Cheap, Easy to Use Digi Camera?

[Goldberg]

Hi all,

I am looking for a cheap, easy to use with decent features etc... for a birthday present for my Ma.

I have seen this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...onics&v=glance and seems ok at £120.

My Ma doesnt have a PC and is a bit of a technophobe hence why I am looking for an easy to use one. A 1GB card for that camera is only about £8 too. She'll be able to use the camera hooked upto the TV or simply take it to Boots and print off the photo's she needs (until I get her a photo printer for Xmas).

If anyone has other suggestions then please help me out and point me in the right direction.

Cheers

[Son]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...onics&v=glance

Was just looking around amazon for something around your price range and that doesnt look bad at all.

[slartibartfast]

The Canon A430 proved popular in this thread.

http://www.digital-forums.com/showthread.php?t=274260

[{{909}}]

id take her into jessops or somewhere like that where they have a few on display they may let her try out, the menus and buttons vary alot, my friend has a top spec compact but the damn thing only has about 6 buttons on the whole thing, this makes it easy for her to point n snap, but for me i cant stand not having easy access to the slighly more advanced controlls.

[Goldberg]

It's going to be a surprise for her 50th Birthday. If I take her into a shop she'll only get more confused lol

[Goldberg]

Cheers for your other answers guys, the Casio she has used before, will have to find out how she found it. And the missus has a Cannon (not the one in the pic) which is a good camera!

[stevie2001]

I`ve got one of these that I carry around for taking pics at work, easy to use, runs on regular AA batteries but I use NiMh.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/87219

This is the next one up.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=76876

[Goldberg]

Lots to consider lol.

Think I might chance the one I put in the first post. I'll try it for a few days and if no good send back.

Thanks again all.

[maltloaf]

i would like a cheapy one for keeping on me all the time. Must me small and slim. Doesnt need to be top top quality and could do with being under £100. Any ideas ?

[Pyro Steve]

Guys, this canon is tiny and its brilliant! its only £99!!! I bought 2 the other day. Canon Ixus I5 http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/76261/rb/21351080749 Review here: http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...ew/index.shtml I spotted one in jessops a few weeks back for £249!!! lol Oh and they come in 4 different colours I think, also with ebuyer you can chuck in a 1gig card for like £12

[Goldberg]

Nice, heard some good thins about these cams. The advantage of the one I listed first was that it had a Large screen.

Does the Ixus need a PC for anything (i.e charging etc..) or can it be used standalone?

[Pyro Steve]

Ixus does have an ikle screen and no view finder..but it is designed for nothing more than point and shoot..brilliant for always having on ya and nights out. Totally stand alone, seperate recharger for the lion battery etc, even has that photobridge thing so can do direct printing to compatiable printers.

[Goldberg]

Yeah the one I posted does that too, but the Ixus does look nicer....

I don't think the ikle screen is an issue as it has TV Out too.

Ixus is looking good.

[Freelander]

Canon are the Bench Mark in digital camera's .. High highest res you can get for your money I would suggest... then you can set the camera to wide and when processing zoom in without lose of picture quality.

[slartibartfast]

High highest res you can get for your money I would suggest... then you can set the camera to wide and when processing zoom in without lose of picture quality.

Why would you take a wide angle shot only to crop half of it out to get closer ? Either zoom in or move closer to the subject before taking the shot.

I also don't agree that you need to buy the highest res camera you can afford. You should buy a camera that best suits your needs. If you're only going to be printing at 6x4" most of the time then you can easily get away with a decent 3MP model, why waste money on 10MP when you don't need it. The megapixel race is little more than marketing hype to keep you buying new cameras all the time.

[Freelander]

Well I think that 3MP is the very minimum 10MP is as good as a Pro would work with at the moment.. my point is with your budget get the best MP you can 4, 5, 6 etc... some people would then compromise quality for gimick ie 4x zoom.. by shooting wide in high res you can crop to your hearts content.... how can I get into the Camera forum... I guess you may not agree with approach but works for me... Although I do own a 350D now and leave the compact at home.

[Pongo]

... some people would then compromise quality for gimick ie 4x zoom...

I trust you mean Digital zoom, I find Optical zoom one of the most important features in a camera. (along with a decent lens)

[slartibartfast]

Well I think that 3MP is the very minimum 10MP is as good as a Pro would work with at the moment..

He's after a camera for his mum, not David Bailey.

my point is with your budget get the best MP you can 4, 5, 6 etc...

And my point is, more megapixels does not necessarily equal better camera. If it did then everyone should just buy a 10MP Vivitar X30.

[felchi80]

Aother vote for canons.
Canon and Sony are the best brands out there for digital cams.
Most digital cams are easy to use if you are not too picky as to how the picture will come out. Al have Auto modes, but they are not perfect. It is always better to be able to play around with some manual settings, but then again, i dont think your mom will need them.
So, anyhow, any canon will do. I believe they have one of the best picture qualities around.

[maltloaf]

And my point is, more megapixels does not necessarily equal better camera. If it did then everyone should just buy a 10MP Vivitar X30.

very true and all too easily forgotten in the spec war

when i bought my 3.1MP nikon 990 lots of years ago (£700) the bloke in the (proper) camera shop said this is a quality tool. He compared it to an olympus @ 4MP and the then current ixus (also 4MP) and called them mere toys when compared.

I spent months reading reviews (steves digicams etc) and getting peoples opinions when i went for the nikon. Still producing excellent shots today and ive still not seen a better cam for real macro. (1-2 cm)