Camera for the in-laws?

Xeorix

Xeorix

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My in-laws are asking me what camera they should get, and with the huge choice on the market, I'm struggling to advise them.
They said that £120 is their budget, however they're happy to spend up to £200 for a used on if the camera is a lot better, in good condition and obvious worth more than that.

Now they're not photographers, so they're not going to be going out to capture that sunset with all the manual controls, however they may get round to tweaking with the different settings to see what's what, and maybe to get better family photographs.

Based on their situation, and my knowledge, I've ruled out most compact point and shoot cameras and have pointed them down the router of either the system cameras, bridge cameras or a low end DSLR. With the DSLR, they like the idea of it, but I don't think they'll like carrying it around as it's not something they can pop in their pocket or stuff it in a bag.

I'm thinking about maybe a Canon G15/G16 from eBay? I had a G10 and I know they can take good photos, although without a flash gun, low light photography can be a pain - but it'd be far worse with a small point and shoot.
For their benefit, I think it works great in automatic, and has the options of a DSLR if they want to play with it, without the bulk of the size and weight.

Can anyone suggest something that might suit them?
 
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Xeorix said:
has the options of a DSLR if they want to play with it, without the bulk of the size and weight.
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There are some smaller DSLR out - Canon 100D for example - personally, I'd get them to a good camera shop and let them have a play with with different makes / models / styles etc and see what they prefer and go from there...
 
andyred said:
There are some smaller DSLR out - Canon 100D for example - personally, I'd get them to a good camera shop and let them have a play with with different makes / models / styles etc and see what they prefer and go from there...
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That was the first thing I suggested, however given our nearest camera shop is over an hour away, that won't be happening any time soon!
 
How about a Fuji X10 or X20 ? The X10 was my introduction to the Fuji X system and I've never looked back. Takes great photos, small and it looks good.
 
Xeorix said:
That was the first thing I suggested, however given our nearest camera shop is over an hour away, that won't be happening any time soon!
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is there at least a Currys nearby so they can get a feel for what they might find an acceptable size to carry around.

G16 is a great call so many features packed into a relatively small form, IQ doesn't match G1x/RX100 etc.. but its a great all in one solution, I have been knocking around with a G9 the past couple of weeks and even that has stunned me what it can still produce, its just rubbish at higher iso's
 
strumstrum said:
is there at least a Currys nearby so they can get a feel for what they might find an acceptable size to carry around.

G16 is a great call so many features packed into a relatively small form, IQ doesn't match G1x/RX100 etc.. but its a great all in one solution, I have been knocking around with a G9 the past couple of weeks and even that has stunned me what it can still produce, its just rubbish at higher iso's
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Wow, it completely forgot Currys sells cameras! I don't think they mind the size of my G10, but not so keep on my DSLR as it's a bit bulky.

The G1X can also be had for £200 off eBay too, so if they wanted something like that, it'd be a toss up between the G15 and the G1X
 
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I have owned a few different Canon G-series cameras over the years and they have all been great fun to shoot with. They are an easy recommend.

I quite like Nikon's 1 series as well. What does an original Fuji X100 fetch second hand? That is still a terrific camera.
 
My experience of selecting a camera for my parents was that they wanted one that they could switch on and take pictures with and that was kind of it really. My recommendation would be to check what their expectations are before trying to overlay your own photographic enthusiast criteria on them. The prospect of carrying any kind of slr or advanced compact just switched my parents off and they ended up with a Panasonic compact that they're more than happy with and it slips into a pocket or handbag with ease.
 
plamen_gb said:
I think it was mentioned above, the G16 won't match the image quality of the RX100 but it is still great all around camera
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OK thats good to know. They might actually prefer the RX100 if its on offer as its smaller too. Do you know which version it is John Lewis are selling, I assume its the MK1?
 
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