HELP!! Want to get 10yr old DD a 'grown-up' digital camera. Recommendations please!

[PestoMonster]

DD1 is shortly going away on a school trip, and rather than getting her yet another disposable camera, DH & I have decided she is now old enough to have a proper digital camera.

The only thing is, we don't want to spend heaps (in case it gets lost/broken etc), but we do want an adult one (which will produce good quality pictures), rather than one aimed at children.

Oh, and it doesn't have to have a zoom or video clip facility.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone?

The Guardian Family section had a similar question answered recently. here

What's your price range, Pesto?

Personally, I'd recommend going to a proper camera shop (not an electronics shop that also sells cameras, as they tend to know bugger all) and letting your dd handle the cameras.

There are a fair few decent quality cameras (if she enjoys photography and it will last her a while) at around the £80 mark, but appreciate that might be a bit too expensive to take on a school trip.

This Canon Powershot A460 is a lovely little camera - good quality lens and components, with opportunities for her to get more creative with photography if she really gets interested. But the auto functions are still excellent if point and shoot is all you want to do. Consider it inflation proofing

in the same price range is this Nikon - again, another highly respected camera with great features and quality for the price.

I bought my son, 10, the Sony Cybershot. Range from £60 upwards - his cost £110- not the most expensive but a bit more than the most basic.

In the cheaper brackets, Kodak are worth looking out for as still decent quality and durability. However, to be fair, it's been a long time since I've owned a Kodak and I'm not very knowledgeable about their current line up of cameras.

Dd is a very sensible 9yo; for her birthday we bought her a canon Powershot A460. She manages very well with it, and the results are decent.

Yeah, I've had a long line of Powershots, all have been excellent. They're always my first choice recommend...

Oooh, thanks for all the suggestions that are suddenly whizzing in!

Not sure about budget, but would like it to be less than £100 really. We just want a quality camera that she will be able to use easily and enjoy, without having to worry too much about how much it cost.

My top tip is not to get too carried away about the number of pixels a camera has - high pixel count doesn't necessarily equate to a good quality picture. It's all in the glass (i.e. how well the lens is made) and the quality of the CCD (the thing which records the picture).

Manufacturers LOVE to quote the pixel count at you, because it's easier to quantify and nicely meaningless for most users

A more detailed explanation about why pixels aren't everything

Thanks RubberDuck, most helpful. I don't know an awful lot about cameras so your link is really useful.

Can I also say that the Sony Cybershots are brilliant. Very user friendly - our dd (4) uses ours all the time and she knows how to use it better than me! I am tempted to get her this for her next birthday as it's so cute!www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=663

Thank you BettyBeetroot. I do like your name btw!

We have a Samsung which we bought on offer from Argos, they always have them on offer, and we are very happy with it and my 3 and 6 year old dd's can take pictures with them very well. It also uses rechargeable AA batteries so they are very cheap to replace if they get lost or don't charge.

I bought DD1 a reconditioned Kodak from the Kodak website for Christmas. Can't remember the model number but it is 6 megapixels and takes really good pics, and is simple to use. It cost £50 so much cheaper and you really couldn't tell it wasn't new.

Oh that's interesting Rosa, I didn't know you could do that.