Hello,

I need some help! I am thinking of buying a camera for the mrs' birthday and I know next to nowt about cameras and photography, so hopefully you can put me right before I make an expensive mistake.

My mrs currently has a Canon 400D SLR which she uses with the lens that came with it and a Sigma wide angle lens she bought. While she is able to take great photos with it, she finds it cumbersome to carry, and some of the features a bit too technical. She's recently seen the Sony ads for the NEX range and she loves the look of the panoramic shot feature.

So what I need to know is (in layman's terms!) -

What is the difference between the Nex 3 and Nex 5 range? They look pretty much the same to me.

With the panoramic shot feature, do I need to buy a wide angle lens for the camera or is it redundant now?

I've seen a Nex 5 on play.com for about £500, but then there is another one with 16mm & 18-55mm for £590. Could someone tell me what sort of shots you can do with the 18-55mm lens? The mrs tends to take normal 'snaps' as well as wide-angle landscape shots.

Is the Nex 5 pretty much a point and click camera with SLR quality? That's pretty much her ideal camera I think.

Thanks in advance!