$500 camera

[eggdish]

i need to get a christmas present for my parents but i know nothing about digital cameras. what are my best options for a good quality camera for $500 or less. they used to take alot of pictures before they had kids and could travel, and now that they have both retired i think that they may like to get back into it. i would like something that has a good zoom and could take an upgraded lens in the future. i'm not sure that i can get a real good camera for this price, but that is the best i can do. any help is appreciated.

thanks

[Steve Foss]

eggdish, you can get an excellent compact digital camera with all the bells and whistles, including the ability to put on teleconverters and such, for that amount of money or less.

I don't shoot compact digital so I don't know as much about it as some of the folks on here, but I'm sure someone will chime in.

[Dbl]

One camera in this range I would take a very serious look at is the Canon G9. Less than $450, 12.9mp, IS lens, ISO 1600 with auto ISO shift, metal body, RAW capable, uses an external flash and 3 inch LCD with an optical viewfinder. Just about a DSLR with all these features.

[WifeKidsandDog]

If you're near Walmart, I'd go and see if they have any of the Canon Powershot S3 IS on clearance. I picked one up recently. It's 6 mp, 10x zoom, great movie mode and great image quality. I've tried a G9 and a Panasonic FZ-50 recently as I want an "all in one" that my kids can use and also myself when I don't want to take my DSLR and I just didn't like either one. But the Powershot surprised me: Very fast to focus, low noise, image stabilization and has manual control.

The S3 came out last year and was recently updated by the S5 but the reviews of that are not nearly as good as that of the S3 -- so I was happy to find one at a close out price.

Cheryl

[polarsusd81]

Like Cheryl said, I have heard many good things about the Canon S3 IS. Both canon options brought up here are great cameras, one difference you will notice right away is the difference in size. The G series cameras are a bit larger than the S series. If they go a lot of places and want to carry the camera but don't always want to carry the camera bag, your mom would have an easier time with the smaller camera fitting it in her purse. It think this is probably one of the most overlooked circumstance when someone buys a camera for another as a gift, but it isn't really easy to ask because you blow the surprise. Picture (pun intended) yourself in their shoes and ask if you want to always carry a bag with the accessories or would rather go for the easy portability.

Tom

[hendenhook]

eggdish I have the S3 IS and have found it to be capable of a lot. If your parents would like to take shots of any wildlife or distant objects the S3 would be a good choice, the 12X zoom really works for the size of the lens it actually is. For starters all they would have to do is put it on AUTO and shoot.