The digital camera equivalent of a Doro phone

January 27, 2016 4:57 AM

My mum wants to borrow my compact for using when we go on holiday. Sadly, the screen is broken and, as it's nine years old, I'm not sure whether a repair is viable. Can you suggest an easy to use digital camera (ie. for a complete tech novice) which I could pick up new or used cheaply to give to her?

For reference, what I have is an old Canon A-series powershot, which has a powerful zoom and would be easy to use in Auto. I'd want something that's, if possible, similar - can be configured to be the digital equivalent of a point and shoot, but would take decent enough pictures. I did consider just buying another A710 on eBay, but there may be a better option for this kind of thing? With cameras improving all the time (my Powershot still takes great pictures) it's easier to get something decent at a price that means it won't matter if she accidentally drops it, right?

I am taking my DSLR, but she wants something to use herself.

posted by mippy to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Do not buy a used 9 year old camera. The technology has improved greatly since then.

I'm partial to canon, but any new name photo brand point & shoot should be fine.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:40 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Seconding repairing ancient camera with broken screen making no sense. Check The Wirecutter (although it's not exactly "cheap"...)
posted by gorcha at 5:59 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Check for sales on "last season" models. That tech is constantly improving, five years is ancient. Also get a 32gb sd card so she does not run out of space. The most basic Cannon or Nikon will be easy to use.
posted by sammyo at 6:12 AM on January 27, 2016

I'm partial to canon, but any new name photo brand point & shoot should be fine.

Agreed. You really won't go wrong with any new Canon or Nikon in your price range. Sony, Olympus, Pentax are fine too. I'd avoid Kodak or Polaroid, though.

My advice: Decide what your budget is, then look at Amazon reviews to see how happy actual owners are with their purchase.

I'm pretty picky about my photos, and I own several cameras including a DSLR. But I've also taken a $100 Nikon point-and-shoot on trips when I wanted to travel light, and it was just great.
posted by The Deej at 6:19 AM on January 27, 2016

Those A series were complicated-ish from what I remember, there are 20MP Canon ELPHs for around $100 that are great point and shoots.
posted by rhizome at 9:51 AM on January 27, 2016

Response by poster: Yes - I picked the A-series because I specifically wanted the extra features (I couldn't afford a DSLR at the time) but what I really need is something I can just set on Auto (with the flash switched off) and let her do the zooming and the framing and the whatnot.

I did think about lending her my smartphone, but she's really not great with tech so I wanted to keep things pretty simple. She just wants something she can upload to Facebook or take to Boots and have them print out, but I'm wary of anything too cheap or simple in case the image quality isn't there.

I was looking at this one.
posted by mippy at 9:55 AM on January 27, 2016

Most p&s's in full auto mode will revert to auto flash mode every. bloody. time.
posted by scruss at 12:00 PM on January 27, 2016