Best bridge camera £200 for novice use?

[SWoll]

Hello All,

I'm looking at picking up a bridge camera for my 12 year old daughter as a christmas present. She's had a compact for a couple of years now and uses it on a regular basis, in fact it's one of the few 'hobbies' that she seems to have shown continued interest in. She seems to have a decent eye for a shot and enjoys manipulating/editing the resulsts on our home PC.

I'd like to get her something a little more advanced that would allow her more control/variety and will enable her to learn the basic principles of photography.

I've been looking at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ30, but there are so many models out there it's almost impossible to know where to start. Any opinions/recommendations gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT : I'm also looking at the Canon PowerShot SX500 IS which seems to get good reviews and offer similar functionality?

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 24th October 12:17

[DMN]

I bought SWMBO this for Chritmas last year:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1...

A step up from her compact in both ability and what it taught her about getting the right shot.

[MysteryLemon]

What is it about a bridge camera you think she will benefit from?

I would recommend an enthusiast / high end compact (Something like a Lumix LX-5/LX-3 (second hand, under £200) or Olympuz XZ-1 etc) as it will gave all the controls and image quality (larger compact sensor) you want but not the bulk of a bridge/DSLR. Bridge cameras tend to offer P/S/A/M modes but it's still a compact camera under the DSLR body meaning small sensor, limited ISO range, slow operation etc.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-Lumix-lx3-Bund...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olympus-XZ-1-Black-Digit...

If you don't think the bulk will be a problem then I would seriously be looking at second hand DSLRs and skip the bridge all together. A bridge will offer her nothing over a compact camera apart from having something bigger to carry around.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nikon-D40x-10-2-MP-Digit...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olympus-EVOLT-E-510-10-0...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olympus-EVOLT-E-420-10-0...

p.s. The Olympus' come highly recommended

Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 24th October 13:43