Digi-Slave or Vivitar Ring Light
If your mother likes macro or still life photography, give her more creative possibilities with a ring flash. SR Electronics' Digi-Slave ring lights fit lenses with a wide range of diameters. They have variable power dials for controlling light levels, and can be turned on continuously or triggered to flash by a PC sync or hotshoe connection. The priciest Digi-Slave has two side lights on flexible arms. Vivitar's basic but very affordable 5000 Macro Ring Flash fits lenses with 49mm to 55mm diameters and is triggered by a PC sync connection. (Throw in a hotshoe-to-PC-sync connector if your mom's SLR doesn't have a PC sync port.)
Vivitar 5000 Macro Ring Flash: $70
SR Electronics Digi-Slave ring lights: $130-$400
www.srelectronics.com
Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 LD AF Macro IF Di-II
This lens will bring a lot of flexibility to your mom's digital SLR, with its 28mm-388mm 35mm-equivalent focal length range and macro shooting capability. It's still compact and lightweight, with quick, quiet autofocus action, and it performed well in our lab test. Tamron makes the 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 LD AF Macro IF Di-II with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, and Samsung mounts.
About $500.
www.tamron.com
See the PopPhoto Lab Test of this lens.
Fujifilm FinePix F40fd
 Mothers who take lots of snapshots in the subdued light of the living room should be pleased with the results they get from this 8-megapixel pocket camera. Its image quality remains high even as its light-sensitivity setting rises toward ISO 2000 to capture low-light shots without a harsh flash, and when the flash is turned on, its Intelligent Flash system does a good job of setting the right level. If your mom isn't sure which approach will work best, she can use the dual shot mode to capture one photo with flash and another without in a single press of the shutter release. The F40fd's face-detection system also works well, adjusting focus and exposure to capture good-looking shots of people. This camera even has infrared image-transfer technology to send shots to other IR-Simple-compatible devices. The F40fd has a 36mm-108mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8-5.1 3x zoom lens and a 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD. It comes in blue, silver, and gunmetal gray.
About $275
www.fujifilm.com
Olympus Stylus 770SW
If your mom is an outdoorswoman, this 7-megapixel model may be the pocket camera for her. She can take it diving down to 33 feet below the surface, drop it from a 5-foot height without breaking it, and use it as an LED flashlight to find her way back to camp. And if you look incredulous when your mom tells you about her mountain-climbing and diving exploits, she can set you straight with the depth and altitude EXIF information that the 770SW's manometer records. The camera offers 27 shooting modes and light-sensitivity settings as high as ISO 2500. The Stylus 770SW has a 38mm-114mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-5.0 3x zoom lens, sensor-shift optical image stabilization, and a 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD. It comes in blue, bronze, and silver.
About $350
www.olympusamerica.com
PF Digital eStarling 2.0
This wireless digital picture frame has its own e-mail address for receiving photos to display. The eStarling 2.0 is equipped with an internal WiFi antenna so that it can connect to a home wireless network to receive images that are sent directly to it from an e-mail account, a camera phone, or another eStarling frame in a remote location. The frame can also receive images via an RSS feed and publish images it has received on the Web. The frame features a 7-inch widescreen LCD, memory card slots, and 128MB of onboard memory.
$249
www.estarling.com
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