Canon Powershot A75 Bundle

I think I have my dad convinced about getting my mom (and family) a digital camera for her birthday! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

My dad could use a guiding hand with the whole thing, and so could I.

I think the camera for my family is the A75. My mom and sister need full-auto, while my dad and I might enjoy tinkering with the settings. My dad is convinced that megapixels don't really matter, and it's all about the lens. How is the lens on the A75?

Where is a good place to buy the A75, along with a 256 compact flash memory card? Is 256 a good amount of memory to get? I want to be able to take a good number of pics, but want something that is less expensive than the camera itself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I was looking around and Costco has the A75 & CF. I am thinking that maybe a brick and mortor store might be better. I can check out my local Costco, and also have a CompUSA, Staples, and Circuit City nearby. What are my best bets?

Lastly, what else should I have an eye out for? Photo editing software? Card reader?

I'm a digital camera noobie, so please fill me in. Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

i nver heard of the a75 i have a cannon a70 its awesume i got a kick *** deal lol but oid check froogle.com if i was ya

Raggie,

The A75 came out recently, and is an improved version of the A70. They are very similar.

Here are the differences:
The A75 features a 9 AF point (AiAF) autofocus system. The A70 had a 5 AF point (AiAF) autofocus system

The A75 provides users with a larger 1.8" LCD screen (the A70's LCD screen was 1.5")

The A75 provides a nifty new Special Scene mode (SCN) that tailors exposure parameters for six specific types of scene (Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, and Indoor) virtually guaranteeing proper exposure for this group of popular subjects, in addition to the regular scene mode.
The A75 ships with a 32MB CF (type I) card (the A70 included a 16MB CF card).

The A75 also features Canon's new Print/Share technology for one-touch image transfer.

sweet i love my a70 on manual the 15 second exposere is fun

DPReview write-up on the Canon A75

I would tend to agree with your dad about the pixelcount/lens quality issue. 3 Megapixels gives good, clear prints up to A4 size, so unless you regularly make bigger prints, you dont really need more than that.
I recently upgraded from a Canon Ixus II (3.2MP) to a 5 MP camera with a very nice lens. Shooting the same scene with the 5MP camera set to 3.2MP, and again with the Ixus II, the difference in quality is very noticable. The good lens gives the picture much better defined edges, better contrast and overall is appreciabley sharper.