Read the 5 topics that came up when searching for 'digital camera'.

Being the Thriftyosaurus that I am, I am finally ready to replace my 10-yr old Canon 2.1 MP digital. It actually still works fine, except the battery is tired, and the recent replacement isn't much better. I can shoot about 12 pics B4 both are dead. For kicks, this lil unit cost right around $500 10 years ago (!!) but at least I got my money's worth (sold about $4k of stuff over the years).

I primarily use a DC to shoot items I sell, so any image issues the relative quality level of the Canon has.... being an old hand @ PhotoShop- they are no problem. I do not need to photograph butterfly eyebrows or the like, nor do I need it to anything beyond 1.) shoot decent pics, and 2.) have a decent, uncomplicated interface to download into the comp with. In other words, in that 2.1 MP quality is servicable to me (except 3' is about as close as you can get), I do not need 15 or 13 or 10 MP, I'd imagine. Couple that with I don't want to spend over $200 this time.... and I'm open to recommendations.

cheapest one with a Li ion battery. "polaroid" ~$90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830243037

don't know if you have a certain type of flash memory

with the battery li ion and an SD card for storage

panasonic ~$150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16830180199

I've only had personal experience with Olympus, a 3.2mp with AA for batteries and a newer 7mp one with li-ion. both take good pictures with either the flash or enough ambient light.

i'm guessing style isn't what you're going for..... so really if it cost $60 for a 5mp camera and it was easy to use and took decent pics, you be fine with it, right?

You mean the physical style of the camera ?? It's a tool for me, not a piece of jewelry.

If it takes good pics and can interface with the computer easily, that works for me.

The Panasonic seems a good candidate- I wonder what the longevity/ reliability of it is.

Can I get a quick primer on optical vs. digital zoom ??

Are the numbers indicitive of how close-up you can get ?

optical is just that. a physical zoom

digital uses processing to interpolate pixels beyond it's actual resolution. can work well if the camera is very steady. ie tripod or the similar.

if you use a camera for just "product" pictures, neither of these (zoom) seem like it would be useful for you, ...unless you want to zoom in to detail behind glass you can't get on the other side.

macro modes are used for a few inches distance to the camera.