I put my point and shoots away in favor of my Nikon D40 because of its superior all around performance. But since you are going in the other direction, I suggest the Canon Powershot A580 as an low cost high performance point and shoot that is simple to use, or the Canon SD750 for for a more compact model. Both have good macro as do most point and shoot cameras. These are well under you price range, low enough to get two or three.