Ask Engadget: the best digital camera for Mom?
By Peter Rojas 
posted Aug 12th 2004 2:59PM
posted Aug 12th 2004 2:59PM
We asked you to hit us with your best shot yesterday, and while we got a ton of great potential questions, we thought one about digital cameras might stimulate some interesting responses. Jeremy asks:
What digital camera would you recommend for a mom? She wants a larger LCD screen so she can see the picture, and it needs to be small and lightweight to fit into her purse, and easy to use. Oh, and it has to take good quality images, about four megapixels. And, don't say a cameraphone.
There are tons of cheap new four, five, and even six megapixel cameras out there these days, anyone have any good suggestions for our friend?
I'd have to go with the Canon S410, it's fairly easy to use, sturdy, and it has greeat image quality. The whole no battery indicator thing might not be all that great though, but the plusses outweigh the minuses.
I recommened this camera for my mom:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Konica_Minolta_Dimage_Xg/4505-6501_7-30732504.html?tag=topprods
She got it, and she loves it. She was able to set it up without any help from me, although she is pretty tech-savvy.
I have a Canon Powershot s230, which is VERY small, has great features, takes great pics and is easy to use.
(i picked mine up cheap for $399 cdn too =)
I liked it so much i got MY MOM one.. and she likes it quite a lot too (we both had Nikon Coolpix 775s before). She road bikes a lot and enjoys it for its size and convienience (she can stuff it in the back of her biking jersey).
the newer versions of the s230 are the s400, s500, s410, and sd110. (4, 5 mpixel etc)
the page for that line is here: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=113
the only thing they DON'T have that you're looking for, is a large screen.
they ARE tiny though =)
The sony cybershot digicam (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=lQcjLPUg1bcjGbQ7VuEpJ7oxB_rsRnl8_Qk=?ProductSKU=DSCT1&Dept=dcc_DIDigitalCameras&CategoryName=dcc_DIDigitalCameras_Cyber-shotDigitalCameras) would definitly be the way to go if price doesnt matter. With 5 Megapixels, a 2.5 inch screen and a slim body, it is definitly a good choice.
Definitely the T1. My mom just got a digital camera and hates it. Why? It takes several seconds to boot up. I let her use by DSC-T1 and she loves it.
-simply flip down the lens cover to turn on
-turns on and ready to shoot in less than a second
-one of, if not the smallest 5mp camera
-screen is twice as large as most other digital cameras despite its size
The menus are surprisingly easy to navigate compared to several other cameras I've used--there are 4 directional arrows and a center button.
How about sony T1 / T11?
The one you pictured isn't bad either (I mean Canon S60, if I'm not wrong). It has a cool 28mm wide angle end for interior shots.
I had a Canon A20 for 3 years. Just died. Replaced with the Canon A75 after much internal debate. Same camera, more features. Who needs 5-6 megapixles anyway. 99% of america uses teh pics for email and 4X6 prints. 3 MP is pleanty for that.
I recommend this one because it's small, has lots of functions, works with compact flash, and quality is great. Did I mention it's small and easy to carry everywhere?
This 5.1 Megapixel camera is sleek, lightweight, and packs an awesome battery life. HP has improved upon their adaptive lighting technology for this camera making poorly lit shots better by way of 'digital flash', and has added Image Advice, so Mom can see if the picture she took was good or not. The R707 has in-camera panorama stitching, red-eye reduction, and supports PictBridge. It's so simple to use, priced right around $349 bucks. The optional dock comes with a spare battery, and both the camera's battery and the spare can be charged in one hour. Also, for the quick video snaps, the R707 grabs mpeg video at 30 frames per second. That's an easy 2.5 minutes with a 32 MB secure digital card.
Mom liked my Casio EX-Z40 but it was too small for her arthritic hands. The Kodak DX7440 is still small but provides more heft and grip. The 2.2 inch LCD is terrific. The 4 MP picture quality is excellent. Lots of scene modes and even full manual operation. There's a thumb wheel for sellecting modes that doesn't require using soft keys while looking at an on-screen menu. Fast-enough boot time and no noticeable shutter lag. An excellent value.
No other camera fits those specs better than the T1. Largest LCD of any ultra-compact. Highest MP of any ultra-compact. Durable. Built in lens cover. And all Sony cameras are easy to use. I'd buy it for *my* Mom :-)
Tiny camera, large screen, good picture quality and 4 megapixels. Also pretty reasonably prices (better value than the Sony DSC-T1).
Unquestionably - an Exilim
Small, perfect, great batteries.
http://exilim.casio.com/
Remember the other thing she will have to do is transfer the photos to the computer. You would want software that automatically transfers every photo to the computer and erases it from the camera. I have a father in law who is not tech savvy and every time i go over there i Have to do it for him as the windows "wizard" still requires input (he has a panasonic camera). For the record we use a sony DSC72. The software on that is great we just plug the camera in and everything is done for us without the need to click anything.
check out the Casio Exilim line. The 4MP EX-Z4U has a respectable 2" LCD, easy controls and comes with a dock so she can share her photos as slideshows with her friends. it's only a fraction of an inch thicker than the Cybershot T-1, and is much more affordable. http://exilim.casio.com/z4umodel.htm
There are 2 and 3.2MP versions of the exilim and they're much much thinner, but their tiny lenses don't telescope, and IMO don't produce very good shots. Great for toting around for point-and-shoot, but i would only get one as a secondary or tertiary digicam.
The T-1 is also a great choice and has a 2.5" LCD, but is about $100 more, and does your mom really need 5MP?
I have a canon S400 and love it except the LCD is way too small. the S500 is the exact same camera just with 5MP instead of 4. Mine actually just stopped working and I'll be replacing it with a Sony Cybershot W1 (like the T-1 but closer in body size to the Canon Elphs)
I have no experience with the Pentax Optio but I've heard good things.
My father (at my recommendation) just bought my Mom the Minolta dimage 400. Couldn't beat it at the price. The speed is very impressive and it's got a sliding lens cover design just like her old olympus film camera. The build quality is very good if not quite up to Canon and the images seem about on par with the better 4 megapixel cameras. It is tiny and it only has a 1.5" screen. If you want a larger screen that pivots, there really isn't much to beat the Canon A80, but you do pay a premium for it.
Easy to use, and has better image quality than comparable compacts thanks to its larger 1/1.8" CCD sensor. It is also preferable to the 5MP S500 because each pixel is larger, and thus has better signal to noise ratio for cleaner images.
In comparison, the Sony T1 squeezes 5MP on a 1/2.4" sensor. The pixels on the S410 are fully twice as large as those on the DSC-T1, collect twice as much light, and this means image quality at ISO 200 on the S410 will be equivalent to image quality on the T1 at ISO 100.
For more details, read my article on the subject:
http://www.majid.info/mylos/stories/2004/02/13/megapixel.html
I own the S400 (I believe it's been replaced by the 410). It's small (I consistently walk around with it in my front pocket next to my cell phone), takes great photos and has a decent sized LCD. The CF cards are relatively cheap and hold a lot of pictures and short videos. I do wish there was some cover for the LCD (or be able to flip it around like the "A" series) and a battery indicator would be nice, but aside from these two things I have absolutely no complaints.
My wife isn't a gadget freak, but she found it easy to use as well.
I have used two cameras: Canon S400 and Canon S45. Based on my experience, I would recommend S400 and it is greaat value for the buck. The prices have come down since I bought which would make them more affordable and worthwhile.
First the 3mp Olympus C-310 Zoom (in Europe and Asia) D-540 Zoom (in USA) that is an excellent BUDGET camera, at only 162usd, with 16mb xD card... It's very elegant with superb ergonomics, has a rather big 1.8 inch LCD (85tpixels, 4x view zoom) compact body (207cm3, 102x55.5x36.5mm) 3x zoom (as 38-114mm) that give excellent pictures with impressive 1075 good lines, no moire, rich colours and low noise, in good light... See more here... www.eeplaza.com/bestbuy/dicam.html#3mp3x
Then the comming 4MP Panasonic DMC-FX2 that only are 114cm3 tiny (94.1x50x24.2mm) have OPTICAL IMAGE STABILIZER plus a 2 inch screen...
And the 5mp Sony W1 with 2.5" screen and mush lower price than T1
i know you wanted a large lcd for your mom, but she and you may be willing to sacrifice the lcd size for extremely simplified menus. i bought a sony U20 for my mom and recently upgraded her to a U40 for the brighter LCD and slimmer form factor. my mom loves it because it's tiny so she can take it everywhere, and we both like it because the shutter button is just this HUGE button on the top, so she can just press the big button and know she got the picture. the auto mode is usually good enough that she doesn't need to fart around with the menus, which is good cuz menus confuse my mom.
The thing is the bomb--beautiful, simple, gigantic LCD. Assuming you have the $$$ it's the one to get.
Megapixels are uninteresting, compared to ease of use - and ease of charging. A camera that mom has to replace the batteries in, when the grandkids are being cute right now is a useless one. So mom got a Kodak with the EasyShare cradle which keeps it charged and ready, and has one touch to feed to iPhoto (of course mom gets a mac! :-)
So, its your mom -- if 4 mp is absolutely necessary (and I don't think it is..), go for the canon s410.. However, I'd say the canon s110 - 3mp, 2x optical, and about $100 cheaper. Smaller than the s410 and takes (pretty much) as good pictures.. Super easy to connect and work with computers, so that's a bigg plus :)
The LCD isn't the largest, but its pretty crisp.
...if you hate her. Seriously, Memory Stick should be left to die a slow, agonizing death.
I have a Sanyo Xacti J4 and I believe it is perfectly mom-worthy! It has 4 MP, 2.8x optical zoom and it is tiny. The zoom mechanism is hidden inside the body of the camera, so it is less prone to damage. The display is quite big for such a small cam. Display quality is brilliant! It is absolutely easy to use even for the inexperienced user (i.e.: me) and it is superfast (0.8s boot time). Plus: it is very stylish! For photo transfer I use the XP "Digital Camera Wizard" which probably isn't as nice as iPhoto, but it gets the job done. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0403/04032001sanyaxactij4.asp
For printing out 8x10's, 3MP is perfectly fine. Larger just wastes storage space and forces her to swap out memory cards (if she even has more than one!), which can be aggravating and confusing enough not to bother. Seriously, I've bought a lot of folks over 60 digital cameras and most of them are so used to point-and-shoot 35mm cameras and disposables that anything more than the bare essentials is just going to create more confusion. Olympus and Canon have very easy to use menus and my Olympus cameras have been total tanks, virtually indestructable. I'd recommend a 3MP, non-zoom Olympus. If she uses the stink out of it, upgrade her in a couple years.
Tons of features, easy to use,5 megapix, powers up in a dock, the dock easily connects to any computer (although Mac is best) and lets you print at home/email pics easily/sent pix to kodak for hard copies.
An easy, no brainer for mom.
In general, when people ask me to help them choose a digital camera (which is, like, every couple of weeks), I always recommend Canon. You might find a few cameras with better picture quality, but they are usually more complicated to use. More importantly, I find Canon digital snapshots (especially in dark surroundings) are warmer. They make people look good. Counterpoint: Every Sony I've used has made people look pasty and ugly. I don't know why.
Now, a number of people have recommended the S400/S410. There is the newer S500 as well. All excellent cameras, but quite expensive. My latest recommendation is the Canon SD110. It has a 2x optical zoom and 3.2 Megapixels, and goes for around $250 online.
Very good, very small 4MP camera. There's also a 3MP version the SL300R.
DSC T1 is the best digital camera for mom.
It is so easy to use, the small and sleek design provide an easy storage in pocket and bags.
The large LCD screen is a plus , older people tends to have bad eye sight.