Buying a Camera for my Mom

[Crazysah]

Hello guys,

Recommend me any type of camera you can. The only limitation is the budget which is around $500. Also it should be 10MP or more.

Plus I need it this week so nothing that comes out later please.

Thanks

Crazysah

[Kondrath]

That's quite a bit of money. What is she using the camera for? Is she an amateur photographer? Or just point and shoot?

[Carbon Fiber]

Canon Powershot SD3500 with 14.1 MP

Catalog number: CNPSSD3500ISK

Picture:

[Argote]

That's quite a bit of money. What is she using the camera for? Is she an amateur photographer? Or just point and shoot?

This question is important.

Panasonic LX3 sounds like a nice candidate if she doesn't want a DSLR.Or maybe one of those newfangled Micro-FourThirds cameras.

[crazzy88ss]

anything canon or any nikon DSLR will make her happy.

[Argote]

anything canon or any nikon DSLR will make her happy.

Some people don't want DSLRs...

[Crazysah]

First of all she is not a professional photographer and neither an amateur photographer. She had a SLR before a nice Nikon.

Now she wants something that is not so big but also not really small either.

Secondly, the budget is max $500. I would like it to be less than that obviously but it can go up to that limit.

Any other suggestions or do you have some more questions first?

[.Markus]

I'd probably go for a Canon PowerShot S90, or Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (ZS3 in US),

They're both of terrific build quality, produce great photos with a wide range of manual controls if desired.

Most importantly they won't brake your bank. At around $300-$370 you can afford to buy a good high speed memory card within the budget.

[Draconian Guppy]

Well does she want a dSLR? if not maybe a bridge?

Small dSLR include Olympus E520, e620 and micro 4/3 ep1, though only the olympus Ep1 and the E520 within $500 pricerange.

[Crazysah]

She doesn't care what tye of camera it is.

All she wants is;

1. Something that is not too large - It can be larger than the pocket but not too large

2. Has to have over 10MP

3. Budget is $500 and not more

4. Good photo quality

5. Can be touchscreen as well

6. Can be any type of camera if it meets the above 5 specifications.

[Carbon Fiber]

ok this makes things clear but.. why over 10MP? :blink:

I have a camera of 8 MP and I print an image in fine quality on an A4 so why 10MP? :huh:

Btw you should have a look at the ISO of the camera (the higher the better)

[Argote]

http://www.amazon.co...69682335&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co...69682422&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co...69682378&sr=8-7

Touchscreen is not usually a feature found in cameras with emphasis in photo taking.

[Crazysah]

ok this makes things clear but.. why over 10MP? :blink:

I have a camera of 8 MP and I print an image in fine quality on an A4 so why 10MP? :huh:

Btw you should have a look at the ISO of the camera (the higher the better)

10MP because most cameras come with that now and she was very impressed with my sisters 112MP camera bought 2 years ago!

http://www.amazon.co...69682335&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co...69682422&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co...69682378&sr=8-7

Touchscreen is not usually a feature found in cameras with emphasis in photo taking.

Touchscreen is not essential but if it is there then she doesn't mind.

About the above mentioned ones -

Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP is out of my budget.

Panasonic DMC-LX3 doesn't seem to be very good.

Canon PowerShot G11 seems a good choice.

Any other suggestions?

[Crazysah]

Can't edit my last post.

It is now down to the Canon PowerShot SD3500 IS and the Canon PowerShot S90? Which one do you guys recommend and why?

[.Markus]

Can't edit my last post.

It is now down to the Canon PowerShot SD3500 IS and the Canon PowerShot S90? Which one do you guys recommend and why?

Depends on what's more important to you.

The S90 can shoot in uncompressed RAW format which is great for later editing etc, and also feature a wider selection of manual controls to get the photos just as you wanted. The S90 shoots also videos in a higher resolution.

The SD3500 (Ixus 210) has a large 3.5'' touchscreen on the back, which perhaps would help in some circumstances however could drain battery quickly if used a lot. it also features 5x wide optical soom, up from the S90's 3x zoom.

Not to sure how the latter fares in actual photo quality, however Canon is always second-to-none in this category.

My S90 produces very crisp and clear photos, and it allows me to manually handle many of the controls.

[Crazysah]

What about Canon SD 1400 IS? is that any good.

That's all. These 3 models and nothing else. I have got to choose within a day.

@Markus-J: The SD3500 has better wide optical zoom and better video quality right as it shoots HD video? Picture quality should be fine?

So therefore the only difference between the SD3500 and the S90 is HD video, optical zoom. Also it's touchscreen vs non touchscreen right?

[crazzy88ss]

Some people don't want DSLRs...

Seriously? "anything canon . . . " implies ANYTHING, not JUST DSLRs. And I'm not a fan of nikon point and shoot cameras, hence why I said "Nikon DSLR" specifically. However, since this person was looking for ADVICE, and had not specified a camera type, it's still valid to mention DSLRs.

[Argote]

?

Panasonic DMC-LX3 doesn't seem to be very good.

Say whaaaaaaaaaa? The LX3 is one of the best (if not the best) reviewed P&S cameras.

[Crazysah]

Waiting for some more suggestions. What about the ones I listed?

[MrChuang]

Waiting for some more suggestions. What about the ones I listed?

If none of the suggestions here are what you are looking for why not look at a trusted camera store site and find a few which you think will be perfect. Then take the name of the camera and search reviews for it on Google. Some of the suggestions mentioned earlier in this thread are perfect IMO. Don't look at a camera and think it is amazing because it has 14 megapixels because that's just an image size and something like 10mp is definitely big enough unless you want a very very large print like a 32" canvas. A quick example, some older SLR's with say 6mp may take better pictures then a 10mp camera that is out nowadays. You have to take into account all the other factors such as pixel density, the sensor, etc etc.

[Crazysah]

Yes. i do realize that MP is not the only criteria. That's why I said 10MP and not 14MP as minimum. I said 10MP because my sister has one and my mom really liked the quality and all...

Secondly, I listed out a few camera models and I wanted an opinion from people here.

These are the ones I am looking at:

1. Canon SD 1400 IS

2. Canon SD 3500

3. Canon S90

4. Any other?

[MrChuang]

-removed my comment-

[Tikimotel]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ38 (larger, but not heavy) http://www.trustedreviews.com/video/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ38

or

Panasonic Lumix TZ10 (nice easy to use pocket/travel camera, GPSdata, nice leica lens) http://www.trustedreviews.com/video/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-TZ10

Both are superzoom camera's (not DSLR) around your budget.

[Crazysah]

Went ahead and got the SD3500. Best Touchscreen camera out there and my mom is not that up to speed with the latest technology. This is to get her to learn the new age stuff. Plus it good pretty great reviews!