Can someone recommend a nice camera for me?

A Canon a590 is cheap and can accept a zoom lens. 150$ for both. It isn’t great but a Nikon D40 is still going to be 450$+.

If you are looking for a point and shoot with macro capabilities, I have a Pentax Optio S6 and I am about to get the Optio S12. The S12 is a 12 MP camera that is about the size of a credit card but thicker. It takes great pictures for a novice photographer and you can get one from B and H camera for about $160. USD. The problem I have found with Sony is the memory card is not SD, or at least they used to not be. The think I like about the Optio is the fact that it is so small. If you don’t have the camera with you b/c it is bulky to carry around, you will definitely miss the photo.

Well, depending on how much you want to spend here are some options:
100$-300$: Anything by Sony or Nikon. They are really great but offer HORRIBLE zoom meaning most start out at 6–8mm f/2.8–3.5 and “zoom in” to 24–50mm f/4.5–6.3, very “low” megapixels meaning 7–10, and the macro’s are subpar, meaning the ratios are usually nowhere even close to a 1:1 or even to a 1:4. The flashes are really good though…
400$-800$: Anything by Olympus, mainly the SP-57OUZ. This camera is amazing for a “point and shoot hybrid.” Basically, it is the best macro you are going to get in a point and shoot. If you want anything better or equivalent you are going to be buying a Nikon DSL or a Cannon DSL then spending another 300$-600$ on the lens.
If you want to spend 2,000$-8,000$ Ether buy a Nikon D300 (NOT THE D700!!!!!) and the Nikkor Micro 60mm f/2.8, or the D3 with the 60mm. Of course you can argue about which is better Cannon or Nikon, but I have shot with both bodies (the Nikon D3 and the Mark 3 with both macro lens, and I have to say in my option the Nikon is better, only because of the bohca [I have no idea how you spell that and I always forget {it’s the blurry area and what it looks like}] and the CoC, much more natural, not to mention you can cram yourself inside of a flower, and still get closer, but you end up paying out the hoo-haas for it.)

In summery, you need to spend about 500$+ to get a camera with a suburb macro, as in, you are taking pictures of flies full frame on the petal of a rose the size of a quarter (I’m not kidding. The macro on the Olympus is that good, assuming it focuses and you aren’t shooting at high ISOs and you have enough light. The plight of all photographers.) If you want to go made with cash, go with a Nikon DSLR body and the Nikkor Macro 60mm old or new, they both are amazing but the new one has much better glass (especially for upcoming cameras) and is much, much, lighter (not a bad thing any more, in fact I believe it is finally at the point where light is better then heavy.)
One more thing to consider:
Megapixles are important to a small extent, but unless you plan on printing all of you photos 11×14 or bigger, you don’t really need anything bigger then 7–10, the other consideration is if you get a camera with RAW, the data can be interpreted up to double what the megapixles say, thus making it possible to get much bigger pictures. The finally thing to consider is, the only reason to have insane amounts of megapixles is to be able to crop more of your photo out. Something that can potentially happen a lot or not, depending on what types of pictures you take and how.)

If you need further detailing, I’ll be more coherent after I have slept (I hope) so let me know.

I use a Canon SD1100IS which is a pretty newish model, came out in February this year. It’s awesome. I used to have a Pentax Optio S5i, the biggest problem was its image stabilizer sucked completely, blurry shots abound. I do a lot of macro photography and I’ve been really happy with my new Canon. Highly recommend.
Bonus pro tip: Canon’s firmware can be temporarily overwritten to access advanced features on cameras that usually don’t have them, without endangering your warranty. Very neat.

thanks for that firmware hack. Looks like that may be the best way to go. Get a good pretty good camera then hack the software and make it better ^_^

Yeah you can save a lot of money this way. But I would have suggested the same thing even if the firmware mod didn’t exist. DSLRs are nice, and I’ll get one eventually, but in my experience the best camera is the most portable one (one of my definitions of “best” includes how it affects your photo taking ability, and point’n’shoots guarantee that I’ll take more pictures simply cause I have the camera on me all the time). There are also many times that I wouldn’t want to endanger or risk damage to my DSLR, such as in an amusement park. I can’t disrecommend the Optio more – I went with Pentax due to their reputation with film cameras and I was completely wrong to have done this. I fought with my camera all the time. It discouraged me from taking photos, which a camera should never do. Also, the website Digital Photography Review is THE best review site I’ve seen, they have very comprehensive reviews, but what I love most is their shot demonstrations using the same setup, which really lets you compare what various cameras produce.

Portability really isnt an issue for me as my main target that ill be shooting is in my room.

Awesome macro setup
Taken with a $500 camera and a $300 all purpose Lens

I went and looked at cameras over the weekend. Im really liking the PowerShot SX110 IS. Its a little more than what i wanted to originally spend, but i think its worth spending a bit more for the macros that camera can take.

Anyone have any experience with that camera? If so do you like it?

I haven’t used it before but going on the specs and a great review I would say is a good camera. It has a high ISO, reasonable shutter speeds and high res pictures so it’s reasonable. How much are you paying for it?

I believe its on newegg for 200.It was in stores for 250.

Thats a good price for what you’re getting then.

Sweet, thanks for your help.