stauren1203

I'm looking to buy my wife and I a camera for our 1 year wedding anniversary. We are by no means photographers, but our last camera died a while back and I think this would be a good time to justify spending some money. $400 is my absolute limit. Like I said, I don't care if its a point and shoot or an SLR, i just want to be able to take good easy pictures.

Thanks for the help.

Heyitsgary

Take a look through the threads and do a little research.

Your question is way too broad in one sense (anything, up to $400). On the other hand, however, it really excludes any DSLR from the discussion.

You'll get some type of used body with perhaps 1 lens, and will effectively have a point and shoot anyways, with perhaps better depth of field, but with the limit of the single lens. As you'll find out by looking, the body of a DSLR is just the beginning. It does offer you flexibility as you go/grow with it, however, if you're setting an upper limit of $400, you may never be able to afford the costs associated with that growth.

In that range, I'd probably look at the upper end point and shoots.

VisualEchos

"Best" is a subjective term, not an objective term, which means it's up to you to tell us what is best for you.

I would not buy a DSLR if all I had was $400 as an "absolute limit", so you know where my vote goes. And to that end, Olympus usually gives you great bang-for-the-buck in point-and-shoot cameras.

Jeff456

Stretch the budget to get something like the nikon d3000 and a single lens then plan to grow into a couple more lenses and such... Unless you don't really have an interest in photography and would rather than just point and shoot to capture a moment... then just get a point and shoot camera

latinochino

Honestly, with $400 dollar price limit, you would be lucky to get a used DSLR. Also as a Anniversary gift, a used camera wouldn't fly. lol

stauren1203

Let's skip the dslr option then. By "best," I'm saying easiest to get a good picture out of. We are not going to become "photographers" in any sense, but we'd like to be able to take good pictures easily. Will mostly be shooting people, sunsets, maybe the occasional car....

zzziippyyy

Get a canon G11 you can find them for the 425-450 range it is a wee bit more than you want to spend but totally worth it. Or if you can find a canon g10 you can get that cheaper. This camera will fill every need you have.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6431...n_3632B001.html

rudyr

Either a Canon S90, G11 or a Panasonic LX3. All allow you to shoot RAW, which will give you a tremendous amount of flexibility in post-processing. All three have 'large' sensors, 'low' pixel counts, and 'fast' lenses relative to other compacts so you'll get a bit better low light performance and some minute amount of DOF control.

The Panasonic, in my opinion (and I own an S90, so not biased), will be more interesting because it has the widest lens and for the type of shooting you described I think that'll be more useful and creative than a ton of zoom. Also, subjectively, if it's for a gift I think the physical look and feel of the LX3 is excellent; good balance of compact size but something tangible to use.

$380 shipped for the silver, even cheaper if you don't mind black. You'll be hard pressed to find a definitely better camera, new in box, than this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CCNDK...VZYJEPFC70FWTB4

VisualEchos

The Olympus PEN seems pretty popular.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6747...tal_Camera.html

Penforhire

+1 for Canon G11 or S90 (same sensor, different bodies & lenses)