I took my daughter to New York City for her 16th birthday earlier this week (Happy Birthday, Megan!). Once there, we knew we needed a camera. I have a nice Canon Digital Rebel, but for sometime I’ve been looking for something smaller and more simple that takes good pictures, fits in my pocket, and fits my wallet — in terms of price, that is.

After looking at several models, I decide on the Canon PowerShot A1000. The price was certainly right, as was the brand — I love my Digital Rebel, so I already have a comfort level with Canon. I also know well Canon’s excellent reputation for high-quality lenses, the most important part of a camera.

The A1000 features a 4X optical zoom, another important feature (look for optical, rather than digital zooms, when shopping. The images from optical zooms are much sharper, for technical reasons I won’t go into here.) It also has a 10 megapixel resolution, which means my photos will be clear and sharp. (As a comparison, my Rebel, which cost about eight times as much four years ago, has only six megapixels).

Along with the camera, I bought a 4GB SD memory card (the 32MB card it comes with is laughably inadequate) and a package of AA batteries. The A1000 also has a generous 2.5 LCD, and image stabilizer technology for eliminating the blurry photos that come with a shaky hand.

Megan and I spent two full days shooting with the Canon all over New York City, and were delighted with the quality of images and ease of use. It truly is a “point-and-shoot” that fits easily in a pocket. The flash worked well, and the few controls and menus are, for the most part, easy to figure out. We made the right choice for our trip.