Looking for a Easy to Use Digital Camera

I am in the market for a digital camera that I'm going to surprise my parents with.
First, they most important feature by far is Ease of Use! They do have a PC that they will hook it up to and as well print from but whenever they have gotten a film based camera they looked for one that just had basic features such as built in flash, zoom, but other than that they wanted it to be completely automatic with few manual controls. I am very happy with Sony products but I have heard for Digital Cameras Canon is good but yet as well I've heard Kodak makes very easy to use cameras

Here are the features I'm looking for:

Easy to Use-By Far this is the most important
Built in Flash/Red Eye Reduction
Megapixels-I prefer 3.1 and above
LCD Screen-I would like this to be 2 inches or above
Ability to take 640*480 pictures in JPeg Format
Ability to take MPeg Movie Clips
Optical Zoom of 3x or greater
Has the Pictbridge Option
Easy to Copy Files To/From Computer (With my Sony I simply hook it up
via USB and with file explorerto/from drives)
Ability to add Cards for extra Memory (I assume all do this)
Good Battery Life and Comes with Battery Charger (nice if it would
tell how many minutes are left like the Sonys)
I'm not sure what it's called but the option where you can set the camera to take a picture in 10 secs or so so you can pose and be ready


Image Stabilization would be a nice feature but not necessary

Anyway, I am totally lost but am looking for a camera that fits these specifications. Any ideas of what I should be looking at? I prefer to pay $200-$350 but will go up to $400 if necessary or slightly more.

You may want to consider one of the Kodaks available right now.
They're simple to use, have great photo quality, easy to transfer pictures to the computer, and in your price range
They charge on their docking base, as well as do their photo transfer there (with the touch of one button... no cords to hook up)
have a look at the Kodak EasyShare CX7530.. I think it fits almost all your needs.

Here is a Canon SI IS with a 10x optical zoom and ImageStablization feature. I think it has most of the features you want. One point - you won't get good "movie" clips with a still camera unless you pay a fair sum, and even then they aren't good. You need a camcorder for this. The 2nd link is the S2 IS - latest model.

S1 IS
LCD screen is 1.5"

Check out the specs on the B&H website. $254

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

The newer S2 IS has an LCD of 1.8" and 12x zoom - 5 mp $459 - Costco sells for $449 and it's in stock - B&H is out of stock on this one.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Panasonic FZ20 - here is another great P&S - I have the FZ3 and get nice results.

It has the 12x optical zoom and the 2" LCD screen - lower (in cart) price is $449

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Check the review section here for reviews on all of the above

3mp (SI IS) (no reviews yet for S2 IS)

http://www.pcphotoreview.com/cat/dig...S_3098crx.aspx

5 mp - Panasonic

http://www.pcphotoreview.com/cat/dig...37_800crx.aspx

Liz

There are several professional reviews related to the cameras Liz suggested :

Canon PowerShot S1 IS

Canon PowerShot S2 IS

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20

I hope these will help you decide.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by markw10

I am in the market for a digital camera that I'm going to surprise my parents with.
First, they most important feature by far is Ease of Use! They do have a PC that they will hook it up to and as well print from but whenever they have gotten a film based camera they looked for one that just had basic features such as built in flash, zoom, but other than that they wanted it to be completely automatic with few manual controls. I am very happy with Sony products but I have heard for Digital Cameras Canon is good but yet as well I've heard Kodak makes very easy to use cameras

Here are the features I'm looking for:

Easy to Use-By Far this is the most important
Built in Flash/Red Eye Reduction
Megapixels-I prefer 3.1 and above
LCD Screen-I would like this to be 2 inches or above
Ability to take 640*480 pictures in JPeg Format
Ability to take MPeg Movie Clips
Optical Zoom of 3x or greater
Has the Pictbridge Option
Easy to Copy Files To/From Computer (With my Sony I simply hook it up
via USB and with file explorerto/from drives)
Ability to add Cards for extra Memory (I assume all do this)
Good Battery Life and Comes with Battery Charger (nice if it would
tell how many minutes are left like the Sonys)
I'm not sure what it's called but the option where you can set the camera to take a picture in 10 secs or so so you can pose and be ready


Image Stabilization would be a nice feature but not necessary

Anyway, I am totally lost but am looking for a camera that fits these specifications. Any ideas of what I should be looking at? I prefer to pay $200-$350 but will go up to $400 if necessary or slightly more.

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Greetings
Well, you've got plenty of suggestions to investigate. Suggest you include the Fuji F10 in your search. Easy to use, quite good in low light, produces sharp images and has an impressive battery life.
Good Luck,
Glenn