hey guys i am in the area of buying a camera. i am more leaning toward digtal and optic lens cuz i don't like digtal zoom. i would like the pics to come out clear and very good. but i'm not lookin in to throwin down a lot of money. i'm willing to go up to 350 and thats it. so any of you guys know of a camera that is under 350 but is pretty good

 

wont find any thing that good for 350 good cameras with optic zoom run about 5-800 buck i just picked up a sony cyber shot with 9.1 mega pixels pics come out so clear

 

I'm a big fan of Sony camera's, I've had a few of them and they always take great pics.

 

some thoughts from a purely amateur photographer:
depending on where you shop; 350 should be able to get you a camera with up to 10 or 12x optical and a decent lens. Most electronic/office stores carry good brands under that price range. The big thing to look for ( unless you use a tripod, etc to keep stable on zoom shots ) now is some form of image stabilization. All the zoom in the world won't mean anything if the pix come back blurry. I believe 5-6 megapixels should be plenty unless you are going to turn pix into posters. Pix taken on a 3.1mp blow up nicely to 8x10 prints; 5-6mp's should be able to take you to 16x20 or so while maintaining clear image quality. Find a camera that uses memory cards that are easy to dump into your pc/laptop; or at least use a usb cord ( I find those methods easier then having to use a docking station ).
You can try sites like "epinions.com" or "circuitcity.com" to get consumer reviews on various models as well...

 

www.dpreview.com for all your camera review needs

for $350, you can pick up a brand new Canon Powershot Pro S3 IS, and still have about $50-70 to spend on a tripod, bag, and maybe some adapters and filters from www.lensmateonline.com. Info on the S3 can be found -here-.

Here's some quick specs:
Check www.slickdeals.net for specials on prices.

The S5 was just announced, so I believe you'll see some really nice deals on the S3 in the coming months. I know I bought an S2 after the S3 was announced, and the prices fell from around $320 to 260 in a matter of months. I got in around $280.

-Here- are some pictures I have taken with my S2.