Camera recommendations

[Mark A]

Hi chaps,

I need a camera which must be:

compact
rechargable (not AA batteries)
takes either a standard SD card or Micro SD card
decent lens
costs up to £200
good warrantry
not too complicated

I would also consider second hand.

Any suggestions?

I'm not a photographer so SLR cameras with a selection of lenses would be far too bulky and excessive for my needs. I want something which takes acceptable photos and can be carried in a pocket. And not a smart phone.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Rorschach]

You might find it difficult with the prevalence of smart phones now.

I have to be honest, the pictures taken with my new smart phone ( a budget model) are the best pictures I have ever taken.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm not in the market for cameras at the moment, so I've no idea what the current range is like, but the last three I've bought, over a period of 15 years, have all been Panasonics and I've been delighted with all of them.

Something like this would fit the bill, I think:
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-a ... 001%20(PLA)%20COMPACT%20CAMERAS~All%20Compacts~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=c&ds_kids=92700029145491406&tgtid=0001%20(PLA)%20COMPACT%20CAMERAS&&gclid=CjwKEAjwlujnBRDl2teOp_veulQSJAC5bHgtHeeQAQW9noYdXicf1Vg8C4CDQdcH92KlSIH_0wJxrhoCyljw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[lurker]

Some photographers are Real tackle tarts and must have the latest bells and whistles.

You can use this to your advantage and buy second hand from a reputable dealer.
I have found London camera exchange very good.
Like most photographers I am highly bias regarding makes, so feel free to ignore the next sentence.
A second hand Olympus pl 5 would sort you. It's easy to use and has options if you find you want to progress further.

 

[thetyreman]

+1 go to your nearest london camera exchange, you'll also get knowledgeable staff who know what they're doing for the most part, I get most of my stuff related to photography from there.

 

[Inspector]

I’m kind of fond of the Olympus Tough cameras. Can be dropped from 6 feet, frozen and used underwater. They work good at room temperature too. :wink:

Pete

 

[Quickben]

A second hand Canon Powershot G7X.

The mk2 version is better but you'll never find one for £200 or less.

Excellent lens, 1" sensor etc, and really quite small.

 

[sunnybob]

You have to specify what you are taking pictures of, and what distance.

Mobile phone cameras are spectacular quality nowadays some are twice the pixels of my canon slr, but if you want to snap a small bird at 50 metres, you dont have a hope in hell on a phone cam.

Anything within 5 metres and any mobile will give you crystal clear pics.

Then, what are you doing with the pics? if its just to look at on a tablet then the mobile wins again. If you want to print quality pics then sorry, but you need an slr and a close up or zoom lens.

 

[RogerS]

I went through this in an earlier thread. The one thing you can almost guarantee is that any model recommended here will have already been superseded !

For my part, the most important thing is to have a small viewfinder built-in so that you hold the camera up to your eye to frame the shot...just like a proper camera :wink:

I just cannot get on with holding the camera (or smartphone) away from me. Let alone peering and trying to see the image in bright sunlight.

When I posted my thread we were virtually enroute to Heathrow prior to flying to Japan. I had my eye on a neat little Sony at Dixons duty-free but decided not to buy it ...can't recall exactly why but I'm sure it was a good reason ! I know SWMBO was wittering in my ear about buying it in Japan ' as it will be cheaper'. Well, it wasn't and so I never bought one in the end. I struggled with the smartphone and they came out OK-ish but I didn't really enjoy taking them TBH.

 

[sammy.se]

Canon, Panasonic, Sony - can't go wrong with any of those brands.
Since your criteria seemd to be focused on practical aspects (size, convenience, price, Simplicity) then I wouldn't worry about megapixels, etc. Pop down to John Lewis and just buy one of those brands that meets your practical criteria.

You didn't mention videos. Is that a requirement?

 

[Lonsdale73]

Digital cameras have a short shelf life; SLR's are tyically superceded every 18 months and compact cameras even sooner. Any camera, whether it's an SLR, compact or bridge, film or digital, is really only there as a box to hold the respective medium. The box might well have some knobs and dials to offer either fully automatic operation or complete manual control but essentially it's a media holder. Image quality is ultimately determined by lens quality and this is an area in which glass is still king. Does add to the weight and price though. I don't know if they still do but a lot of Sony cameras featured optics by Zeiss. a company renowned for the sharpness of their products.

Really though, there's no substitue for going into an actual shop and trying a few out. A camera might well have the sharpest optics and a host of useful features but if it's a faff to set up or just doesn't sit right in your hands then it will end up not being used.

 

[Mark A]

Thanks for the advice so far chaps.

Yesterday afternoon I called two local camera shops - one stock Sony WX models and the other the Panasonic TZ70. The latter has good online reviews, but I'll continue researching all the cameras you've all recommended.

Sunnybob - we're off to south western USA, so I'll be photographing landscapes. Last time we were there I only took my smartphone and the pictures were disappointing, despite it being a top of the range (at the time) Samsung S4.

Samny.se - no videos, just photos.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Quickben]

Thanks for the advice so far chaps.

Yesterday afternoon I called two local camera shops - one stock Sony WX models and the other the Panasonic TZ70. The latter has good online reviews, but I'll continue researching all the cameras you've all recommended.

Sunnybob - we're off to south western USA, so I'll be photographing landscapes. Last time we were there I only took my smartphone and the pictures were disappointing, despite it being a top of the range (at the time) Samsung S4.

Samny.se - no videos, just photos.

Cheers,
Mark

If it's just for landscapes, then you should be fine with pretty much any camera with a wide(ish) lens that is decently sharp. Aim for something that starts at 24mm(equivalent) at the most.

You don't need shallow depth of field, so a fast lens is not strictly necessary. Nor is a large sensor as the chances are you'll using it mostly during the day, and therefore low light ability won't be a priority.


Of course, landscape photography can be done with any focal length, but in general it's at the wide end you'll spend most of your time.


So, the two series of cameras you mentioned should be fine, as they have neither fast lenses or large sensors, but do have options with a wide focal length. And theyre cheap and small\light.

 

[petermillard]

I’ve had (still do!) a few Panasonic LUMIX cameras and they’ve all been good optically and electronically. The OP may be surprised at how far smartphone cameras have moved on in the 6 generations since the Galaxy S4, though, and I only travel with a smartphone camera these days.

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is panoramas, which phone cameras deliver particularly well. I have an older Lumix TZ55 that offers a ‘panorama mode’, but doesn’t really have the computational power to deliver them consistently.

Wide-angle shots of landscapes will pack a lot in, but they won’t look great if blown up large, because you’re enlarging a small section of the frame, whereas a panoramic image delivers a big old file, with bags of detail. I have a couple of ~5’ wide panoramas on my wall, shot on 2 and 3 generation-old phones, which have extraordinary detail.

Just something (else) to think about.

 

[thetyreman]

I had an old powershot A720is that I sold recently, although it's an old camera now it was a very good camera, the lenses on them were very good, my brother has a really good sony one which has a zeiss lens point and shoot that was less than £200 can't remember the model number but I was impressed with it.