Big viewfinder camera

[nickandre]

I'm looking for a nice replacement for my grandmother's current camera, which has a very small viewfinder which she doesn't like. Her old one was an underwater canon model with a huge viewfinder, but the latch broke and they sent her a new one which she doesn't like. Any ideas for large viewfindered cameras, preferably with some exposure compensation?

 

[Hamster]

..... she doesn't like.

Without getting into the Film vs Digital debate. Are you sure that is not her way of saying she wanted a digital compact with those huge LCD screens? Their ergonomics are actually not bad, and quite a few are drop proof and waterproof (10m or so) these days.

 

[darinwc]

One problem I've had with the digitals are the buttons are friggin tiny, but I would reccomend them strictly for the ease viewing the screen instead of a tiny viewfinder.

If you want a compact 35mm with an easy to use viewfinder, the canon sureshot and olympus trip have some models that would fit the spec, but they are auto cameras with no exposure compensation. However both of these are pretty cheap quality wise. The older (not as compact) point and shoot cameras such as nikon l35, canon af35, etc. are good quality but I'm not familiar with them enough to tell you if they have exp compensation.

Really, if your gm is OK with a larger camera, I would reccomend getting a intoductory modern AF SLR like the canon rebel or nikon n55, etc. They are lightweight, dirt cheap these days and have some manual controls.

Another alternative is a rangefinder camera like a leica or voightlander, but then you have manual focus.