Camera help?

[the_muppet]

This is probably a long shot but is there anyone who can help me choose a digital camera for my brothers birthday?


I want to get Peter a camera for his birthday in February and I figured the best time to be able to afford this was during the holiday sales. However, I know next to nothing about digital cameras, only ever having one myself, and that one was bought for me! (A Canon IXUS 70 which I loved.) Anyhow, knowing nothing, I don't want to spend money on something that's crappy. So if any of you know even a little about cameras and would like to offer some advice, I'd be very grateful.

I've been looking at the PC World website, figuring I'll get it from there. Here's their digital camera link:

PC World cameras

Here's some I was looking at:

Canon IXUS 115
Kodak EasyShare M522
Samsung PL22

Doesn't have to be one of them though, so if they're no good, just tell me. Tell me another one that I should get! I just want something good that will last him a while, and I'd like to spend around £100. Or less if possible and it's a good deal.


Thank you in advance if you're able to help me ♥

Comments

Camera thoughts....

[ms-3m.livejournal.com]

Am I too late to the party? As usual? lol

My last three or four cameras have been Canons. Before my last purchase though, I did look at the Panasonic Lumix. I've read some really good reviews for the Lumix but my practical side took over. Right now, I have the Canon Powershot SX200. It's two years old I think. I'm getting ready to shop for a new one as I think I've worn this one out (in a manner of speaking) as I carry it around with me All. The. Time!

I kinda defaulted into Canon with each purchase as I always like to have multiple batteries and at least two chargers -- one to leave at home and one that stays in my suitcase. So with the Canons that I selected, I was able to carry these accessories forward. Saved me some money. I like that the Canon version/s that I have used, use an SD memory card... of which again, I have multiple.

One of the things I look for is not so much the mega-pixel size but the amount of optical zoom versus digital zoom. When you have to pop-over into the digital zoom, your picture quality goes way down. Another thing to look for is how fast the image writes to the disk. I think this has to do with how large the CMOS? sensor is. The larger the better. Plus the quality/speed of the memory disk is a factor -- in the case of camera usage, I truly think price = quality (for disks.)

My current Canon...the flash isn't as strong as other cameras that I've seen around but I usually have the camera set flash-off.

I guess in the bottom line, you need to know what kind of pictures that Peter likes to take -- this will help determine what kind of camera to purchase.

ps. You won't go wrong with Nikon either.

[the-muppet.livejournal.com]

It'll be Peter's first camera, so I'm not overly worried about all the gizmo's and stuff, just something reliable and easy for him to use. I think that as I only ever had one camera myself (sadly no longer working) and that one was a Canon, then that's probably what I'll go for, provided I can find a good one in the cheap price range, of course!

Thanks for your help and good to hear from you; Happy New Year lovely ♥

*hugs*