Unfortunately I'm not really sure. I know Canon and Nikon are about the best for the higher end cameras, so I might start with looking at those two brands. I know the Canon series is the powershot series, but I don't know what the lower end ones are called. The one I have was a $500 camera bran new, we use it for some things, but for our major picture taking (sports, air shows, ect) we use either the digital Rebel or the Canon D (both a good bit over $1,000. At least I'd start with those two brands. The powershot series do use AA batteries, but can use the rechargeable ones.