Save your money, folks. Anything over a 8 megapixel is a sheer waste of money unless you are going to print out banner size photos. All of the bells and whistles are for professionals who use their cameras for work and do this everyday. You can buy a good camera for under $150 that will give the avg. person all they need. It's like buying a car with every bell and whistle that you'll only use a few times but all you really need is what you buy it for,,,take a good picture on automatic and have great resolution.
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Ahhhh, another Canon fan. I've been shooting with Canon since the very first film EOS rebel came out. I've shot Canon, Nikon, and Fuji for pleasure and money, so everything I say comes from my experiences.

If she wants a canon, get a canon. Poker mentioned a Nikon at a similar price-point that is a good camera and comes with a better stock lens than Canon IMHO. When I say it comes with a better stock lens this has to do with little things like its capacity for low light photography and a bit clearer depth of field when taking landscapes. BUT, I think Canon's mid-range lenses are incredible. If you think she might be able to buy a bit better lens at some point in the future, then the lens shouldn't be an issue. Also, I don't know what she wants to use it for but if it is for general, everyday kinds of things, then the stock lens will be very good.

I've been using a now obsolete Canon 20D for years and it does just fine. Someone mentioned that you don't need anything over 8MP if you aren't blowing it up to poster size and, for the most part, this is correct. Some people get obsessed with having really high MP when they won't ever need it. Honestly, if I were you, I would look into buying an older generation of the EOS Rebel (around 8MP) and then get a mid-range canon lens. It all depends on how much you're able to spend.

Fuji makes an incredible camera (Finepix) if you will be shooting pictures of people. I did an extensive comparison this summer between my 20D and a Finepix Pro S2 and there was a noticeable difference when taking pictures of people (ie. weddings and portraits), which the Fuji won. Landscapes/nature photography, however, the Canon killed the Fuji. This is just my anecdotal experience though.

Bottom line, I would go with an older Rebel model and get a better lens. If she wants a Canon, that's what she wants. You don't want her to wonder "what if," right? :-)

If you are looking for the best (and cheapest) pocket camera, this is it!

As Todd mentioned, shoot me a PM if you want to chat more about this! I'd be happy to help! Good luck!
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...Or if you want to crop and still have usable images.

Marianne, here's a package she should be really happy with:

Rebel XSi (body only)

EF 50mm f/1.8 lens (Nifty Fifty)
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So she can still use the lenses from her 35mm Rebel?
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This is the one I am looking at...http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-...ref=pd_sim_e_2

Trying to keep it under 500, but if the lens is a piece of crap and she can use the canon lenses I bought for her a couple of years ago, I might go for just the body on the 12. What do you think?
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Nothing at all wrong with that camera! You might want to check on Ebay as well. You CAN get some good deals there!

http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-REBEL-XTi-...lenotsupported
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That sounds like the best situation! Do it!!
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:-)

That's what I had last year. The lens is good for everyday stuff. It's not the best at it's widest or zoomed all the way in; but it was never bad enough to get me to spring for another lens. I snapped some really nice shots with that lens ... and the bad ones were mostly "user error." :-)
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