Do You Know What's Really Important When Shopping For Digital Cameras?
Digital cameras and batteries always go together. They are the best of friends. One cannot work without the other. Your most expensive and exquisite camera is useless if you run out of battery. If you are planning for a photograph adventure, be sure to have your best weapon-your best digital camera battery.
If you are going to do outdoor photography, always bring extra batteries. Running out of batteries at the height of your photo adventure is so disgusting. It will just be make you loose all your stamina and eagerness of capturing that awesome view.
Two of the biggest determining factors in the price of the digital SLRs from Nikon (or any camera manufacturer), are lens quality and image sensor size. Pretty much everyone is familiar with what a lens is, but image sensor is perhaps not so obvious.
An image sensor is inside the camera, and replaces the film of old school cameras. Larger image sensors collect more light, dynamic range, and will result in less image noise. Don't confuse image sensor size with megapixels, as they are two completely different specifications.
In the over $200 category, you get more features, more megapizels, some extra accessories, and generally a more durable camera. Cameras to consider here would be the Canon PowerShot SD950IS or the Pro Series S5. The S5 has a nice 12X optical zoom for those times when want to be out of the scene but still want a close candid shot.
Don't be shy about spending the extra money in this category, as I've generally found that cheap electronics always comes back to haunt you.
If that doesn't help, I keep a short list of recommended camera ratings and prices gathered from across the internet updated by the minute (aren't computers great). It's a great way to speed up the process, and eliminate all the less than stellar cameras. It's a fast and simple digital camera buying guide all on it's own.