Good tool for research

I used this camera to take pictures of archival documents. Some archives allow you to use it because of the "archive" feature which permits you to take pictures without flash. The pictures turned out fantastic. As well, I used it to take tons of pictures of microfilm images projected onto a microfilm reader. They also turned out excellent. One of the really great features is wide angle. One can stand almost directly in front of a large document and snap the shot. Again, you could see the appeal of this feature if you were working in an archive setting. Lastly, though the camera boasts many features for the very experienced photographer - the easy to use pre-set buttons allowed me to begin using the camera right away. And yes it is equally easy to use for snapshots of anything from family events to detail close-ups of flowers etc.