Nikol,

Has Tom noted, the Nikon D50, and any camera in that series is a great 
choice.  I used a Nikon D70 and a D100 for a year on an imaging project and 
the abilities and ease of use of the camera is excellent.  The Canon Digital 
Rebel XT is also popular.  You might be able to find a used Nikon or Canon 
in good condition within your price range.  Check with your local camera 
store and see if they sell used cameras, or know of a group who does.

I've been eyeing the Canon Powershot A620 for my personal use recently, and 
while I have not used it, the reviews it has are excellent and it would work 
well, I think for your situation.  It not only has pre-set settings, but one 
where the user can control the exposure values for maximum versatility.  The 
only problem is that it only takes JPEG pictures.

Whatever you choose, keep in mind the following:

1)  6 megapixels of resolution or more is what you should aim for.  Don't go 
any less.

2)  Make sure that the camera will at least take TIFF files, and a RAW 
format would be even better.  JPEGs are great for use files, but degrade 
over time so it is better to have a "negative" in a more stable format.  
(You can bend this a bit by immediately saving the image as a TIFF or the 
RAW format you're editing software provides immediately after you get it off 
the camera).

3)  If you do get a point and shoot, it must have optical zoom.  Digital 
zoom is not useful as it degrades the quality of the image.

4)  If there's a camera store in your area, I'd recommend purchasing the 
camera from there.  Most camera stores will allow you trial runs of the 
equipment before purchase, and they are great for technical help, advice and 
camera maintenance when needed in the future.

5)  Remember that you're not just taking the pictures, you're going to need 
a way to organize and store them as well.  Make sure you have a scheme and 
storage in place before you start taking the pictures.  If needed, you can 
buy external hard drives with several gigabytes of storage relatively 
cheaply($200-$300)  if you shop around.

6) Back up the images!  Even if it is just regularly burning them to a 
CD/DVD.  Store at least one copy of the back-up off-site.

Good luck and have fun!  I hope this was in some way helpful,

Please feel free to get in touch if you have more questions.

Maria VanVreede
Director, Texas Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame
Former Digital Project Intern, Star of the Republic Museum

1108 S. University Parks Drive
Waco, TX 76706
254-756-2306
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Culture creates collections; collections create culture."
       ~S. Dillon Ripley

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).