After plenty of umming and loads of ahh-ing, I finally found the ideal all-round compromise camera… I think.

I was constrained by budget (aren’t we all?) and wanted

• point and shoot (it’s not for me… that’s for a close female relative)
• under £100
• 5x Optical (or more) and a trusted lens
• a decent CCD

Plus… on my ‘really would love’ list was

• full manual Aperture control
• Aperture priority control, and Shuuter Speed priority control (I was brought up on a Pentax ME super and will always be a user at heart).

I started out looking at loads of things and almost fell into the trap of getting allured by brand, or by unbelievable price reductions, but in the end I stayed my course and ordered a Kodak C875. It arrived today and seems an absolute joy to use. I never thought I’d have ended up with a Kodak… I must say, but looking at the features and the way it performs on first exploration, I think we’re going to get on really well.

Plus, equally importantly, a certain un-named associate of mine might just enjoy its point and shoot simplicity. I said ‘might’.