in the market for S or A series...help!

[r2d2]

Welcome back everyone!!

My mother in law is in the market for a digi cam. I could do some research, but I figure I will start here. What camera (either A or S series) is pretty much fully automatic. Zoom would be nice...I am figuring she only needs about 3 MP camera as these are going to mostly be 3x5 or 4x6 prints for family gatherings, vacation, etc. More capturing the moment vs. artistic use.

Thanks for you help!

[Kaylesh]

Hiya
I have a Powershot A75 and its great for a compact digital camera. Takes great pics.
Its a 3.2 megapixel with reg and digital zoom. I find that at the highest zoom the pics are too grainy. So there are some limitations to a compact zoom.
I've had fun playing about with it.. Got is as a gift from parents about a year and a half ago when i started to get interested in Digital photography.
Once i can afford to i will be moving up to a Digital SLR but for now the Powershot is just fine with me .
Kaylesh

[mike j]

Hiya
I have a Powershot A75 and its great for a compact digital camera. Takes great pics.
Its a 3.2 megapixel with reg and digital zoom. I find that at the highest zoom the pics are too grainy.
Kaylesh

I presume you mean at full optical AND digital zoom ? It's generally better to turn the digital zoom off - you shouldn't get grainy pics at full optical zoom.

By the sounds of it she probably wouldn't make use of the extra manual features available on a camera like the A75, so an S/IXUS might suit her better although they tend to be more expensive.

[Kaylesh]

Yep Mike thats exactly what i meant.. oops sorry should of said at full optical plus full digital..
I tend to just use the optical and ignore the digital.:-)
Kaylesh

[r2d2]

Thanks guys. Ya. I think she is just looking for a basic point and shoot, however I would like to see some optical zoom. I am sticking with Canon because I had a G3 and now I have a 20D, so it would be eaiser to teach her, since the menus and Icons are simmalar etc. Something that writes to memory somewhat quickly would be a bonus...

[Jethro790]

As you may or may not have noticed from previous posts of mine, I like to tout the SD200. It's 3.2mp, has 3x optical/10x digital zoom, It writes to the card instantly (I can shoot at faster than 3 frames per second) and is about the size of a deck of cards. It powers on in less than 1/2 second and has decent battery life. Oh, the 2" lcd screen doesn't hurt either, and the DIGIC II processor.

[r2d2]

I will check that one out. Thanks Jethro! Sound like what she needs.....

[wongj_12]

(I can shoot at faster than 3 frames per second) and is about the size of a deck of cards. It powers on in less than 1/2 second and has decent battery life. In addition to Jethro790... u might want to consider gettin an adapter for yr digicam if u use a lot to view or upload to the computer or recharge batt wt charger which ever wok best.

just a suggestion....http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[Bodryn]

I would suggest a Canon S1 IS - it has a 10x OPTICAL zoom (fast) and image stabilizer, so you can take zoomed in pictures without a tripod. It isn't much bigger than an A70.