Camera suggestions?

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi all

I'm not a great photographer, but feel the need to buy a digital camera that I can point and shoot.

I have a budget in mind of 2-300 GBP. Is this enough?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, in advance,
Neil

 

[christoph clark]

I have 3
A small nikon 7900 which goes in my pocket
a medium panasonic fz18 which has a 18x optical zoom
and a Nikon d70 DSLR a lot bigger which even though is only a 6 Mp it takes the best pictures.
The DSLR's tend to have bigger sensors = sharper image with less noise, more accessories but cost more.
The best is to pop over to DPreview.
http://www.dpreview.com/

 

[Paul Chapman]

a digital camera that I can point and shoot.

I hate these 'point and shoot' digital cameras, particularly the ones without a proper viewfinder. If you are willing to pay up to £300, Neil, why not get something like a Nikon D40 SLR which I saw in a shop today for about £249 with cash back. A far better camera with which you can see what you are doing and how the pictures will come out.

Cheers :wink:

Paul (who wishes he could afford an SLR)

 

[woodbloke]

Neil - I have a small 'point and shoot' Pentax which I like as it's pretty convenient. However SWIMBO hates it and has bought an Olympus digital SLR for herself which she reckons is pretty good, it even comes with a decent zoom lens and will take the XP cards. I saw one of these in Currys today at about £290 which seemed reasonable - Rob

 

[Harbo]

Most digital cameras will point and shoot - it really depends what else you require?
Do you want it to slip into your pocket or have the extra weight and bulk but greater flexibility of a SLR?

I use a Canon Ixus when I want the former - it's compact has a large screen but also a viewfinder which I like.
When I am in photographer mode I use my Canon 20D (the latest model is the 40D). It's cheaper sibling is the 400D but you may be able to get hold of it's predecessor the 350D (or American Rebel) at a reduced price?

Rod

 

[Gary M]

Hi all

I'm not a great photographer, but feel the need to buy a digital camera that I can point and shoot.

I have a budget in mind of 2-300 GBP. Is this enough?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, in advance,
Neil

Neil this would be perfect for you.
No need to spend silly money for a good digital camera (read the reviews)
Point and shoot
Unless you like to needlessly spend money :wink:
Cheers,
Gary.

 

[jaymar]

I too have been considering a new camera, like you I want a point and shoot,simple camera. My research has led me to two, the Cannon Ixus 70
which has a viewfinder unlike the Ixus 75 which only has a screen (although the screen is larger, in sunlight it is harder to see )The other one is the Panasonic FX12. Both give excellent pictures apparently and will slip into your pocket. Amazon sell both cameras

 

[Blister]

Hi

Look no further than this :lol:

Black (12.1MP, 6x Optical Zoom) 3.0" LCD

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... ROKL5A1OLE

Shop around for prices , and well within your price range

I have the G5 , earlier version and it great :wink: :wink:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi all

Thank you for your input. I'm off to do some research on your suggestions.

Thanks again,
Neil

 

[TonyW]

Hi Neil

Like tools everyone seems to have an opinion of what is best either value or performance (all of them correct!). FWIW I think you should think about what you will use the camera for and what features you most need. You have already identified that you want point and shoot (simple?) most cameras will allow you to do this - even the more complicated DSLR by setting the shooting modes.

For your budget you should be able to buy a very good camera from a large range of models- but deciding on which will be the most difficult.

There are reviews at What Digital Camera which may be of some help

If you can, try and get to handle the cameras you are interested in and get a feel for how easy to operate etc.
One thing I always try to do before buying is look on manufacturers website for the manuals which can give you a good idea about capabilities and ease of use.

Good luck

Cheers
Tony

 

[bugbear]

Hi all

I'm not a great photographer, but feel the need to buy a digital camera that I can point and shoot.

I have a budget in mind of 2-300 GBP. Is this enough?

easily. Probably overkill. Most current 100 quid P&S cameras are very, VERY good indeed. Technology is your friend.

I have achieved results I'm more than happy with, using a Canon A630.

BugBear

 

[Anonymous]

Neil

The problem with point and click cameras is the poor quality lenses - after the GWW staff photographer came over to photograph some of my work for an article, I couldn't believe the difference between what his camera produced and what my point and click produced. I chatted with him and then got myself a cheap digital SLR - not in his league, but still stunning photos

I have a Sony Alpha digital SLR and it is awesome. Wins best on test in mags and I knew a couple of people who owned them before I bought mine. After trying all they had in a couple of photography shops, it was clearly no contest.

A little more than your budget at around £500, but the anti-shake and auto settings make it a point and click camera if you want, and a 10Mpixel professional quality camera when the need arises.

I got the 18-200 lens rather that he 18-70. Costs a little bit more, but worth the money.

Also, the battery lasts for around 700 photos which is pretty awesome too

Got mine from Jessops in Leicester and they cut a nice deal

First time I used it was in Bradgate park and here is a piccy from it (auto setting and taken the day I bought it (december 2007))

NOTE the picture is 10MPixel straight form the camera and 4MB
click here

 

[gidon]

Neil
It's true that you can operate a DSLR in full P&S mode - but unless you're happy to carry around that bulk all the time they aren't necessarily the right choice if you really are after a P&S camera.
I use my DSLR (Canon) when I can but more and more I slip my compact in my pocket. My current compact is a Canon Ixus (860 IS) - this is the best truly pocketable P&S compact I've owned - and I've owned lots! But it is approaching £200 which is a lot of money for a super compact.
But give us some more details about what you want in you P&S camera and we can try and give some more relevant suggestions. Do you want something that you can slip in your pocket. Do you take lots of shots indoors. Do you need a big zoom. Do you want to manual control over you shots sometimes - or are you happy with simple point and shoot all the time? If so what manual features would be nice - some P&Ss let you control aperture and shutter - can be handy but will you use it? If you want long zoom check it comes with decent image stabilization - Canon, Panasonic, Sony all good - some others suspect.
Check out DPreview.com - the most accurate reviews on the web - if it gets recommended or highly recommended there and fits your requirements you'll most likely be happy.
I'll shut up now.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[bob_c]

I use a Nikon d70 SLR like Christoph,i bought it a while ago and it was like £600-700 .A great camera,prices on DSLR have came down alot since i bought mine.They are easy to use as point and shoot in auto mode.Lenses can get expensive though,the last i bought was over £300,but i needed a dedicated lense for my work.
Any decent P& S camera is ok for just putting pics on the web and the like but you cant beat a good DSLR shooting in RAW mode for printing out photos ,etc..

 

[RogerM]

Neil - lots of good advice offered here. If you think that woodworking starts you down a slippery slope you aint seen nothing yet when it comes to cameras. But just as there is more fishing equipment designed to catch fishermen than fish, so cameras have more featurtes designed to catch photographers than take good photographs.

If all you want is P&S you really don't need to spend over £150. I've got a Sony DSC H2 which I originally bought because I wanted the 12x optical zoom for wildlife photography, and I've been well pleased with it. As well as P&S it has manual control, which I rarely use, but I do use a feature that enables you to "bracket" exposure by 0.75 stops either side of optimum which is great for difficult light conditions. Uses 2 x AA batteries so great if batteries run out as you can buy AAs anywhere in the world - even in teahouses in the Himalayas as I found last November.

I got SWMBO a Sony DSC W70 - now superceded by the W80. Chosen because we wanted to use the same storage media on both cameras, the Carl Zeiss lens, optical viewfinder and large 2.5" screen, and tremendous battery life. Currently available for about £125.

We are very happy with both cameras. If we are just going out for a walk the little W70 comes with us because it slips in the pocket so easily. Under most conditions results are indistinguishable from the much larger H2. For more demanding conditions - i.e. action shots, poor light or subjects requiring the 12 x zoom the H2 comes in to its own.

DSLRs are fantastic and I lust after one, but you have to be very certain that you are prepared to lug it around - and for me the bulk/weight means that it would probably be left at home in favour of the little W70.

FWIW - I think that if you stick with the main brands you are unlikely to be disappointed unless you are very demanding, and the technology is moving so fast that if you have £300 to spend you may be better off spending £150 now and putting £150 aside to buy something more up to date in 3 or 4 years time.

 

[Maia28]

I've got a Fuji S9500. Its sort of halfway between SLR and point-and-shoot. You can override all the auto settings should you want to and also take video. It has a CF and an XD slot so you can easily record all the video and photos you want. Current version is:

http://www.fuji.co.uk/consumer/digital/ ... epix-s9600

It's much less bulky than a DSLR but still feels like a camera and does everything I want. £212 delivered from Amazon. get some Fuji rechargables of ebay for £1 each and you'll get 500 shots a charge.

Andy

 

[kafkaian]

I've always liked the Canon G range. G5, 6, 7 and now 9. These are a bit more than a point-and-shoot in that they are still small and compact (but not pocketable) but have a range of features and accessories that, a) won't burn holes in your pocket and b) allow you to develop as a photographer.

Still have my G5 which is excellent but have been looking for a dSLR to replace my old Nikon film SLRs. (I am no longer a fan of Nikon after being conned by their Coolpix range in the early days of compact digitals. They brushed off a clear design fault as nothing when in fact it disabled a £400 effort after only 18 months. They refused to repair it FOC although the original problem was highlighted to them early on)

I was just about to buy the Canon 400d when the 450d was announced with some features I would def. like.

The trouble is in many cases, you never know quite what you need until you have dabbled. So it might be a case of deciding to make a temporary purchase before the big one.

 

[Harbo]

Nice picture Tony - I take mine in RAW format usually about 8Mb (12Mb when converted to TIFFs). But the information it picks up is amazing as there is no compression.

Way too big to post.

Rod

 

[tnimble]

Its not if you put pics on the web or print small or large format photo's that determines the type of camera.

The types of subjects you want to photograph in which environment which determined the camera you need. When you only want to shoot some quick birthday, vacation and alike pictures a compact point and shoot camera would be all you need. If you want clean and sharp pictures of a project both a tripot mounted compact point and shoot or a DSLR would be the right thing. If you want good decent closeups, very sharp high contast pictures of both far and ear object under both low and bright light conditions the DSLR would be the better choice.

Try to avoid camera's with tiny little lenses and camera's that have a very large zoom range. A high optical zoom says almost nothing, in fact high numbers say more about design compromises, unsharpness (opr better said softness), image distortion, vignetting, glare and flare.

Personally I own a Canon 30D DSLR with which I'm very happy. I shoot various subject for which I have a small set of lenses (a 50mm prime, a 17-85m zoom and a 100mm macro). To get good pictures good lighting is mostly more important than the camrea you have. For this I have a few speedlights, light stands, umbrallas and gel filters (to control the overall colour in the photo's).

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi all

Thank you all so much for your helpful suggestions, they have been much appreciated.

I have just placed my order for the Canon IXUS 950 IS.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks again,
Neil