Okay, the Yuletide approacheth, hence the question. Here are the parameters:
-Takes good pictures
-Easy to use
-Cheap
-Has capacious memory
Here are the things that don’t matter so much:
-Features
-Ability to take video
-In-camera editing
This is a gift for a non-geeky person who doesn’t care about having the coolest of everything, or about having more pixels than God. She just wants something good, easy, and reliable. Suggestions? Considerations I should be aware of? Thanks.
You probably should give price range you are interested in. Not that I can help much, I just bought one a couple days ago, and although I’m happy with it so far I can’t say I know enough about digital cameras to really judge them.
Good point, and the answer is… I don’t know. I’m imaging that, aside from toys that sell for $25 or so, the minimum price for an acceptable camera must be at least $100. It’s probably more useful for me to say that my maximum is somewhere around $250 (though I’d like to spend a great deal less). But I’ll see what people have to say.
Here’s one your friend might like - comes in several colors, under $200.00. Mr. Wanna & I are both owners & fans of Canon digital cameras. I find mine (PowerShot A520) easy to use, and it takes good pictures.
(the link worked when I found it, but it seems to be a little flaky on preview - it’s the Canon PowerShot A400 - try Googling it if the link is flaking out)
I’ve owned several compact digital cameras, and Canon cameras are my favorites - they tend to have excellent battery life and are simple to use. My current compact* camera is the Canon A510 which runs on two AA batteries - an invaluable feature. I don’t know much about the A400 but the specs are similar to mine.
*I also have a non-compact camera, a Nikon D70.
I have a Sony DSC P-150 which I love. It is likely in the $300-$350 range. It is 7 megapixel and fits in the pocket.
I don’t know if they’re currently offering such a package, but the last compact digital camera I bought was an HP320 that came with a printer. The photo quality was rather good, and the printer was excellent for the price. Last time I was in a Target (which was about 6 months ago) I saw a similar package, but with more up-to-date specs, for about 200 bucks or something.
Camera requirements:
-Takes good pictures
-Easy to use
-Cheap
-Has capacious memory
There are lots of cameras that’ll fit the bill. Since this is the holiday period, look for something on sale by a brand name. The last requirement has nothing to do with any decent camera since how much memory just depends on how much you buy to use with your camera. I own both Canon and Sony digicams. They’re both easy to use, but I’ve found the Sony to take better pictures when the light is very limited. I’m sure that I could tinker with the Canon settings to get better pix, but since you’re de-emphasizing features, the default Sony settings seem to take better pix overall. BTW, you did not mention required megapixels, but anything that can do 3MP or so will be fine for regular photos.
I bought a Fugifilm finepix A345 4.1 megapixel camera in august. Its a nice little camera, cheap (I got it for $120), and takes great pictures. Its small, but is a little chubby compared to most cameras. if you don’t mind a camera that can’t slip into the average teenage girl’s jean pocket (not many can), then I would certainly recommend it. It fits fine in my purse!
The only downside though is that you have to buy a memory card for it, since it only comes with a very small card. You can upgrade the card for about $30.
I have a Pentax Optio S5i - which takes pretty good pictures and fits in an Altoids tin (which is really cool). If small / slim / cool matters - you can’t beat this thing.
THAT SAID I would recommend getting a Canon. My digital camera doesn’t take anywhere near as good pictures as my old Canon Elph. I loved that camera.
Consumer Reports likes the Canon A410, but most of the cameras these days are very good quality and were rated very good.
I love my Canon Powershot A75. It was a gift from my boyfriend last Christmas and he did a lot of research before buying that one. It comes with a memory card that holds about 35 pictures, and he also bought a larger memory card that holds about 150. It has all the things you want, and is extremely easy to use.
Any Canon between A75 and A510 is cheap and takes excellent pictures. They have the added bonus of running on AA batteries.
I have a Kodak EasyShare CX4300. Do not buy one of these.
I can’t recommend my new camera enough. It’s a Fujifilm FinePix S3000, which I recently saw on sale for $220. You should have no problem finding info on it, and it took these pictures .
Okay, that’s it. I want to go to Paris [sub]again[/sub]. 
Nice pics. How are these cameras in low-light conditions?
It is my understanding that digital cameras are getting better at reducing shutter lag - that annoying pause before the picture is actually taken. I have held off buying one due to that.
Are they better now? Do the Canon’s that you all have recommend take the picture pretty much instantaneously when you press the button?
Thanks.
And a follow-on question: what’s the lag between pictures with the Canon? Do you have to wait a couple of seconds for the image to save before you take another picture? And when you use the flash, what’s the wait for the flash to recharge?
I’d like to humbly submit:
www.dpreview.com
www.steves-digicams.com
DPreview is pretty in-depth and targeted a little more toward the professional photographer, but you do get a lot of good information, especially regardign things like shutter lag, shot-to-shot times, and flash recharge.
The thing I would want to know is how does the camera feel in my hands. Are the buttons and menus easy to use? Some of the really tiny cameras are too small for me to use.