camera for my father

ransley wrote:
On Dec 6, 6:27 am, steph wrote:
Hi group,

My mother wants to buy a digital camera for my father as a gift. And
my task is to choose one!

My father is 68 years old and he doesn't like computers and technical
gadgets. He likes photograpy, but he only used to cameras with film up
to now - has never used a digital one. I know, if he gets one that's
too complicated, wigh cryptic menues and too many useless functions,
he'll never use it and it's going to be a waste of money.

So basically I'm looking for a camera that somehow resambles an old
analog camera, that is a camera with automatic exposure and focus,
with view finder (not ony a screen on the back) which produces fotos
of decent quality. price should be around 300€. so far i didn't find
any model that fits my needs. any ideas?

thanks,
stephan

An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,
once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is
something I would like its controls are like an old analog and has a
view finder-Lcd. www.dpreview.com is a good place for real reviews.
LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action. At 68, he probably has grandchildren who spend much of
their time playing action games in the sunlight; as a grandfather myself
I find an LCD to be useless and frustrating in many such situations and
also in trying to photograph fast-moving animals. Now, if he only takes
pictures of immobile objects indoors or in the shade...
Allen

Allen wrote:
ransley wrote:
An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,

Unfortunately that's very true.

once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is

I respectfully diagree. There are a few situations, where an LCD is more
versatile, but otherwise an optical viewfinder is _MUCH_ better. My P&S
has both and I rarely use the LCD to compose a photo.

LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action.

Also at age 68 he most likely must use reading lenses to see the LCD
sharp while there's no such need with an optical viewfinder.

jue

Jürgen Exner wrote:
Allen wrote:
ransley wrote:
An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,

Unfortunately that's very true.

once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is

I respectfully diagree. There are a few situations, where an LCD is more
versatile, but otherwise an optical viewfinder is _MUCH_ better. My P&S
has both and I rarely use the LCD to compose a photo.

LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action.

Also at age 68 he most likely must use reading lenses to see the LCD
sharp while there's no such need with an optical viewfinder.

jue
You have accidentally made it look like the one who has no use for
optical finders. I would not consider a camera without an eye-level vf
unless I wanted it only for indoor fairly stationary subjects.
Incidentally, I'm 79 and my problem is the opposite--I need glasses to
see the subject rather than the image; for some reason I am becoming
more and more nearsighted.
Allen

"Allen" wrote in message
news
Jürgen Exner wrote:
Allen wrote:
ransley wrote:
An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,

Unfortunately that's very true.

once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is

I respectfully diagree. There are a few situations, where an LCD is more
versatile, but otherwise an optical viewfinder is _MUCH_ better. My P&S
has both and I rarely use the LCD to compose a photo.

LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action.

Also at age 68 he most likely must use reading lenses to see the LCD
sharp while there's no such need with an optical viewfinder.

jue
You have accidentally made it look like the one who has no use for optical
finders. I would not consider a camera without an eye-level vf unless I
wanted it only for indoor fairly stationary subjects. Incidentally, I'm 79
and my problem is the opposite--I need glasses to see the subject rather
than the image; for some reason I am becoming more and more nearsighted.
Allen

I wear multifocals and have no problems using viewfinders or screens.

On Sun, 7 Dec 2008 16:17:05 -0800 (PST), ransley wrote:

On Dec 6, 12:58*pm, Jürgen Exner wrote:
Allen wrote:
ransley wrote:
An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,

Unfortunately that's very true.

once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is

I respectfully diagree. There are a few situations, where an LCD is more
versatile, but otherwise an optical viewfinder is _MUCH_ better. My P&S
has both and I rarely use the LCD to compose a photo.

LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action.

Also at age 68 he most likely must use reading lenses to see the LCD
sharp while there's no such need with an optical viewfinder.

jue

All I use is the Lcd, at 68 he likely cant use the viewfinder, an Lcd
is easy.

Nonsense, I am over 80 and use the viewfinder most of the time,
for one thing you get a firmer shot by bracing the camera against
the face with elbows tucked in. LCD is great when there no swamping
of the display by bright sunlight.

ransley wrote:
On Dec 6, 12:58 pm, Jürgen Exner wrote:
Allen wrote:
ransley wrote:
An Lcd screen is how they are come, viewfinders are becoming rare,
Unfortunately that's very true.

once you have a Lcd you wont do without it. A Canon G9 or 10 is
I respectfully diagree. There are a few situations, where an LCD is more
versatile, but otherwise an optical viewfinder is _MUCH_ better. My P&S
has both and I rarely use the LCD to compose a photo.

LCDs are fine in many cases. Those many cases, in my experience,
definitely DO NOT include using them outdoors in bright sunshine and in
tracking action.
Also at age 68 he most likely must use reading lenses to see the LCD
sharp while there's no such need with an optical viewfinder.

jue

All I use is the Lcd, at 68 he likely cant use the viewfinder, an Lcd
is easy.

Dead WRONG. I hate using the LCD because I then I have to wear my
glasses. Don't need them with the viewfinder, which has adjustable
diopter to compensate. I use the LCD only for closeups. They are
pretty much useless in sunlight anyway.