camera for present. nv7?

[cdn jng]

i am going to get a camera for a teenager in my family and i want your advice on which one to get

Budget

100-500

Size

small-medium

Features

lots of manual controls


* What optical zoom will you need?

lots

* How important is “image quality” to you? 8 1/2

Do you care for manual controls?

yes

General Usage

wildlife macro landscape

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?

no

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?

no

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?

yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
canon

Are there particular models you already have in mind?

samsung nv7

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD)

Image Stabilization is almost a must (she has shaky hands)

[bascom]

Are there particular brands you like or hate?
canon

So do you hate or like canon?

I don't know much about the samsung nv7. It's small and the 7x zoom and IS sound nice but I'd be skeptical of Samsung. The similar NV10 is scheduled for a review here in October so wait and see what that is like.

There are cheaper options that may be better, like these
-Canon A710, SD700, and SD800
-Olympus 750
-Pana FX-01, LX1, TZ1, or maybe LZ5

Of those I think only the A710 and LX1 have full manual contols. The Canon S3 is bigger than those but has 12x zoom and nice features.

[cdn jng]

i think she likes canon because she has been gonig on and on about how great she thinks the xti is but i dont want to spend that much money on the preasent

[tim11]

NV7 costs about $500? If she likes XTi, I think she'd be more happier if you give her S3 IS or A710 IS. All within your budget I believe.

[bascom]

I missed the part about lots of zoom so I narrowed my list. I agree the the A710 or S3 look best:

-Canon A710, S3
-Olympus 750
-Pana TZ1, LZ5

If she thinks the xti is great keep in mind that's not small-medium size. Can you ask her what camera she prefers or is this a suprise gift?