digital cameras are so bloody expensive

went shopping for a digital camera with my mum today. went to a few shops to gauge the prices of a few of the canon 5 megapixel that i was intrested in. the ixus50 was going for about $600+. too expensive for me. so i'm still holding. there is a olympus model that's going for $449 only but i'm still considering. still got the underwater casing to consider. haiz.