Teedubbya told me that Ram told him that I needed to check here first. Looking to get my daughter a decent camera for Xmas. Not a cheapie but also not a $700 pro model. Something in the $200 range that will give her an intro into "grown up" cameras. Let her play with light, shutter speed, etc. Any ideas? Ram will appreciate that I appreciate any suggestions.

Canon Powershot AS1000 or AS1100.

http://www.pcworld.com/products/cameras.html 

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/ 

http://www.dpreview.com/ 

There are others here that are more knowledgeable than I, but I have spent literally HUNDREDS of hours researching cameras in order to talk myself OUT of a pro setup....in other words; I was looking for a camera that would produce good quality images, has a lot of flexibility, and a lot of features....without breaking the bank.

There are a couple "compact" cameras with some very grown-up features that supposedly are awesome.

The Canon G-10 comes to mind; but it was cost prohibitive for me. You could buy a Nikon D-40 for that price.

Anyway.......I started to focus on the features that were most suitable for my needs. One of the recurrent disappointments I have had with my "compact" cameras has been optical zoom. I always seemed to be in a place where I wanted to shoot something out of range. Granted, you don't need zoom for portrait shots, candid shots, etc......but when I go places I like to shoot things that are sort of distant as opposed to walking up closer to them.

With this in mind, I focused on "super zoom" cameras in the compact size.

I also wanted access to all normal SLR type settings.

I studied the cameras in this classification and settled on the 10MP Olympus SP-565UZ.

It cost about $200, has complete manual settings as well as a pretty damn good P&S mode. And it has 20X optical zoom!!!

I have had it for about two months and am pretty happy so far. I ALSO wanted to learn more about manual camera settings and this one has been very good for that. In general, the images are of better quality than most compacts/subcompacts and it is less picky when it comes to lighting, etc. I DO use the zoom quite a bit, I often exceed 6X zoom in my shots and it is delightful to just sit still and reach way out to capture something.

I also REALLY like cameras that take AA batteries....the hi capacity NiMH rechargables last a LONG time (I have taken 300+ with one charge).....plus if you get in a bind, drop in some straight AAs from 7-11.

These types are big enough to reduce the issue with sub-compacts w.r.t. holding them still but small enough that they aren't a real big deal to carry around. I have a medium sized case that holds the camera, extra cards, and three sets of batteries. I also have a pretty small case for JUST the camera if I know I am just going to go take a few shots.

Here is some info on this class:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q109superzoomgroup/ 

Anyway........it is REAL difficult to select an intermediate camera because there are SO many good ones; so I'd try to identify a few key features that would be important to your daughter and then go from there.

I have a canon powershot. So does my wife.

We like 'em.

have been researching for the past couple days as i am buying one for my stepson for xmas. settled on the fujifilm j38 from bestbuy yesterday. was on sale for $110 with free shipping, and included a free 2gb memory card. plus i used bing cashback(10% back on bestbuy purchases) and will be getting $11 in 60 days. very good reviews(4.7 out of 5) and reasonably priced for 12+ mega pixels for first camera.

I got the impression from the original post that Jade was looking for a more intermediate type camera.......but if he IS looking for a very small and durable point and shoot, I heartily recommend the Olympus SW series (might be called "tough" now).

These can be dropped, soaked, submerged, etc....all of which can happen on your average night out with friends. Having a durable camera makes you more likely to take it places and have it "out" when others are hiding theirs deep in their pockets or purses.

Don't get hung up on megapixels.

MPs are the LAST feature I consider......some of my best shots ever have come from a 2.1MP camera. Unfortunately, as new cameras are introduced, the MPs go up.......so you can't buy a low MP camera with newer features and save a buck or two.

More megapixels = less images on media; which isn't a real big deal because the card capacity is so high now......but I have never ever ever ever had any need for an image greater than 4MP.....because I don't print poster sized images.

I move we petition SteveR for an italics option, or at least the means to underline

I need #90 font to get my point across at times.

If you can find a good used Canon S3IS or S5IS that's a good option for a beginner. It has 12x zoom plus manual settings for aperture , shutter speed, and ISO. It also has a ton of other features. Takes great pics too. The image stabilization guarantees good pics every time. 6mp or 8mp respectively.

As long as it says Nikon on it

What Andy said is right. Anything over 6mp is really too much. 6mp will make great pics up to 8x10.

Nice info Andy, almost makes me want to sell my canon dslr and get one of those Olympus's's's

almost.

^for $200....just get one.

Already have a canon p&s or I likely would. Sounds like a heckuva deal though.

"These can be dropped, soaked, submerged, etc....all of which can happen on your average night out with friends. Having a durable camera makes you more likely to take it places and have it "out" when others are hiding theirs deep in their pockets or purses."

Good stuff here and the other posts. My daughter is very rough on her things..this is a good idea

edsbar's idea is a good one too. Sounds like a lot of grown up features

Any of the Olympus line would make good entry level for her....they are dependable and rugged.

Charlie

#16....the camera I described is a sub-compact P&S....she won't learn too much about photography using it.......although it DOES allow you to change settings if you like.

Canon, Olympus, Nikon all make good Superzooms that damn near do everything you want.

Here's a Google Shopping link for a Canon SX120is for $200. That's a newer one with 10mp along the same line as the one I listed. It's a slower responsive camera compared to the Olympus but it does cost less and still takes good quality pictures.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=sx120is&hl=en&cid=15381484732771602420&sa=title#p