Canon PowerShot G9

12.1 Megapixels
Nice Compact Body
Allows you to shoot in RAW mode

RAW mode lets you shoot images without JPEG compression. It gives you clearer images and complete creative control in editing. The camera can also be set to allow the simultaneous recording of both RAW and JPEG images while shooting.

This is a nice feature to have for camera in the under $500 price range, found in more expensive camera’s.

Good Luck!
R

Non-SLR is preferred…

Having a live preview of your artwork makes a lot of sense for your application here. Shooting flat art is always tough, because the lens will always slightly distort the straight lines of, say, your picture frames, and this then requires more work in Photoshop to straighten, crop, etc.

So a live preview is helpful, and some cameras even have grid overlays that can be turned on to facilitate shooting a perfectly straight shot.

I have had great luck with the Olympus C-7070 (now end of life) ... only 7 megapixels but shoots excellent artwork, has auto-bracketing (shoots a set of pictures at slightly different exposures).

I believe automatone’s advice is partially accurate but helpful nonetheless;

When you use a standard point-and-shoot, you have the issue of parallax error: the inconsistency that comes from having a separate viewfinder from the main aperture; makes difficult to tell how you are actually framing the artwork.

Although non-SLR (‘point and shoot’) cameras do come with a live preview, many of them have lenses that are aspherical, which produce the edge distortion described above. Even with live preview, you still will have to contend with that issue when framing images. Most Macro lenses are designed to combat the edge distortion issue, but can be pricey and sometimes less-than-ideal optics when used as adapters on point-and-shoot cameras-which is why you end up going with SLRs in the first place (switchable lenses). Leica lenses are non-aspherical (and pricey) but Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Sony, etc. all have entry level macro lenses that work with their D-SLRs.

That said, my wife finds that her Canon Rebel xti (EOS 400D) is awesome with a 55m macro lens-very little edge distortion, and she can take images from 1” away! Also, even though you can’t have live preview, the LCD display can be set to do a post view where it stays on the LCD screen for 3 seconds after the photo is taken. Also comparable is the Nikon D-40/80, but you can do your own comparison research on cnet…

Haven’t tried this but you may also be able to hook up a computer (tethered to a laptop for example) directly to the camera and do post view while photographing on the computer display with the right add-on software…

From a cursory google search I found this to be a helpful primer…feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on any of this-I’m no photog expert-but I did do a bit of research this time last year when I purchased the rebel for my wifey for x-mas :) I think the body is down to $250, and lenses about the same!! Good luck on your research.

p.s. the rebel xti also has auto-bracketing feature

We love Panasonic DMC Lumix..12x opitcal zoom. It works awesome/high quality pictures still after 3 years.

I would suggest buying any camera through amazon.com. Best prices I think.

Rebel xti digital 10.2 megapixal. My avatar is a painting taken with that and it looks great when blown up.

The Canon G9 is a great bet in my opinion. Shooting in RAW is good and using handheld is nice its also a great looking camera

Photographers call “taking pictures close-up” macrophotography. Successsful macro photos rely upon the correct lens and lighting and not so much on the brand of camera. To take really spectacular macros you will need an SLR or DSLR with a macro-capable lens. The Rebel is a good entry-level DSLR. You will definitely need a good tripod and, if you really get into macros, a focusing rail. Go to www.adorama.com and search on “focusing rail” to see how these handy devices work.