Hi everyone. Need camera

[Dirquist]

Im trying to buy my wife a camera for her birthday. She wants to get into photography but we need to take a baby step. So we are looking for a good point and click. When she upgrades to an SLR Ill get the point and click:D . Also by then we will be more educated on the subject:ivar .

She mainly wants good clear close up photos for flowers and plant shots. Outdoor stuff mostly. But it also has to be pretty good indoors.

We only want to spend about $300 for now. If she decides it holds her interest we will step up for sure.

Thanks, and were glad to be here and learn alot from you fine folks.

Ethan & Carmela

[swintonphoto]

There are A LOT of great cameras in that price range. I could recommend a lot. However, since there are so many I will recommend ones I have some direct experience using. The Olympus Stylus line of cameras have a lot of good features, are splashproof, and can be used in simple auto modes, or have some decent controls to use more advanced features. My wife uses a stylus camera and loves it. Very fast, responsive, and produces some great quality images in an easy to use camera.
Stylus cameras: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_stylus.asp

Also, the SP line is even more feature packed - they have full manual controls, a fabulous lens, dual image stabilization, and raw capabilities. If you had a bit more money I would go for the SP line - they are great. I have considered getting one of these myself as a compact powerhouse when I don't want to carry larger gear.
SP Cameras: http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_cseries.asp

[jbakerphoto]

Im trying to buy my wife a camera for her birthday. She wants to get into photography but we need to take a baby step. So we are looking for a good point and click. When she upgrades to an SLR Ill get the point and click:D . Also by then we will be more educated on the subject:ivar .

She mainly wants good clear close up photos for flowers and plant shots. Outdoor stuff mostly. But it also has to be pretty good indoors.

We only want to spend about $300 for now. If she decides it holds her interest we will step up for sure.

Thanks, and were glad to be here and learn alot from you fine folks.

Ethan & Carmela

I know you are looking for a point and click but my suggestion is to go straight to dslr.....You can get the canon rebel xt for like 300-350 used. It is a wonderful camera. I got mine about 10 months ago when my son was born and I use it all the time. Its kept me hooked that is for sure.

Good luck

[ziggy53]

Im trying to buy my wife a camera for her birthday. She wants to get into photography but we need to take a baby step. So we are looking for a good point and click. When she upgrades to an SLR Ill get the point and click:D . Also by then we will be more educated on the subject:ivar .

She mainly wants good clear close up photos for flowers and plant shots. Outdoor stuff mostly. But it also has to be pretty good indoors.

We only want to spend about $300 for now. If she decides it holds her interest we will step up for sure.

Thanks, and were glad to be here and learn alot from you fine folks.

Ethan & Carmela

Ethan, welcome to the "Digital Grin". :clap

I agree with SwintonPhoto that there are a lot of good choices in that price range.

I generally send people to review cameras here:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/best_cameras.html

I like Steve's reviews and find him very personable and not too technical.

You can also do a feature search here:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

If you might consider a used camera, I love my Minolta DiMage A2 and KEH has a few A200 digicams that are very similar and in your price range.

http://www.keh.com

The A200 can be set up to be as automated as you want or as manual as you want. It has a very competent 7X zoom lens and built-in IS. It also has a very nice close-focus mode (they say "macro" mode) and you can get a fairly inexpensive diopter lens to yield a true macro image.

About the only thing it can't do is high-ISO. Starting with ISO 400 it is very grainy. ISO 800 is pretty unusable.

Some of my very favorite images were shot with the A2 (again, very similar to the A200.) These, for instance:

http://dgrin.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6442&d=1118255782

http://www.dgrin.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=11580&stc=1&d=1143426031
http://ziggy53.smugmug.com/photos/113734905_JZKp8-O.jpg

http://ziggy53.smugmug.com/photos/317070633_gtJkk-O.jpg

http://ziggy53.smugmug.com/photos/324103834_pL2wc-O.jpg

[Dirquist]

I dont want to gloss over all the good suggestions but I went out this morning shopping around. I took the wife with me to get an idea of what she might like. She seemed to be attracted to a Nikon S600. I got home and did some reading and it seems like a good choice actually. Its on sale for $249 which is competitive with online prices and I could buy it from a reputable dealer local which i like the idea of.

She decided that she wants a point and click first so that when she gets the DSLR she will have a lightweight choice also for certain occasions. So much for me thinking I was gonna get a pass down lol.

Anyhow, Im not much for jumping on things so I didnt buy it and Im going to check out the other ones reccomended on this site. Play with the search funtion and little bit and learn all I can.

Her b-day is Aug 5 so there is not enough time to make a wise desicion on a DSLR at this time. I want to spend at least three or four months learning all I can about cameras, lenses and her personal photo taking habits before investing the $2-4,000 it will take to get her dream rig.

Thanks everyone. Anymore suggestions so I can compile a list to shop for and thoughts on the Nikon S600 would be appreciated. We hope to be active on the forum for a long time to come :D

[mud390]

For a point and shoot camera, I would recommend a Canon. They have a couple models that can be had for well within your price range. I had one for three years and literally abused it until it broke. It was dropped on the lens twice, the second time brought it to its demise. My fiance bought a newer model, a S960 (I believe), and its so much nicer than the one I had. I recently borrowed it for a trip to Utah and took well over 300 pictures over 2 days without charging the battery. All the pictures came out great! I'll be looking at Canon for my next point and shoot. Hope that helps.

Kris

[Grainbelt]

I took the same route, and have been using a Canon S5 IS for a little over year. Whichever camera you choose, make sure it has fully manual modes, meaning you can select aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc.

I've seen the S5 on sale around $350, and a used G6 or G7 would be a great choice as well. Happy shopping! :thumb

[NikonsandVstroms]

Are manual controls a big issue now? Because if not, the Nikon S600 is a great option (I'm really a broken record now) you can't set the aperture and shutter speed directly, but by using different light metering modes and exposure compensation. You can get the proper exposure even when trying a very out of the ordinary shot.

But as for point-and-shoot, just using the automatic settings it works great, I'm just one of those people who goes and tries and mess around with every little part.

But back to the main use of the camera which he said would be being macro work, I can definitely attest for this ability

http://i31.tinypic.com/b8lohz.jpg

http://i31.tinypic.com/24gsh2p.jpg

[Dirquist]

Im gonna head out and try to see all the other cameras suggested today. I cant tell you all how much we appreciate all these responses.

Yes, macro work is what she seems most interested in but I dont want to ignore the other catagories.

She would rather not be overwhelmed with manual options, thats what the next camera will be for. This one will just test her to see if photography holds her interest.

So, some manual options are good, but close up abilities are most important since she likes flower photography best so far. Those pics from the S600 look fantastic, the camera is very very small, I think we are still leaning that way unless we are told it isnt any good.

Cheers