I need a compact camera!

[domu221]

Hi guys! So, I wanna buy a camera for my cousin and I know that a DSLR is not (yet) for her. She's really enthusiastic about photography and has been taking pictures of different things from landscapes, to macro. I really see her taking time to learn about ISO and the use of flash, etc. so I think a camera would be something she'd really use. Her current camera is the Nokia N8-00 (12MP Carl Zeiss, 5.9mm f/2.8, Xenon Flash), and this camera phone is better than a lot of the point-and-shoot when it was first released.

I'm thinking of either Nikon 1 V1 (with the 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6) or the Nikon Coolpix P510 (with it's built-in lens that I have no idea how to translate in SLR specs).

I'm pretty sure she'd use it primarily with friends in parties (just like what everyone does with a camera), but also on landscapes and macros. I have never owned a Nikon 1 camera nor one of its compact-series cameras before so I would just like your opinion on which one would be most reasonable to buy.

With the Nikon 1, i think there's more opportunity to learn camera settings and the manual mode, but with the Coolpix P510, it's an all-in-one no-need-to-learn solution to different scenes.

 

[StandingBear1983]

I would get her a beginners DSLR, while the nikon 1 series is not bad, it still doesn't have the quality of DSLR's and you have with DSLR's more options with lenses etc.. , i wish i wouldn't wait so long to buy my first DSLR after all these years with P&S i could of bought a DSLR long time ago if i only knew the huge difference between P&S cameras and proper DSLR's. i would suggest getting the D3200.