I bought my daughter the Canon Elf last year and it takes wonderful pictures and is quite easy to use. Here is a close up of a fairy headband that I made that she took with the camera. The beads are 8 mm. Robin Here is a link that might be useful:

The Canon Rebel XTI is a digital single-lens-reflex camera. It can be left on Auto and used with the lens it comes with, but, frankly, if that's all you do with it, you're wasting your money. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, and Sony all sell cameras worth considering. Some things to keep in mind: - Image stabilization will let you get a better picture in low light and maybe fix some "user errors". But it won't fix every motion problem. You still can end up with blurry pictures. - Don't buy just megapixels. The way the camera handles the picture after you take it ("image processing") is even more important than the number of pixels. For the size of pictures most people will put in their homes, 6-8 megapixels is enough. Worry more about your options in managing the picture. - Watch the zooms. It sounds really good to have a 10x or 15x zoom, but most zooms get really dark at the far end. In addition, image stabilization will work the same at the wide and tele ends of the zoom even though that, too, may result in some unwanted effects. - It really helps to get your hands on cameras you're thinking of buying. Any given camera may seem too small for one person; too clumsy to handle to someone else; too difficult to operate. Take pictures, but also try some scene modes, formatting a memory card, and try deleting a shot. - If you can, either get return privileges or see if the store will either print some of your pictures or display them on a large screen. The little LCD on the back of the camera is not adequate for judging color, sharpness, contrast, or focus. - If you can, shop at a camera shop. Though it may be hard to believe, camera shops will sell the same cameras at the same prices as discount stores or big-box electronics stores. And you usually get the benefit of a wider range of cameras and accessories and a salesperson who isn't just substituting from Small Appliances. I realize this is a lot to read, but it can help you from spending a lot of money on a camera that doesn't do what you want it to do.

Butter, Was there a signed contract stating prep-needs, priming, etc.? Were any references checked? How was this painter brought to your attention? What brand/color of paint was ACTUALLY used? SEVEN GALLONS??!??!?!...Krikey!!! That's ridiculous... For 250 sf: * Gray primer should've been used under 98% of Reds. * This would've taken ~ 2/3 of a gallon of primer. * The paint: about 1.5 gallons should've done it...applied as TWO FULL ROLLED coats. >>> A normal 12'x14' bedroom with 8' ceilings, & subtracting out for an avg. window & door = 400sf. >>> 2 gallons would be average to do TWO COATS in this size room. Deep colors MAY take slightly more paint, since these tint-bases are less full. >>> If paint is pushed too far past 400sf, it's getting WAAAAAY TOO THIN. >>> The rate of 400sf/gallon is the absolute high end most paints should be applied at. Were you ripped off...YES. Were you "hacked".....YES. Faron

Look for a camera with optical zoom not digital zoom. Try out the camera if you can at the camera store. those cameras you are looking at, like the point and shoots or JPB's have a limited capacity to do close up or macro work. I purchased the Canon S2IS and was disappointed to find I need to spend another $300. for accessories to get the kind of pictures Im use to from my 35mm SLR Minolta, which I bought with the telephoto and macro lenses.