Some thoughts about buying a Digital Camera

1) Buy a spare battery
There is no need to buy the original manufacturer's one. Compatible batteries are sold online, and I have found no problems with them - they can also be a quarter of the price.

2) Don't be carried away by megapixels!
It is interesting that the last Canon compact has reduced the number of megapixels from 14 to 11. It will actually gives better quality, as the pixel size is larger so the signal does not need to be amplified (causing noise) as much.

3) It depends what you want it for.
If you just want a decent camera for normal-sized 'enprints' then get a compact, with a decent optical zoom, and around 8Mp. I remember Roger Hicks in Amateur Photographer magazine talking about someone who bought an expensive Leica and complaining that his prints were actually no better than those from any other camera. It turned out that he was having them printed to enprint size at the local High Street processor! There is no point buying an expensive camera if the prints will not be enlarged beyond this.

There is more, however. If you want to take good pictures of any sport other than chess, an SLR is probably essential. Entry-level ones (still better than a compact) start at about £300.

If you see photography as a particular hobby or interest, go for an SLR. My own favourite camera is the Olympus, though it is something of a niche product with only a few independent lenses. The other main makes are Canon and Nikon. The best cameras at Caldicott are actually Sony & Nikon SLRs.