Here's another great deal on a camera that'll soon be gone for good. $179 for the Pentax X-5 bridge camera- ideal for beginners.

Pentax X-5 Digital Camera, Black 12761

[Bramela]

that is a great bargain for the beginner

[Tanzer]

I'm not so sure I would characterize this as a great camera for beginners, because the camera uses an ND filter instead of a real aperture control. There was someone who posted here who was taking a photography class and kinda got stuck because of this, I feel bad for them.

However, I agree the camera has excellent ergonomics and would be fine camera to learn all the other aspects of photography, like composition and perspective.

I'd say this is makes a good all-in-one camera or walkaround cam for anyone when you know you are going to have some shooting opportunities that day, but when you don't want to think about what lens to attach and carry around.

I have the x90 (predecessor to the X-5), the Q, and the MX-1, and they all get used. The x90 is the least fiddly of the bunch. The Q might be possibly be funner, but the x90 is probably the most encouraging to shoot with. It wants you to shoot more.