need advice on a camera for my dad

[aladyforty]

My father has just asked me to recommend a good digital camera for him.
his needs are:
3 mega pixels, takes good photos with little fuss, perhaps on auto most of the time.

As im into manual stuff and zooms etc, Ive never thought of a camera like this.

I was thinking maybe a canon, fugi or nikon for him.

Any ideas?????

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by aladyforty

needs are: 3 mega pixels, takes good photos with little fuss, perhaps on auto most of the time.As im into manual stuff and zooms etc

I urge you to make sure he gets a 3x zoom. My 75-yr old mother-in-law revolutionised her APS compact photography when she moved up to one with a modest zoom, and my own compact 35mm results (Rollei 35, Olympus XA) always suffered from the lack of a zoom.

If you can get it in Oz, my local camera shop (www.wrexcam.com)recommends the Sanyo VPC S-1 Zoom, and I trust their judgement. It's 169 ukpounds, SD storage, 2xAA power, high quality lens. "Not much to fault this camera", they say.

[Yaworski]

I'm new to this digital world and I bought a used Olympus C-3020Zoom on ebaY. I like the camera, it has more adjustments and features than I'll probably ever use BUT I can just leave it in full auto mode and it worries about ISO, shutter, and f-stop.

However, I bought it blind and lucked out. I went with Olympus because I had always liked their film cameras.

If possible, I'd get your dad to go to the camera store with you and let him play with the different models. What feels good in my hand may not feel good in his. Menus that I like, he might hate.

[gibsonpd3620]

I would recommend the following"

Fuji S5000, 10X optical zoom, 3.2 mp and works very well in auto settings.

Olympus C740, 10X optical zoom, 3.2 mp has more manual flexibility but works well in auto settings.

[BillDrew]

Steve's pick of the best of 2003 is a reasonable starting point:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/digin...tml#bestof2003

[Effen]

Originally Posted by aladyforty

My father has just asked me to recommend a good digital camera for him.
his needs are:
3 mega pixels, takes good photos with little fuss, perhaps on auto most of the time.

As im into manual stuff and zooms etc, Ive never thought of a camera like this.

I was thinking maybe a canon, fugi or nikon for him.

Any ideas?????

I guess everyone's response has me a little confused. I read you as saying its you that cares about zoom & manual focus. I assumed that means your father isn't really concerned with zoom and manual features. And, you're primarily asking about a 3MP point and shoot for you father?

Are zoom and manual features nice to haves, but not necessary?

I guess size/shape might matter too. Small is convenient, but usually means more money or fewer features. Size and shape together seem to determine ergonomics for me. This might affect some of the suggestions you get as well.

[aladyforty]

thanks for that, Ive talked him into going in and checking the cameras out himself. the only thing Ive adviced is not to get one of those tiny little cams, he has big hands and fingers and i believe he would have problems with a small pocket sized camera.

the Fuji S5000 and the Olympus C740 sound great but why dont that have a decent amount of pixels? say 4 at least????

[aladyforty]

my father would use a 3 mega pixel camera and that would be enough for what he wants. the main reason I ask about the pixels on the fugi and olympus is for my benefit, when looking around for a camera last year, I noticed many great features on some cameras but they only had the 2 or 3 megapixels and i wanted 4 at the time. this was one of the reasons i chose the Canon G3.

[gibsonpd3620]

I have large hands myself. I can palm a basketball. I could handle the controls on the cameras that I recommended.

[aladyforty]

they sound like what would suit dad. Also he needs something simple with good size buttons as he has parkinsons and he tends to be a bit shaky at times with his fingers.