Digital camera advice

So this weekend I want to purchase a digital camera that's going to be affordable, but also decent quality. I'm looking for something that won't be anymore than $350 ($400 max) Canadian, not that i'm cheap it's just that I don't want to spend too much when i'm saving for university. Some other things i'm looking for are:

5 Megapixels or more perferably,
Video capabilities,
Pretty good optical and digital zoom,
USB compatibility.

Any advice would be very helpful. Thanks .

Jam it back in, in the dark.

With that in mind, are there any features that anyone would recommend that are a must have?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

How about in terms of manufacturers?
Is there one that anybody would recommend over another or am I good to go in any direction?

Most amazing jew boots

Thanks for everyone's help. Currently i'm liking what Canon has to offer with their powershot cameras. They definitely seem afforable and have alot of things going for them. However, since I didn't have alot of time to look into it, I still haven't checked out Minolta, Olympus or Pentax as you have mentioned Arainach (also, thanks for the link!).

I will continue to look, but any more advice or help would still be much appreciated so keep 'em coming .

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Arainach

Weird how that switch happens. All the Nikons through the D50 take SD, but the D70s and above take CF.

So is this to say that all the newer Nikon models do not use SD memory cards or can they use both SD and CF?

Most amazing jew boots

Since you seem very knowledgable on digital cameras Arainach, do you think a digi cam with a fast shutter speed is necessary? I mean sure I could live with a slow shutter speed, but wouldn't it get annoying if i'm trying to take multiple snap shots?

I've been looking at reviews of cameras and asking around and it seems most cameras, at the price range i'm looking in, are very very good except that they have slow shutter speeds. I'm not overly experienced with using a digi cam so i don't know how shutter speed will affect me in the long run.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by GrimReaper

If you're concerned about being able to take multiple snapshots in a row, I think you need to find a camera with little or no shutter lag (the amount of time it takes from when you press the shutter button to when it saves to your memory card.) This is different from shutter speed.

Yeah that's what I meant .
Thanks for clearing that up GrimReaper.

FELIPE NO

So i'm guessing one way to solve that would be to get a highspeed memory card, assuming the digi cam can take it.

HS memory doesn't seem to be too expensive either, unless i'm getting a huge amount of memory.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice, I really appreciate it .
Ultimately, in the end, I went with the Canon Powershot A530.

The camera (and all its accessories), a 512MB SD memory card and rechargeable batteries came up to about $315 with tax overall.
The price felt right and I absolutely love the camera.
Thanks again everyone!

Jam it back in, in the dark.