As long as you're mainly intending to view the results on-screen you
should be able to get those results, depending on the camera you
buy -- as usual, you get what you pay for.
I've been looking into digicams as well, and have decided it
certainly fits my needs ("instant" feedback, so if a shot doesn't
come out I can try again without having to wait for the plant to
bloom the next summer...). It _won't_ do it for you if you do a lot
of tours or away-from-home photographing unless you have a laptop or
notebook along with you to download the images from time to time or
spend a lot on extra memory modules. They are advertised to hold
lots of images, but the high numbers are at low resolution and/or
very lossy compression ratios (using .jpg format) (Sony has a
new product using normal 3.5" floppy discs for storage, but I
understand this is the main feature of the package, and
photographically it's not so great).
I was able to narrow down the choices a _lot_ by deciding ahead of
time that I will require a minimum horizontal resolution of about
1000 pixels. If you'll be happy with 640 x 480 resolution the
choices are much broader (and the prices more digestible!).
There is a newsgroup devoted to discussing digital cameras, <<
rec.photo.digital >> and there is a _lot_ of good info on the
subject but the posting rate is about 400+ per day :( . A
deja-news search of its archives might be useful once you decide
what camera you might want to buy, to get other user's impressions.
I'll also point you at a website which presents reviews (as opposed
to marketting hype or straight manufacturer's specs) of many
available cameras:
<< http://www.mindspring.com/~koehncke/index.htm >>
This is updated periodically, and also has 'sneak previews' of stuff
on the way.
Now comes the hard part: decisions, decisions!! :) Have fun!
Oh yeah, one other thing: I was astounded when I started looking,
that not very many models have tripod attachments! you'ld think that
for $2 or not much more...!
--
Leo Smit, Mt Uniacke, Nova Scotia, Canada;
USDA Zone 5, sort-of