[fugazifan]

i have 250$
my friend recommended these cameras for me
Canon A1100 IS - 129$
Canon SD780 IS - 179$
Canon SD980 IS - 249$
if anybody else has recommendations for me in that price range that would be great.
i will probably mostly use it for like memory shots, and for documenting police harassment and whatnot at protests that i go to
oh, she also recommended this

Also, a guy I work with has an Olympus camera and he recommended them to me because they have a line of cameras called "Stylus Tough" that are apparently water-proof, dust-proof, shock-proof, freeze-proof etc. Picture quality wise, the Canon are probably better, but if you want a camera that can withstand everything, think of the Olympus, the guy that works with me has one and he's happy with it. Their price range in Amazon is 200-280$.

[Pookie]

You can get the Canon IXUS 100 for £153 (about 230 US$).

Good if you want a cheap(ish) camera that's easy to use and takes really good quality pictures. It's the best digital camera we've had so far.

[phoenix]

i haven't worked in a lab in four years, but the olympus digital range all used to take second rate photos, and be more expensive. Which is sad because their film happy snap cameras were always so good.

Without a doubt i'd go with a canon. In the old days i'd have suggested a fuji if you were short of cash.. But the canon are even so cheap now and the technology has improved a great deal. They've put a lot of work in to their budget and amateur mid range, so when you could now get a basic slr for a few hundred more they need to make the compacts very attractive in order to sell. Price and features. Look for the best optical zoom you can afford, in the compact range. all canon will take great pics.

[terminal pharmacy]

dpreview.com will give you a good idea, they have very knowledge reviews of almost any camera you can think of and they test the cameras for everything.