[Mechan1k]

One of my work colleagues brought his Fuji F50 in the other night ... and in a dark office I had a play with it ... great little P&S camera ... even though it has Av and Tv modes in it.

I was impressed with the low light capability of it ... and for the size and price it's a top little camera.

P&S cameras have come a long way in the last few years.

BTW ... he enjoyed having a look at my K10D and lenses ... but was way too much for him to understand to use (I told him I still have a lot to learn as well).

If i was after a P&S ... I wouldn't hesitate getting a Fuji Finepix F50 for myself.

[Lowell Goudge]

I guess in all the responses, no one has bothered to ask what you want the P&S for?

You have to decide if this is something that will go in her purse for taking shots at parties etc or something a little more seriois.

Regardless, and I won't tell you exactly what modle to buy, I will tell you what to look for.

First, go for something that does wide angle, with a moderate zoom in the 3-6 x range. By wide angle, you want the film equivelent o at least 28mm, 24 would be even better. The reason for this is that the P&S will obviously do some travelling and many of the P&S cameras that only go to 35-38mm equivelent are just not wide enough.

second, go for something with image stabilization, make sure this is sensor or optics controlled, and not just ramping up the ISO

third, a flash that you can control

fourth, go for something that can give you at least 800 ISO (1600 would be better)

If you want a camera that can both be a relitively compact P&S but also a serious camera, go for one of the electronic viewfinder cameras. You can get all of the above in one or two different modles that go from 24mm to 150 mm and they have full manual, can take macro lenses, and ultra wide angle attachments with a front adaptor, have flash sync outputs.....