cameras

[kryscat]

So, our digital camera has been eating batteries at an absurd rate, which means that when I pull it out to try to take a picture of the little one, I'm likely to be thwarted. My plan is to put "digital camera" on the xmas list for the folks to purchase, but I need to tell them *exactly* what to get, or we'll end up with something huge & unwieldy. Looking for recommendations here. What we need is something small, really easy to use, and easy to use quickly to catch whatever moment needs to be immortalized, preferably something that can take little movies (first steps?), and is not too horrifically expensive. Links to actual products would be muchly appreciated, so that I don't end up sifting through bazillions of different models wondering, "is *this* the one s/he was talking about?"

Secondly, does anyone have a digital camera we could borrow for the next couple of months? Doesn't have to be super-spiffy, just functional to take pics & put them up for the grandparents to see. Many thanks!