The Mrs wants to start playing around with a camera.

Not wanting the size of a DSLR but wants to be able to have full manual control.

Looking for something for about £200.

Any suggestions?

Go up a bit and get a Sony RX100, stunning results from an unskilled photographer. Pocket sized camera with optional manual controls and 21 mps. Much referred to on here.

Mate just bought his wife a Panasonic FZ200 for £248 from Amazon, who seem a bit more atm.

It is being replaced with the FZ300 so good prices might appear more, and the good points are that its zoom is 24 times (some bridges are higher but it is not really usable) and it has a 2.8 aperture throughout its range.

She is well happy and is taking lots of piccies of their newish baby – with the 2.8 aperture giving decent results indoors.

Despite owning 5 DLSRs, I’ve never used a bridge camera. Echoing BillMC’s comments, I’d probably lean towards a high end compact.

They’re going to be smaller and more pocketable than a bridge. I’ve been using a borrowed RX100iii and the image quality is excellent.

Possibly a bit geeky and certainly contains some expensive gear but http://www.wexphotographic.com/blog/best-compact-camera-for-enthusiasts-which-should-you-buy is a good read

I have a Lumix GF2 which I’m too apathetic to get round to actually selling properly, if you’d consider second-hand?

I might be.

What lenses and how much?