Here’s a list of things or tips to consider when looking for a great family camera—

1). Requires regular batteries or not? There are many cameras that all you do is recharge, (like a cellphone), the camera. I like cameras that use your basic AA batteries. You can buy rechargeable AA batteries, and buy regular ones in a pinch anywhere, should you find your camera without power, instead of being without a camera to use while it’s hooked up being recharged. (What happens if you need to replace the internal built-in lithium ion battery? Might be costly to replace and not easy to find). It’s true that digicameras use up disposable batteries quickly. But you can buy rechargeable ones and they last a long time. It should be a must to buy rechargeable batteries (with it’s charger), There are some AA (stick with the name brands), that now recharges in an hour, or even less! (Remember to figure in the cost to buy rechargeable AA/AAA battery and battery recharger).

2). An optical viewfinder is very useful for those times when it’s difficult to see your subject on your screen, and helps conserve power of your camera. This feature seems to be important to some, (me included), but to others, not necessary. (This is where IS [Image Stabilization] comes in. Helpful if your camera does not have an optical vierfinder.)

3). Don’t get sucked in by the more MP (megapixels [10 and above]), the camera has, the better. It is not always the case. 5-6 mp is sufficient for most.

4). Optical zoom of at least 3-4x. Don’t be fooled by a high digital zoom number. Opitical is what you’re looking for.

5). IS (image stabilization) and face detection? I grew up taking pictures using 110 film and 35mm cameras. They never had it, I grew to compensate adjusting ISO, film speed, manually focusing my subject, lighting, and a steady hand. This is a personal choice for what an individual wants.

6). Camera size: Compact or subcompact? You might compromise functions and options when you go with a small and sleek camera. This is also a personal choice.

I’m not familiar with merchants or shops there where you live, (I’m assumming you’re not from the States), that are well known for selling digital cameras. So you may want to start with visiting one of those places. Bear in minds some of the things I mentioned when looking for a camera. The salesperson may ask you the same questions. That way they can show you which camera you might consider.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000PH5IWI/026-5854203-4974830?ie=UTF8&tag=shape4-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B000PH5IWI

As i have the predecessor and it is brilliant. Well worth the money!!!

Or:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000V3ICJ2/026-5854203-4974830?ie=UTF8&tag=shape4-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B000V3ICJ2

Hope it helps!

Note that the full moon is MUCH brighter than even the brightest star, so a 10-sec exposure of the full moon will be overexposed. (You’ll have to experiment to determine the exact exposure for the Moon; it depends on the sensitivity of the CCD inside the camera).

For stars, you will probably not get much at 10 seconds, unless you are at a very dark-sky site (rural area). But it’s worth a shot.

They will do 20×30 prints starting at $25. Go to their site and click on the help pages to find out about resolution. They recommend 250 ppi, but will go as low as 100 ppi. This means you can make a 20×30 from a 6MP image (2000×3000) but a bigger is better. If you want poster size, this would be okay, because you aren’t going to be viewing them from 16″ away…

I was skeptical. But they’re full quality photographic prints on high quality paper.

Give ‘em a try.
http://www.elcocolor.com/poster_special.htm