Inexperienced friend traveling to Europe... suggestions please

<p>Hello,<br>

I have an odd situation... I am rather experienced, but recently met a girl who just moved here, and is leaving in 3 days for a trip to Europe. She wants to learn photography, and I plan to teach her with my backup DSLR, but she needs a good point and shoot camera for the trip. <br>

I'm giving her plenty of learnings to watch on the plane trip over there (if she actually does, ha), but I was wondering what people recommend for a decent quality point and shoot, around $150-200. She'll be backpacking, so not a lot of heavy lenses.<br>

This just got dropped on me about 12:30am 2 days before she leaves, so I don't have time to really do research. I appreciate any and all feedback!</p>

<p>Frankly taking a camera you do not know at all, and not have had time to test on a trip is not a great idea. You'll loose time fiddling with the controls, figuring out how the thing works. Plus - electronic failures tend to happen very early in the lifecycle, or very late. So brand new gear may be more likely to fail too.<br>

I've got a Panasonic P&S in the pricerange you indicate, and never use it because my smartphone simply does better. Does she have a phone with a decent camera?</p>

Something that runs on AA batteries that she can get anywhere if needed and not have to fool around with

chargers and plug and voltage adapters. And a big memory card. Tell her to be very choosy in what she

photographs.

<p>Buying something this late brings a learning curve that's a problem, so if she gets a camera for the trip, do it right away and have her play with it and take shots while you're there to help. That way you'll have a chance to identify anything she might do inadvertently that could ruin her shots. Don't let her find this out after she gets back!<br>

1 - don't worry about megapixels - everything for sale today has enough.<br>

2 - buy a camera made by a camera company. Don't expect much quality in a lens made by a company that's has no history making cameras. Some modern non-camera companies buy quality lenses from good lens makers, but you won't find them in the price range you mentioned.<br>

3 - I second the idea of a big memory card - the file sizes she'll have will allow storage of weeks of shooting on a 16 or 32 gb card.<br>

4 - have her choose the camera after fiddling with a variety in a local store. The camera should feel comfortable to her. It'll have various modes for shooting scenics, portraits, etc - have her try them so she'll be comfortable selecting one on her trip.<br>

Advise her about the flash activating automatically and find out how to disable the flash and shoot without it. That will be important if she wants to take interior shots in places like the great cathedrals - flash won't be allowed. Show her how to find something to rest the camera on to brace it for shooting in low light.</p>

<p>Hi Everyone,<br>

I appreciate your feedback. After doing a good bit of research, I recommended (and she did purchase) a Canon sx280 with a couple extra battery packs. She's actually flying out in the morning, but I'm taking her to dinner tonight and we're gonna go over some basics... (she's too much of a procrastinator sometimes, haha).</p>

<p>She ended up with 2 16 gig cards and I let her borrow one of my 16 gig cards... I had a card fail on me once, so I just personally always carry a number of 16 gig CF and SD cards whenever I go on a gig. </p>

<p>Thanks for your feedback!</p>

Good choice with the Canon. The charger is small and the prongs fold in, so good for stashing in a pack. Will work no problem on 120 or 240 all you need is a physical adapter.

The secret to disabling the flash, BTW, is to put it in P mode and turn it off. Can't be disabled in full auto mode...

<p>Good advice on having multiple cards; never put all the eggs in one basket. SD cards are more than small enough to carry a good number of them.<br>

She's lucky on the timing, weather is good across nearly all of Europe at the moment :-)<br>

__<br>

Off-topic, but for future reference:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Don't expect much quality in a lens made by a company that's has no history making cameras. Some modern non-camera companies buy quality lenses from good lens makers, but you won't find them in the price range you mentioned.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I would not worry about this at all; I found the practise of labelling lenses with the great names in optics to be mostly marketing. I have a very cheap Panasonic P&S. The lens has Leica written on it. It has a lack of contrast and the very dull colours (unless bright sunlight); not really Leica characteristics. My Nokia (not a camera company by any stretch) has Carl Zeiss written on it. It performs quite well, though it's mostly plastic and flares like nothing else.<br>

Labels with great names are nice gadgets, but in the end, look up reviews and see real-world shots.</p>

<p>" but I'm taking her to dinner tonight and we're gonna go over some basics..."</p>

<p>I do the same with my wife before every one of her birding trips - that is familiarize her with the basics. Been doing this for the past 35 years and every time we sit down, I literally have to begin with "This is the shutter release." If a person is not a photographer who "learns" what she is doing gradually, no amount of last minute cramming will work. Take it from one who has learned this lesson from repeated failures.</p>

<p>My wife is a super high functioning, wonderful, smart woman who simply will not process photography instruction. Notice I say "will not" rather than "cannot". </p>

<p>Stick with basics first. Set firm dates---buy your tickets and that will define what you have time for.</p>

<p>Stick with basics first. Set firm dates---buy your tickets and that will define what you have time for.</p>