take a look an the Cannon Rebels i use a Cannon Rebel Ti its a film camera that has served me well for 5 years now (used almost every day with only basic maintenance). the newer digital Rebels will be just as sturdy if not more so, and will be better quality.
Fujifilm Digital Cameras
Just remember that Canon and Nikon aren’t the only DSLR manufacturers out there. Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic and Sigma all make great DSLRs every bit as good as Canon and Nikon, some even better.
All DSLRs are great cameras. Yes, some are better than others, but none are bad. For $500 you can get an entry level camera from any of those brands.
From Canon, you would be looking at a Rebel. Nikon, the D40. Sony, the a200. I don’t know a lot about the model names of the rest of them.
If you are willing to go with used equipment, then you can stretch that money further. You can either save money on an entry level camera, or you can get a higher level camera for the $500.
Try out the cameras at a large store like Ultimate Electronics. They carry most DSLRs that are available from these manufacturers. And dpreview.com is a good place to read the reviews on the different models and see the specifications.
Don’t forget you will need at least one memory card so budget for that. And a camera bag is nice for protecting your equipment.
I’d say raise your budget and get a refurbed 40D with F1.8 50mm lens. It’s great place to expand from.
Nikon D40 is a good DLSR to start with.It provide great picture quality, easy to use,compacted & light weight and affordable price.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KJQ1DG?ie=UTF8&tag=samsungdlphdtv07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000KJQ1DG
or another good one that are on your budget
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CBKJGG?ie=UTF8&tag=samsungdlphdtv07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001CBKJGG
DSLR or point and shoot? What features would you like to have? (For instance, I personally find bracketing very useful and so many of the entry-level nikon DLSRs are not an option for me).
Generally you can’t go much wrong with a DSLR as far as picture quality is concerned, as long as you get your hands on a good lens (most kit lenses are pretty reasonable). Also the SLRs have alot of controls you can adjust pretty much anything, and they all have nice auto modes where you don’t have to do anything. For a DSLR I guess one of the Nikon or Canon entry-level cameras (Obviously these aren’t the only brands and other brands can be just as good, the advantages of Canon or Nikon is they have a very large market base which means second hand lenses, all sorts of tutorials and help from other users should be easy to come by).
I’m not much into point and shoots but as far as I can tell there’s not that much difference between them. Safest bet is to go for an established brand, Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Panasonic should be on your list but that shouldn’t necessarily be the extent of your list. I do know, that a few of these have larger sensors than others and generally bigger sensor means more detail (so a good thing). It’s a good idea to ensure you have a good lens with the right range for you because you don’t have the option to buy a replacement lens like with SLRs.
Some general advice:
Don’t get obsessed about mega-pixels, remember it’s a measure of image size not quality. And more mega-pixels means larger file sizes. Then again don’t completely dismiss its importance it does come in handy when you want to do some extensive cropping and still print large pictures.
Remember that digital zoom is infact not zoom at all, you’d do well to ignore whatever they tell you about digital zoom to try and sell a camera.
It’s important to understand what situations you’ll be photographing in and what kind of photographs you’ll be taking before you buy any equipment. The focal range of the lens as well as low light performance of the camera are particularly important in this regard. If you intend to ever use a flash it’s usually a good idea to choose a camera with a flash hot-shoe (On-camera flashes are generally lousy because of how close the flash is to the lens, not to mention the limited ability to control the direction or even to diffuse the flash).