I really like Digital SLRs but then i am really concerned about how my pics look. If you just like to take pics of friends and families pick anything in your price range. That will be fine. Just check these few things 1. Megapixels: You wont need more than 6 megapixels ever in your life but more than 3.5 is good. The cheap cameras that provide you huge mega pixels do it by digitally manipulating lower megapixels so you are better off shooting at lower megapixels. 2. Battery: Make sure that the battery is easily rechargable and has relatively long life. 3. Media: SD cards seem to be the cheapest and best memory cards these days so make sure the camera supports the media card of your choice. 4. Shutter lag: hutter lag is the delay between pressing the shutter button and the camera recording the picture. If you have high shutter lag you will invariably end with blurry pics. Although with lightweight cameras the instability of cameras is inevitible but it helps if you have lower shutter lag. Good luck