Shop 'Til You Can Crop

Our first stop was Best Buy, on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street. We weren't sure what to expect at the big box stores, where they hawk everything from tiny MP3 players to huge side-by-side refrigerators. But overall, the Best Buy experience wasn't bad. Our young salesperson wasn't especially enthusiastic, but she did know a thing or two about digital cameras. After hearing how much we wanted to spend, she showed us her only two cameras under $150, an HP Photosmart M425 and a Kodak EasyShare C330. She noted that they were "not very difficult at all to use," which is the case, and that they used SD cards, though she didn't offer any insights such as why we might want SD versus xD or Sony's Memory Stick. (SD is generally cheaper and more readily available. And when you're shopping on a budget, you need to factor in the cost of the memory. We think you're better off investing in the camera itself.) She also accurately pointed out that you should pay attention only to optical zoom and disregard digital zoom. She then briefly demonstrated how to use the camera.

Molly chose the $149.95 HP Photosmart M425, which is a 5MP camera with 3X optical zoom, over the identically priced Kodak EasyShare C330, a 4MP camera, because of the higher megapixel count, the slightly larger LCD screen (the M425 had a 1.7-inch and the C330 had a 1.5-inch), and nicer user interface. We also liked how HP includes helpful tips in its menus. The M425 had all the manuals and cords in the package.

At Circuit City, at 14th St. adjacent to Union Square, we found five cameras, ranging from $129 to $149. We met a very good salesperson who gave honest, up-front answers. For example, when I asked him about digital zoom, he said, "Digital zoom just makes the picture worse. Every time you get closer the amount of pixels get less and less. Optical is all that really matters." Or when we asked him about memory cards, he said that xD cards are "the most expensive because they're used only in Olympus and Fuji cameras."

He also pointed out which cameras did or didn't offer video with sound, an important point if video clips matter to you. And when we asked him if there were significant differences between the inexpensive cameras, he said "all these cameras were meant for five-year-olds." (We're pretty sure he meant that they're easy enough to be used by a five-year-old, not that they're juvenile playthings.) He singled out the Nikon Coolpix L4, saying he felt it has a "better lens and also takes SD cards, which are cheaper [than xD cards]."

But since we concurred with his advice that most of the inexpensive cameras available there were more or less the same, we decided to go with the cheaper Olympus FE100, a 4MP camera with 2.8X optical zoom, for $129.

After we bought the Olympus FE100, the salesperson offered some good, practical advice on accessories, including a camera bag ("If you don't get a camera bag, you can break the LCD screen and you can't use the camera.") and rechargeable batteries ("This camera uses AA batteries. If you don't get rechargeable batteries, you'll make the battery companies very rich.") Because the camera was so inexpensive, we took his advice on the case and bought a small $10 one, but we passed on the batteries, though we agree with his stance.

Our last stop was Adorama, a reputable photo specialty store on 18th St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. First we encountered the same sort of self-help counter we had seen in the retail chains, with perhaps a few more cameras on view (although they weren't well labeled or clearly priced). Behind the counter, however, the store had many more digital camera models. At Adorama, you stand a better chance of finding a specific model than at the retail chains, and because there was less clamor in this store, we were better able to concentrate on what the salesperson was saying.

We waited briefly on line to meet with a salesperson, who was quite friendly and knowledgeable about things such as digital cards. "Most digital cameras take SD cards," he said. "Even D-SLRs are changing over to SD cards. So you can keep this card when you want to upgrade." I concur.

We went into the store with our heart set on buying a 4MP Canon PowerShot A430, it being the bargain camera we've seen advertised most often but hadn't yet gotten. Unfortunately the A430 was out of stock, but the salesperson, knowing that our goal was to keep the price down, suggested a $99.95 Canon Powershot A410 instead. The A410 is a 3.2MP camera with 3.2X optical zoom, and we had wanted 4MP minimum. Moreover, after hearing the salesperson's description, it struck me that he actually was offering us a refurbished camera: "It's basically brand new. The customer never used it. It's not something that someone returned." He explained, however, that Canon had probably brought the camera to a trade show, where it had taken it out of its box., After even such minimal handling, the manufacturer is not allowed to restore the camera to its original box and must label the product refurbished.

We don't dispute the Adorama salesperson's explanation, but we also believe that the term refurbished, as defined on a Massachusetts state government site (, covers a wider range of possibilities: "Refurbished: The process of restoring a product by cleaning, repairing, recovering, and reusing the item for its original intended use." In other words, it's difficult if not impossible to verify exactly how "used" any refurbished or reconditioned camera is. On the other hand, you might be able to get a great camera at a tremendous discount. But check that it has at least as good a warranty as a brand-new version of the same model.

Like the Circuit City salesperson, the Adorama salesperson suggested that we get rechargeable double-A batteries. He also recommended avoiding digital zoom. "The main thing is to look for optical zoom," he said. We passed on the A410 and, since he didn't have the A430, we walked out empty-handed.

In addition to these cameras, Ben Gottesman, our editor for technology, picked up a supposedly 5MP Polaroid PDC 5080 at Target for just $88. Instead of being tucked away behind the counter with all the other digital cameras, it was just dangling from a customer-accessible store shelf hermetically sealed in a blister-pack. The packaging should have been a sign to us to stay away, but we sallied forth.