Yes, Olivia - good quote. The eye is the most important tool. When we did the New England Cruise and we were in Halifax, Frank packed my camera for the excursion and the battery remained in the charger in the cabin. I had to buy a disposable at Peggy's Cove but those pictures ended up being just wonderful and they are in my gallery on the wall at home.

Denise's suggestion to go to a good camera store for help is excellent. Not everyone's hand can hold some of the smaller cameras steady. You need to try them on for fit. They don't have width to hold them so they can result in blurry pix or your finger can get in the way of the lens.. You really need to know what you want as a result from your pictures. If you tell them you only want to take photos of people, but then you travel and will want photos of various sites you visit, you could be very disappointed with your new camera. Also, if you only want 4x6 prints vs 11x14 that will also impact your decision. And not all megapixels are created equal - they are actually little containers for color - some are bigger than others without getting too technical. That's why it's best to stick to some of the more popular brands - their image quality is better.