Before we even go into details, make a decision about what you want the camera for. Is is just because you want to have some sort of record of events in your life, or is it because you want some serious photography to be done.

For those of you who just want to have an accessory to record memories while on outings, parties etc, you can help yourselves to the basic point and shoots. In this category you will find scores of camera’s with different budgets. You have so many popular camera makers. You have the very basic KB10,KB12,Kroma from Kodak, where all else is automatic except the loading, and reel movement. You have to move the film ahead using the roller.
This kind of camera would cost you between Rs 900 to Rs 1800/-.

Then you have other camera’s From Canon you have Prima BF -800, which has a self timer ( very handy if you take small tripod to take family pics), and LCD panel to keep track of basic functions and film no, red eye reduction, a flash which fires automatically in low lit conditions, a 28mm lens, a big view finder, where u dont have to strain your eye,looking thro the VF. And all this comes quite cheap at Rs 1800/-. Now this is a good deal, with the canon name to boot. Wrt to Canon There are other camera’s as well. You have the AF-8. This is autofocus,autoflash red eye reduction,uses 2 AA size batterie, has a mode dial, for different settings, and costs around Rs 3600. It also has the big view finder. This camera, if you have someone get it from abroad ( singapore or usa) will come for approx Rs 2200.

There are other brands as well,like the Olympus Mju II, which is weather proof,has a 35 mm lens, f2.8,compact, has the unique olympus popup flash. It is a good camera, but the cost is a deterrent (Rs 5950/-) .According to me, an amateur need not spend all that moolah on a basic point and shoot camera.

The above category bosts of a whole dozen manufacturers, but I chose to mention only those that I have tried and tested. In this category, camera’s from Yashica leave a lot to be desired. There are others like Ricoh which have panaromic mode, which is of no use here.

Lets move to the other category now, the small zooms. These are very handy for those of you who would like to take close-ups etc without much fuss. This category has dozens of models to choose from.

The Prima Super 105X (38 - 105mm),this is one good camer, which has all elements for a good photography. It can accept film speeds ISO 25 - 3200. Red-eye reduction, fully automatic,focussing range 0.6 m to infinity,a command dial,LCD panel, uses 1 CR123A battery.It also has an optional remote control.

Others in this category would be Olympus stylus. Then there are the higer zooms, which would be in the 38-135 + zooms from Canon, Samsung, Olympus. But these would escalate costs.

The higher end zooms cost a lot in India...between 10000/- to 17000/-. The Prima Super 105 X costs $140 in the US ( Approx Rs 6900/-).

Lets now come to the serious enthusiasts. The best kind of camera’s for you folks would be the SLR’s. Ans the best names in this business are Nikon, and Canon. In this category, Canon has made the breakthough in the Autofocus SLR’s. They have the largest range. Nikon is not far behind, but I have found the Canon EOS series to be more user friendly.

For those who are beginners, I would suggest, that you go in for the Nikon FM10, which is a very good camera. This camera , with a basic lens would cost you Rs 11000 - 12000. But is a manual camera, very good to experiment with. If you want to lean photography this is it. The Canon EOS 66, which is the latest launch in India, is a decent EOS (autofocus SLR). But this would be for the slightly advanced amateur. Why I say so, is that when u are learning u dont want to succumb to the temptation of taking a photo in auto mode.

However, the auto option is very useful, when taking action or wild life photo’s. One note of caution though. There are many high end autofocus SLR’s available. Do not succumb to gizmo’s available. Take a look at what facilities you will use and then make the choice. Like for Ex The EOS 7E, has eye-control focus. But it is of no use to a spectacled guy. As it is while taking picture’s we do not use most of the feature’s. So why pay more?

And anyways the main thing is that, you ought to have flair for photography. If you don’t, even armed with the most sophisticated camera’s will get you zilch. Another thing is ..film usage.
For those of you who use point n nshoot camera’s, try to use faster film for better results. The best is Fuji 400.

thats it from me now. This is one topic, that is best discussed face 2 face. u definitely can talk for hours, if u r interested. Once bitten by the photography bug, you stay bitten. Trust me on this, I have spent a packet on this hobby. My equipment is as follows.
Canon EOS 7E, Canon 35-105mm USM lens, Sigma 70-300mm DL Macro lens, A manfrotto Stand, A sunpak PZ AF4000 Flash, a canon 50mm EF lens, a whole lot of filters. This is talking around 60,000 + in money.

Just a piece of info, I won a second prize in my office photclub competition, adjudged by the team at Better Photography, and in their FEb issue, they have published the same in the Galleria section.

Incidently my most favorite topics for photography are kids and Macro Photo.