Need some help buying a camera. Don't know what I'm doing.

As the title suggests, I am not very tech savvy. All pictures/videos that I have taken have been with my Samsung Galaxy Note. Which has been okayish........, but because of the size of the phone, pictures/videos are awkward and difficult to do. So thus I am in search of a new camera.

So I was hoping that all you tech savvy/camera savvy people could help me. I'm way out of my league. I've been trying to look on my own, but it's all very confusing. Here are some things I am looking for. Budget is $200

1) A lot better photo quality than with my phone. Best I can get within my budget
2) Better video quality (I believe my phone is 720 at best, or so Samsung claims)
3) Good with herping/wild life/natural pictures. I haven't really taken a camera out with me, and I think it's about time I do.
4) Takes good shots of my snakes, my phone is a hit or miss just getting decent shots.

The video quality is quite important because I do love my YouTube channel and would really like to make my video quality better. While I can buy a camcorder, I am hoping to find a camera that can also do it (realistically I doubt as good as a camcorder, but then again I don't know what I'm doing ).

But if I must buy a camcorder separate, then I can just save up the money and buy it at a later date. So I would be okay with going down to 720 video for the camera (while there would be no video quality increase,but at least the camera would be less awkward to handle).

So any suggestions? I feel as if I have been dropped off on Mars, with no road/space map, and told to find my way back home (and somehow I can breath?.....)

This is the camera I was using until I got my new DSLR. It is my third of that line- the only reason I ever upgraded was because they got cooler- not because the camera broke or wasn't doing everything I wanted.

Wiki

And, I know nothing about video cameras, but WOOT _always_ has them, seems like. On that site (they have cameras, too) there is a discussion thread about every item, so you find out how well it works.

If you can scrounge up about $75 more bucks i got a panasonic G5 from groupon refurbished for $275 shipped! Awesome camera but to much technology for me right now so i have a buddy who is a photo guru coming on friday to give me some classes. It also has i think 4 mabey 5 custom resettings you can preset so when he leaves i am going to have him save them on the custom buttons so that if i forget what he says as long as i am shooting in the same places it should work fine

boricua00735 said:

If you can scrounge up about $75 more bucks i got a panasonic G5 from groupon refurbished for $275 shipped! Awesome camera but to much technology for me right now so i have a buddy who is a photo guru coming on friday to give me some classes. It also has i think 4 mabey 5 custom resettings you can preset so when he leaves i am going to have him save them on the custom buttons so that if i forget what he says as long as i am shooting in the same places it should work fine

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I searched on Groupon and I could only find one that was $350 near Chicago


Here are the cameras that have caught my eye.

Fijifilms FinePix S8200 ($230 at Best Buy's week deal)
http://http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-FinePix-S8200-Digital-Camera/dp/B00ATM1NAU
- I bought a camera from them at least 5 years ago, but it was a cheap camera so my phone has surpassed it in quality. But the old camera is still working with no problems, just outdated in quality. This particular camera is a little out of budget, but still do able.
- I got a chance to mess with it at Best Buy and I like the feel of it (although they really had it tied down, not with just one cord, but two cords so I couldn't do too much with it). The zoom worked good but it was loud (loud enough to hear it during recordings).
- Has 1080 HD video recording

Sony - Cyber-shot DSC-H200 ($230 at Best Buy's week deal)
http://http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Cyber-shot+DSC-H200+20.1-Megapixel+Digital+Camera+-+Black/7595057.p?id=1218853503093&skuId=7595057
- Got a chance to mess with it at Best Buy, it seems (to my untrained eye) that the photo quality is better than the Fijifilms camera. But shoots in 720 video recording and I do like the feel of the Fijifilms camera better. Again, a little out of budget.

Nikon - Coolpix L820 ($200 Best Buy's week deal)
http://http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nikon+-+Coolpix+L820+16.0-Megapixel+Digital+Camera+-+Plum/8130135.p?id=1218864356457&skuId=8130135
- When I first saw this, I thought I found the camera. It has everything I need. But from some reviews I have read, it seems once the pictures transfer off of the camera, the quality becomes bad.
- At Best Buy, I did take some time to at least look at it. On screen the pictures looked good, but then what is mentioned above ^^^ put doubt into my head. If I go back to Best Buy I will ask if they would be kind enough to take photo's with it and transfer them to a computer.

What do you all think? Thank you all for the help. ^^

I've been looking for a cheap camera too. Found a good site for camera reviews and comparisons. For example:

http://www.2cameraguys.com/FujiFilm-FinePix-S8200-vs-Canon-PowerShot-SX500-IS.htm

That's just one thing. Type the model number of whatever camera you're looking at into the search field at the top right, and it will show you different things.

There's a lot of good info on cameras if you're looking for info, worth checking.

My pre-DSL camera was a Canon Coolpix (my daughter is now using it). I don't know about video quality, but the pictures quality is definitely pretty good, and it's not terribly expensive.

Other option is always checking eBay. I got an older model (but still brand new) Canon Rebel XT for around $250 (body plus two lenses). You may be able to find something there that fits your criteria.

Thank you everyone for helping me (even if it was just review sites, I searched all my options on them and that helped make the choice more clear). I ended up getting the Fujifilm FinePix s8200. I bought a Fujifilm FinePix Z10fd back in 2007 and it still works like new. It came down to past experience, the photo quality was good, the video quality was better than my phone, and I just liked to feel of the camera overall. I did check ebay, but I just got very overwhelmed,too many options (some of them were DSL's but I passed on those due to my lack of experience).

If you ever end up wanting to get into a DSLR, I suggest a mirrorless one. They are a hot item right now. You have the interchangable lens like the standard DSLR's. They are just a lot more compact, about the size of a decent zoom point and shoot. If you are anywhere near a Sam's Club, that's your best bet when buying any bundles. Usually they have two lens kits with a case and SD card for the same price that Best Buy has for just the body and the standard lens. Send me a PM if you have any questions at all.

Brionuhh said:

If you ever end up wanting to get into a DSLR, I suggest a mirrorless one. They are a hot item right now. You have the interchangable lens like the standard DSLR's. They are just a lot more compact, about the size of a decent zoom point and shoot. If you are anywhere near a Sam's Club, that's your best bet when buying any bundles. Usually they have two lens kits with a case and SD card for the same price that Best Buy has for just the body and the standard lens. Send me a PM if you have any questions at all.

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Except that mirrorless camera sensors are tiny, which means a high pixel density but terrible pixel size which usually leads to poor ISO performance.

If you want true DSLR performance stick with the mirrored ones for now.