I bought a canon quick shot for vacation last summer & loved it! Then we bought a Nikon coolpix p90 for my mother in law for christmas, she said it was too much camera for her so we traded our canon for the nikon & I LOVE it! I can do so much with this camera! I can take great close ups of the animals, good action shots, etc and I'm still learning with it. I agree with those that have said that you can't go wrong with a Canon or Nikon, and they have cameras in all price ranges so you are sure to find a quality camera that's within your budget. We bought our cameras at best buy, they have a great warranties & depending on your investment it's worth it.