A good friend has asked me to recommend a camera; she wants to spend between $100 and $150

'What do you have now?' - Kodak EasyShare, I like it and take good pictures with it.
'Then why buy a new one?' - The battery cover is cracked and will cost $90 to repair.

I'm tempted to tell her to buy a new Kodak, she knows it, likes it and is familiar with all the controls. But I said I would look into it and get back to her.

Looking online at B&H I see they are all about the same at that price range:
Canon Powershot A470 7.1MP, 3.4x optical zoom - $124
Fujifilm Finepix J10 8 MP, 3x optical zoom - $129
Kodak EasyShare C813 / M763 / M863 - I never could figure out the differences between the price spread from $109 to $144 for the three models
Olympus FE-310 8MP, 5x optical zoom $119 <= best optical zoom of the bunch
Lumix DMC-LS80 8Mp, 3x optical zoom $139

The Lumix specs said optical image stabilization. Wow, I didn't even know anybody had that in a little P&S. This lady is in her mid to late 70s, she's in good shape but a little shaky at times. I'm thinking IS would be a real plus.

Anybody know anything about the Lumix P&S?
Anybody have strong thoughts about any of the other cameras in this price range?

Thanks for any help,

Rusty

I used to use a Panasonic and found it excellent, although I've recently upgraded to a bridge camera for better macro work etc.

Rusty,
Prior to my Nikon DSLR I had several Olympus P&S cameras. I always found them easy to use, got some great shots and never had any problems with them. I gave an Olympus to my son a few years back for his birthday. He loved it.
Joe

Reflecting upon the issues of getting older......I would look for something that had a large and bright LCD screen. There are a variety of P&S camera now that have a 2.5 " or even 3" (diagonal screen), and that really does make a difference. Simple controls are a must as well; memorization is a non-starter and the print in the manuals is too darn small....

Dave at imaging-resource.com has conveniently arranged his Dave's picks in categories, and one is "budget". Here's a link to Dave's Budget Picks:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/WB/WB.HTM?view=dp_cheap

and here's i-r's list of all cameras under $150: (note you can get a new Kodak for just about the price of that repair!)

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRICE1.HTM

Truly amazing what you can get now for the price!

If she is happy with what she has been getting for results, I too say stick with what you have been getting.
If it the kodak system they have many in her price range that are super little cameras!
My thing is just go with one that does not use AA's for batteries.
I see far too many people put the cheapest kind in their camera and then wonder why it goes through them like wild fire.

My thing is just go with one that does not use AA's for batteries.
I see far too many people put the cheapest kind in their camera and then wonder why it goes through them like wild fire.

Two sides to that argument. Sure can be nice to have a camera that uses readily available AA cells, especially when traveling and your primary and secondary batteries discharge and no time or place to hook up the charger. If you have the discipline to use rechargeable NiMH batteries instead of disposables, then it's win-win. But Nolan, you're right about folks opting for the cheapest near-term solution; spending money to add hazardous stuff to our landfills is not the right answer.

Thanks, all.
Chuck, your links were especially helpful - I tried on my own but didn't know what I was looking for; those comparisons were exactly what I wanted. If I was buying for myself I would probably jump on Dave's pick, the Powershot A570. For this lady I am going to avoid anything that provides too many choices -- she would probably leave it in Auto all the time so why confuse the issue.

I'm going to give her four choices with one being a Kodak EasyShare she's already familiar with. Will recommend she go into a camera store to "hold in hands" and will offer to go with her. If she surprises me and I find out she knows all about f-stops, shutter speed, ISO, etc ... well, that's whole 'nother ball game.

My first digital camera was an Olympus -- I shudder to think what I paid then for that 3 MP P&S. One day, in London, my batteries died with the case stuck half-way between open and close. Of course, my additional set(s) of fully charged NiMH batteries were still sitting on my dresser where I had put them to be sure I remembered to put them in my bag. It sure was nice to be able to pop into a store and grab four AAs. At least I could get the case to close, finish that day being a tourist and come home the next day with pictures.

Thank again to all for helpful comments.

Rusty

PS - Chuck, I never thought of the LCD screen - good point. Most of these now don't even have optical viewfinders.

On my recent trip to the UK there were three people with cameras, plus my own.
I don't know the model numbers but they had an Olympus, a Nikon and a Sony.

I used the Sony myself a few times and never quite got on with it - it lacked a viewfinder, which I found was a nuisance, especially as my near sight isn't very clever. The LCD display was very shiny and I just couldn't see it well enough in bright weather. I put the pictures from the memory card into my computer and I'm afraid I was disappointed overall with how the camera had handled the lighting in many shots. Not all that sharp, rather lifeless colours.

The Nikon was similar in handling - no viewfinder and a shiny LCD. I can't comment on the quality.

The Olympus didn't have a viewfinder either, but its LCD screen was 'matt' - it gave a good view in all kinds of ambient light and I could even read the menu! The person that used the Olympus had prints made immediately (she has a computer but hasn't really made the camera-computer connection or have any idea of the possibilities of post-processing). The prints were excellent, real colours, sharp and handled difficult lighting very well.

If I were in the market for a low-budget P&S for my pocket I might be tempted by an Olympus - personally I'd like a viewfinder, but I'd be confident of easier handling (because of its LCD) and good results.

Of course, if I really wanted a quality P&S to have all the time, I'd be going for the Canon G9.

My quibble with Sony and Olympus is that both use or used proprietary memory cards (Memory Stick for Sony, xD card for Olympus). The proprietary cards generally cost more than the widely available and discounted SD card, the standard for most small cameras these days.

Probably not a big deal with someone who many be satisfied with one or perhaps two cards...

PS - Chuck, I never thought of the LCD screen - good point. Most of these now don't even have optical viewfinders.

Rusty,

My wife uses an Olympus P&S camera that only has the LCD screen on the back. I did find that on a real bright sunny day the LCD screen only is very hard to see. A view finder would be better for these days but as you say most P&S cameras now do not have them.

My local camera store sells a pop-up shade device made by Delkin Devices http://www.delkin.com/products/ that do help for sunny days. I bought one directly from Delkin Devices as the store did not have the correct size for our camera.

I found that the pop-up shade does not work 100% and is still hard to see the LCD screen in real bright sunlight but it does help.
Another problem is that the pop-up shade must be first popped-up to see the LCD screen so that is a minor problem. The screen can be taken off the camera but there is still a mounting frame attached to the camera.

She may or may not like this attachment.

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