$150 Great pictures in daylight-normal brightness.

Easy to use. Point and shoot camera.

Slow flash recovery.

Long gap between taking pictures.

Long gap between pressing shutter button and actual taking of the picture.

Poor low light capabilities.

Fully automatic-little or no manual camera adjustments.

Artifacts in shadows (red and blue errors in pixels)

Lower resolution: See below

Excellent photos for web use

Good 5x7 photos

Poor 11x17 photos

Lower quality lens-affects overall sharpness.

 

$250 Great pictures in daylight-normal brightness.

Easy to use. Point and shoot camera.

Slow flash recovery.

Medium gap between taking pictures.

Medium gap between pressing shutter button and actual taking of the picture.

Poor low light capabilities.

Fully automatic and some manual camera adjustments.

Less artifacts in shadows (red and blue errors in pixels)

Good resolution: See below

Excellent photos for web use

Good 5x7 photos

Good 8x10 photos

Poor 11x17 photos

Better quality lens-matches other limitations of the camera.

 

$350 Great pictures in daylight-normal brightness.

Easy to use. Point and shoot camera.

Slow flash recovery.

Short gap between taking pictures.

Short gap between pressing shutter button and actual taking of the picture.

Better low light capabilities.

Fully automatic and some manual camera adjustments.

Still fewer artifacts in shadows (red and blue errors in pixels)

Very good resolution: See below

Excellent photos for web use

Excellent 5x7 photos

Good 8x10 photos

Good 11x17 photos

Poor 20x30 photos

Better quality lens-matches other limitations of the camera.

 

$450 Great pictures in daylight, low light and higher contrast scenes.

Usually better zoom lenses either built-in or optional.

Easy to use. Point and shoot camera.

Better flash recovery.

Short gap between taking pictures.

Short gap between pressing shutter button and actual taking of the picture.

Better still low light capabilities.

Fully automatic and some manual camera adjustments.

Still fewer artifacts in shadows (red and blue errors in pixels)

Very good resolution: See below

Excellent photos for web use

Excellent 5x7 photos

Good 8x10 photos

Good 11x17 photos

Poor 20x30 photos

Better quality lens-matches other limitations of the camera.

 

$450-$1,000

Under $450, there are many cameras with similar features and in many price ranges. Above this price point, cameras have ultra-high resolution sensors, better lenses. They can take great pictures in daylight, low light and higher contrast scenes. Usually better zoom lenses are either built-in or optional.

Easy to use. Point and shoot camera.

Better flash recovery.

Shortest gap between taking pictures.

Shortest gap between pressing shutter button and actual taking of the picture.

Best low light capabilities.

Fully automatic and full manual camera adjustments.

Still fewer artifacts in shadows (red and blue errors in pixels)

Very good resolution: See below

Excellent photos for web use

Excellent 5x7 photos

Excellent 8x10 photos

Excellent 11x17 photos

Excellent 20x30 photos

More expensive cameras take different lenses.