Woody67

I agree that Canon produces quality cameras, especially at the high end, but you are way off about Kodak. For the money, they produce the most user-friendly and best quality cameras on the market. They tied for the top ranking in the 2007 JD Power consumer satisfaction study, and won the top award outright in 2005 and 2006 in the point-and-shoot category (well ahead of Sony). I have three of them in my family, and they have all performed extremely well - no degradation in the sensor or any other issues (one is almost 4 years old - time for an upgrade).

I just bought my second Kodak camera, and have had terrific luck with them. I spent a fair amount of time researching cameras, and ended up back with Kodak. They are extremely user-friendly, and the picture quality is fantastic. I just purchased the Z740, and gave my old model, which still works fine, to my mother. If you are looking for a first time camera for someone, Target has the best deal on BF with a Kodak 5MP at $89. With 5 MP, you can crop pictures and not lose too much resolution. The Kodak printers are great, too! The Z740 has a 10x optical zoom, which is great for bringing far away subjects much closer. I think it normaly retails now for $299. I also considered the Kodak V530, which is a cool looking camera with great features, but less zoom (3x optical). It is also $299. Good luck!