Five Budget Digital Camera Gifts For The Holidays

In this guide you’ll find five great digital cameras that offer a lot of value for your money. Times are tough and most of us can’t afford to buy the latest and greatest. If you want to give a digital camera this Holiday Season but you’re seriously short on cash, consider shopping for used or overstock cameras. You don’t need to buy the newest, top-of-the-line model to get a great camera. Most people will be surprised by how good last year’s cameras are. Digital SLRs in particular have been excellent for a few years now – there isn’t a bad one to be had. Point-and-shoots offer more features and better performance for far less money than just two or three years ago – you really can get a good digital camera for under $150 now.

I checked camera popularity*, user ratings and used my own editorial discretion to choose the cameras in this article. Some of the cameras are still available at stores and online dealers and some you’ll have to search out on eBay, Craig’s List or the PhotographyREVIEW.com classifieds. They were all popular cameras, good-to-great performers and offer excellent value right now. The five digital cameras here will let you be a hero this Holiday Season and still leave you with a little beer and burrito money. If you have your own bargain camera ideas, please add them, along with your reasoning, to the Comments section at the bottom of the page.

Budget Holiday Camera Number Five >>
Budget Holiday Camera Number Four >>
Budget Holiday Camera Number Three >>
Budget Holiday Camera Number Two >>
Budget Holiday Camera Number One >>

*review page visits from June of 2008 to June, 2009

Budget Holiday Camera Number Five:

Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

Price: $250-300 new and used

The Olympus Stylus 1030 SW is a 10-megapixel, pocket-sized, waterproof and shockproof point-and-shoot camera. I used one most of last year for mountain bike and ski photos. The waterproof and shockproof construction makes it a great pocket camera for active outdoor people. The 28mm wide-angle zoom lens is great for ski lift and other outdoor self-portraits. The Olympus Stylus 1030 SW has been replaced by the Olympus Stylus “Tough” line of cameras, so you should be able to find great deals on this one.