Which Camera?

Hi there,

I am new to the world of digital cameras. I am looking to purchase one for
amateur use. I don't have masses of money to spend, it must be under £200. I
have read a little about them and I understand the different terms like CCD
etc. But something I am not sure about, how many megapixels are necessary to
get a decent quality picture, the chances are I will be printing the photos
onto photo quality paper in a standard photo size (6" x 4"?? - something
like that). Preferably I would like a camera that provides equivalent
quality to a 35mm at that size. I would quite like to have a decent optical
zoom as well, 3-4x ?
One last point, what is the difference between all the different media cards
for storage? Is there any advantage of one over the other? How do I transfer
the images to my computer? I have USB2 & firewire, but would rather not have
to purchase a seperate card reader.

Many thanks,
Stephen

"Stephen Austin" <sa~spamkiller~145@york.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:bhg15r$7fk$1@pump1.york.ac.uk...
 > Hi there,
 >
 > I am new to the world of digital cameras. I am looking to purchase one for
 > amateur use. I don't have masses of money to spend, it must be under £200.
I
 > have read a little about them and I understand the different terms like
CCD
 > etc. But something I am not sure about, how many megapixels are necessary
to
 > get a decent quality picture, the chances are I will be printing the
photos
 > onto photo quality paper in a standard photo size (6" x 4"?? - something
 > like that). Preferably I would like a camera that provides equivalent
 > quality to a 35mm at that size.

A 2 megapixel camera would be fine for prints that size. More pixels would
be better when oyu want to clip the picture to get a better composition.

I would quite like to have a decent optical
 > zoom as well, 3-4x ?

That will suit most needs,

 > One last point, what is the difference between all the different media
cards
 > for storage? Is there any advantage of one over the other? How do I
transfer
 > the images to my computer? I have USB2 & firewire, but would rather not
have
 > to purchase a seperate card reader.
 >

The differences aren't critical. But a card reader doesn't cost much, and
it a lot more convenient to use than connecting the camera to the computer.

 > Many thanks,
 > Stephen
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->