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My 8 year old daughter has been using my P&S regularly and I think it's time she has her own (at least it will be by Christmas). I know there are literally dozens of possibilities and I would like to keep the price down reasonably. She has expressed a desire for a touch screen model (I think one of her friends may have had one) which would be OK if the menu system is easy to navigate but probably no real benefit if not.

Currently I'm looking at the Nikon Coolpix S80 and Fuji Finepix Z90, both of which have touchscreens and can be bought for under $200.

I'd appreciate any input from anyone who has been through this selection process already or who has a recommendation to give.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Muzz,
Is she keen on photography or is this just for snaps??

Hi Suren,

initially I think it would mainly be snaps (especially holiday snaps) but she is very artistic and has shown an appreciation of fine art landscape photography (not mine ) so I guess something that she can grow into a little with the basics of composition etc without worrying about manual control just yet.

Try and get something with the lens in the centre as opposed to offset. While gripping the camera, kids fingers often obscure the lens on those side mounted thingies.

Rooz wrote:While gripping the camera, kids fingers often obscure the lens on those side mounted thingies.

While this is very very true for ages 3 and below, I reckon an 8 yr old should be ok in theory. YMMV.

Have you looked at the Canon Powershot A3300 IS?

Cheap + touchscreen......I think you have that covered.

I would look at the Powershot that Suren mentioned as well as the Panasonic FH2 and FH5