help, dilemma??????

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera, not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera

Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these, what else should i be looking at???

wow, not a single response??????
boo hoo boo hoo

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

Eric,

I bought a Canon A40 for my parents recently and they love it! The only complaint that they have had is that it eats batteries like crazy (it uses AA I believe). Other than that, they have had no major issues or problems - I taught them to just stick the CF card in the CF card reader and Windows XP Home does the rest for them.

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

--

My Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/huffychicken

hmmm, ill check it out, thanks for the suggestions

HuffyChicken said:

I bought a Canon A40 for my parents recently and they love it! The
only complaint that they have had is that it eats batteries like
crazy (it uses AA I believe). Other than that, they have had no
major issues or problems - I taught them to just stick the CF card
in the CF card reader and Windows XP Home does the rest for them.

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

--

My Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/huffychicken

Click to expand...

Unless there has been a sudden surge in technology since last night, there is no such digital camera. You will never get anything above average when using auto settings. If he is not interested in learning how to operate the camera, you will be wasting your money. All digital cameras in your price range are quite slow to autofocus, so you have to learn to cope with that.

I recommend a good point and shoot film camera, then take the film in and get photo CDs made. Then he can use the digital files just as if they came from a digital camera. The Olympus Stylus Epic is an excellent choice.

You might also spend half your money on a camera and half hiring someone to take the pictures for you.

Seriously though, the reason nobody answered your post is that you are asking for the impossible. Good Luck.
--
Happy Snapping
Don McVee
http://www.pbase.com/mcveed

for a point and shooter it has all the basics and one of the best images.. quality wise in the consumer 2mp class..... at least from what I have seen and read... as far as battery life solved this by buying a rayovac charger and several sets of rechargeable batteries at your local wal-mart or whereever.... this camera is cheaper then the budget you asked for... but unless you think he'll use a higher mp camera then why not get him the card reader and plenty of cf and a decent photo program instead.,....

basically a complete digital package.... could even go crazy and get the canon portable print c100 i think....
goodluck
Heather

The Canon s45 is easy, small, takes great pictures and can now be preordered from Amazon.com and is supposed to arrive Dec. 10. Buy it and enjoy.
rfb

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

my father will enjoy digital photography for a couple reasons.

1. no film, he can take as many pictures as he wants

2. immediate gratification, he will get to see how the picture looks right after he takes the picture

3. he can download it onto his computer and save it, no need to deal with the hassle of dropping off and picking up film.
4. he can email to his family and friends

i think the aboce reasons are why he would enjoy digital photography.

i apreciate your opinion, thank you for sharing.

I do believe for the reasons stated above that a digital camera is still the best choice for my fathers wants and uses,,, hopefully some other people will post some other opinions of what camera might be good for him.
thanks

Don McVee said:

Unless there has been a sudden surge in technology since last
night, there is no such digital camera. You will never get anything
above average when using auto settings. If he is not interested in
learning how to operate the camera, you will be wasting your money.
All digital cameras in your price range are quite slow to
autofocus, so you have to learn to cope with that.
I recommend a good point and shoot film camera, then take the film
in and get photo CDs made. Then he can use the digital files just
as if they came from a digital camera. The Olympus Stylus Epic is
an excellent choice.
You might also spend half your money on a camera and half hiring
someone to take the pictures for you.
Seriously though, the reason nobody answered your post is that you
are asking for the impossible. Good Luck.
--
Happy Snapping
Don McVee
http://www.pbase.com/mcveed

Click to expand...

ericeric,

From what it sounds like you want a high performance point and shoot camera. The G3 definitely doesn't fit in that category, although you could use it as a Point and Shoot camera, you'd be wasting hundreds on features that give one more control, but in inexperienced hands might actually result in less picture quality.

The S40 is certainly an option, but falls under the same category that it isn't intended as just a point and shoot camera. My understanding is that it does perform extremely well in point and shoot situations, you're just getting more included than it sounds like your father would use.

If you're looking towards Canon, the S230 might also fit what you're looking for. Compared to an S40 it doesn't include the extra zoom, has a smaller display, lacks a mexapixel of resolution, and is only intended for point and shoot with a few scenary settings. Pull up a side-by-side comparison on of the Canon Power Shot S40 and Canon Digital IXUS v3 and you can find out all the differeces. The S230 (IXUS v3) was intended to take gorgeous pictures the minute you press the shutter release. Two of my friends picked up S230s and they absolutely love them and I've been very impressed with the image quality from their shots.

In summary, my suggestion is to do a little more comparison between the S40 and S230 and see what you believe fits your father the best. Either way I'm sure he'll love the quality.

-John

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

John Zook said:

Ericeric said:

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I think that knowing this I agree that the Canon S230 would accomodate him easily. The learning curve is not as steep as the higher S-Seies cameras. Mind you the S40/45 are phenomenal cams but will he use the manual functions that come with them.

First off let me say, you can be my son any time.. There should be no question on this really, you want the most bang for your buck, the G2 and G3 are it. You want simplicity with depth, fun to play with or learn from, and always a great picture in the batch... THE G2 is your camera, photon torpedoes optional.....

But "P" mode on either of them will keep dad smiling..

Ericeric said:

Hi, I am looking to get a really nice point and shoot for my
father? I am looking to spend 600$ maximium for just the camera,
not including extra memory and bag etc.....

He knows nothing about photography, and he will probably not be
that interested in learning. He will be interested in taking lots
of photos, downloading onto his computer printing some and emailing
some to friends and family. It needs to be very a friendly camera


Basically, I want to get him a great camera that will take AMAZING
photos on auto settings. Money is not a issue, i want to get him a
great camera ( he is a grandpa now!!!)

Anyway, thanks for anyone who answers!!
ericeric

I was looking at the powershot s40 and the g3??? how are these,
what else should i be looking at???

Click to expand...

I will jump in here in the Cannon forum LOL just joking. You asked what else you could be looking at.

I bought the Minolta F100 a month and a half ago and so far have shot 90% of my shots in auto. Auto mode in the F100 automatically chooses Portrait, landscape, sports, or night depending on what you are shooting at the time. It is small enough to fit in your pocket so you do not miss any of those shots when your camera is in it's bag at home because it is too big to carry around.

It also has full manual settings if your father wishes to experiment after a while. It has a fantastic macro mode and a plus for me was the AA batteries.

For someone who does not want to spend time tweaking the photos, I would suggest using Photo Brush to open them as it has a built in colour setting for the F100 and seems to tweak them nicely just in the opening. You can download a trial version from here. http://www.mediachance.com/pbrush/
You can check out some of my photos below.

Good luck with your decision. Your father is very lucky to have a present like a new camera.
--
http://www.pbase.com/relate2

The S45 would be the next best thing I guess

Don McVee said:

Unless there has been a sudden surge in technology since last
night, there is no such digital camera. You will never get anything
above average when using auto settings. If he is not interested in
learning how to operate the camera, you will be wasting your money.
All digital cameras in your price range are quite slow to
autofocus, so you have to learn to cope with that.
I recommend a good point and shoot film camera, then take the film
in and get photo CDs made. Then he can use the digital files just
as if they came from a digital camera. The Olympus Stylus Epic is
an excellent choice.
You might also spend half your money on a camera and half hiring
someone to take the pictures for you.
Seriously though, the reason nobody answered your post is that you
are asking for the impossible. Good Luck.
--
Happy Snapping
Don McVee
http://www.pbase.com/mcveed

Click to expand...

Ericeric said:

my father will enjoy digital photography for a couple reasons.

Click to expand...

he'll like a digital, if he like's technical. my grandfather would have loved to have a digital camera. but they weren't that popular when he was alive. but i know he would have gotten one.

Elagstein said:

1. no film, he can take as many pictures as he wants

Click to expand...

only if he has enough memory, or a place to transfer too.

Elagstein said:

2. immediate gratification, he will get to see how the picture
looks right after he takes the picture

Click to expand...

if it's on auto, he'll see a blinded out picture. because auto tends to make things too light.

Elagstein said:

3. he can download it onto his computer and save it, no need to
deal with the hassle of dropping off and picking up film.

Click to expand...

this is the reason why alot of people like digital.

Elagstein said:

4. he can email to his family and friends

Click to expand...

Elagstein said:

i think the aboce reasons are why he would enjoy digital photography.

Click to expand...

enjoy yes - but what your asking is hard. digital camera's are normal camera's. they require the same if not more, education on how to use them. you want something easy to use AND something that has great pictures. right now it's one or the other. to get good pictures you need to be able to adjust things like the EV yourself, flash output it. smaller easier cameras don't have this function.

most camera's have a high learning curve, you need to learn how to use that camera, the computer, and photography at the same time. if he doesn't use his computer now (and i don't know if he does or not), he won't enjoy it as much as you think. as it takes time to fix up an image, red eye, even cropping. then you have to get a good printer, ink, paper, etc. and he has to learn how to email it, as it can't go out the size it came in... it's alot more work than you might think.

Elagstein said:

i apreciate your opinion, thank you for sharing.
I do believe for the reasons stated above that a digital camera is
still the best choice for my fathers wants and uses,,, hopefully
some other people will post some other opinions of what camera
might be good for him.
thanks

Click to expand...

as this is a canon forum, we really can only recommend canon products. there are ALOT of cameras to choose from. you have to go into the review section, start my sorting by price, and start at your limit. compact flash, smart media, stick, i think there are about 3 more. what type of battery, etc ---- all of these need to be decided on. it's a personal pref, i myself, have no idea what new cameras there are, as i have one now. there is no need to learn what's new.

---Mike Savad

Elagstein said:

Don McVee said:

Unless there has been a sudden surge in technology since last
night, there is no such digital camera. You will never get anything
above average when using auto settings. If he is not interested in
learning how to operate the camera, you will be wasting your money.
All digital cameras in your price range are quite slow to
autofocus, so you have to learn to cope with that.
I recommend a good point and shoot film camera, then take the film
in and get photo CDs made. Then he can use the digital files just
as if they came from a digital camera. The Olympus Stylus Epic is
an excellent choice.
You might also spend half your money on a camera and half hiring
someone to take the pictures for you.
Seriously though, the reason nobody answered your post is that you
are asking for the impossible. Good Luck.
--
Happy Snapping
Don McVee
http://www.pbase.com/mcveed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/ http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

Just to put my 2 cents in.....

Personnally, I have the G3 (previously a G1) which I am VERY happy with. But, I think this camera is probably an overkill if you are thinking of basically a point and shoot. Although the G3 can certainly be used as such, it may be just a little bulky for this purpose (not to mention a lot of features which may go unused).

As others have mentioned, the S45 might be a good choice, but I guess there may still be some question as to whether they will be available here in the US.

I think another excellent consideration may be the S30 as a starter camera with a lot of good features and good resolution (3MB is probably more than adequate for most users). And, you can get one for probably between $400-$450. This is a very nice camera, compact, but not too small; easy to use; high quality output. Check it out....

Good luck!!

Ericeric: Like the others have said, do your homework first. I wanted a digital camera for the same reasons as you wrote. I went out and bought the G2 last week. I found out that, the pictures I took in automode didnt come out as I expected. I am a point and shooter, so maybe I went overboard buying this camera. I'm not taking it back...the money is already spent. My only option now is to learn how to use the camera and learn to use the manual settings. It cost me too much to put it in a drawer and forget about it. So, I am now on a venture to learn how to use this expensive camera...good luck to you !!!

kafras said:

Just to put my 2 cents in.....

Personnally, I have the G3 (previously a G1) which I am VERY happy
with. But, I think this camera is probably an overkill if you are
thinking of basically a point and shoot. Although the G3 can
certainly be used as such, it may be just a little bulky for this
purpose (not to mention a lot of features which may go unused).

As others have mentioned, the S45 might be a good choice, but I
guess there may still be some question as to whether they will be
available here in the US.

I think another excellent consideration may be the S30 as a starter
camera with a lot of good features and good resolution (3MB is
probably more than adequate for most users). And, you can get one
for probably between $400-$450. This is a very nice camera,
compact, but not too small; easy to use; high quality output.
Check it out....

Good luck!!

Click to expand...