3. PICK A PRICE RANGE

After reading step1 and step 2, you're probably thinking, "I want a small, lightweight, and indestructible camera that will be simple enough for an idiot to use but flexible enough for me to shoot magazine covers someday. Oh, and if it could do both digital and print images, that would be awesome." Rub a lamp. We don't care what kind of dotcom you've started, you don't have that kind of money.

As a general rule, the more features you add (like a zoom lens, or red-eye reduction), the more expensive the camera will be. That's why digital cameras and SLRs are more expensive than point-and-shoot or APS cameras. To help you out a bit more though, we've compiled a list of what types of camera you can expect in various price ranges. Keep in mind that prices can change daily and that sales are frequent as manufacturers release new camera models. The prices listed here should only give you an idea of relative cost.

Under $100

This is chump change, and you know it. You're not going to get a new SLR or digital camera for less than $100; heck, you'll be lucky to get a point-and-shoot with a zoom lens for this money. The point-and-shoot Minolta Freedom is as cheap as $40, but it's a strictly no frills affair; it comes with a flash and red-eye reduction, but nothing else. If you bump up to the $80 range, then you can get a Minolta Freedom with a zoom. The Fuji Endeavor APS camera is a good buy for the money ($70 without zoom; $90 with); both options come with flash, red-eye reduction, and a self-timer. The tiny Canon Elph Junior APS can also be found for around $90 and has the same basic features as the others in this category, but you'll sacrifice having a zoom lens.

$100-200

Now we're talking. We're still not talking SLRs or digital cameras, but at least we're talking point-and-shoot and APS cameras with a lot of features and high quality lenses. The best in this category is the Olympus Stylus Epic. Again, price goes up with zoom, but the non-zoom option costs around $100, while the upper end Stylus Epics can cost anywhere between $140 and $180. These cameras have all the features of the cheaper cameras, plus high quality lenses (the better the lens, the better the photograph), more control over the flash (you can even cut it off), and optional remote controls. At this price, you can also get mid-range APS cameras with good zoom lenses - the Fuji Endeavor and Canon Elph reappear as souped up versions of their cheaper selves (both around $170).

$200-300

Welcome to the purgatory price range. This is the netherland of camera cost, you'll find either top of the line point-and-shoots or bottom of the barrel SLRs. The cheapest SLR, the Minolta Maxxum ($290), and the cheapest digital camera, the 1.3 megapixel Fuji MX-1200 ($270) show up in this price range. These low-end SLRs and digital cameras have all the features of the point-and-shoots at this price, but use lower quality lenses and offer few of the features that make these more expensive cameras really worth having. The digital Fuji, for example, has only a digital zoom.

$300-400

If you're still looking at point-and-shoots at this price, then you're looking at cameras that have too many options for a beginner. You're paying for an extremely good lens, but as a casual photographer, you won't be able to tell the difference. The real values in this price range are the entry level SLRs - the Canon Rebel and the Pentax ZX-7 ($350 and $380, respectively). These SLRs have enough features to keep an amateur Ansel Adams busy, but also not so many that you feel technical overload. This price range is also where you find the low to mid-range digital cameras, like the megapixel Fuji FP-1400 ($360).

$400-plus

At this price range, you've gone beyond the beginner end of the market for all the cameras other than digital. The point-and-shoot, APS, and SLR cameras are high quality, to be sure, but more than what even a serious hobbyist wants. The SLRs in this range are still mid-range, but the increase in price - the Nikon N60 kit costs around $420 - doesn't correlate to a terrific increase in quality or in features. To make the next jump in the quality of SLRs, you'll need to spend $600 or more for a camera body and a lens.

This price range is also where digital cameras start to get cool. The Canon Powershot S10 is a 2 megapixel camera with an optical lens, and it'll run you around $500. Like the SLRs, going from mid-range to top-level means a significant price increase. If you want to get really fancy with digital cameras, you're looking at an $800 price tag.