Digital Camera

[david.c]

Thinking I might make the plunge into digital photography in the New Year. So what is the best camera in the £150 -£200 price bracket?

I currently have a Canon sure shot Z135 automatic 35mm camera..........how will the digi camera measure up?

Thanks in advance

David

[ChrisG]

Hi David

Digi cameras have really come down in the last 6 months or so (or is it just that I notice now since I bought mine! )

I got a Canon A75 which was a good deal at the time for around £180, but now you can get it for not much over £100 online at places like 7dayshop.com

Im really pleased with it for general day to day snaps, 3.2MP, 3x optical zoom, more control / adjustment than many equivalent cameras, VGA video with sound and a decent chunky feel compared to some, but if you can stretch to nearer £200 like you say then I guess you could get similar spec but higher resolution (not that Im entirely sure its really necessary on 99% of shots).

Chris

[Lordbenny]

Get a camera with a 'port' & lithium batteries, when you run low you just plug it into the port to charge it, like a mobile phone. Otherwise you'll be faffin' about with 'normal' re-chargables that don't last five minutes, also, you want video with sound. It'll change the way you take pictures, a 15 second video can be so much better especially when someone is taking a vid of you goin' sideways in your westy!!!  I've had a fuji finepix 410 for a year now, no complaints at all.

[david.c]

I have been looking at the Fuji Finepix F700 (£200 @ Jessops) and that does videos with sound @ 30 fps (same as a camcorder) and 6 megapixels.

Just wanted to see what other suggestions I got.

David

[deano.1]

You cant go wrong with an Olympus, ive got a Fuji and an Olympus, pics are better from the Olympus even tho it is less pixels, apparently the Olympus budget cameras have very good lenses which makes all the difference IMO

[adhawkins]

I've got an Olympus too. Only problem with it is the long shutter delay (although it is a couple of years old now).

Andy

[JonnyBoy]

i'd go with this... sure it was iro 200 quid in dixons

[david.c]

Jonnyboy

The F610 looks nice     although I couldn't find it on Dixons website.

I did a quick search (Blatman would be proud of me) and found it varied from just over £200 from an internet shop, up to a staggering £500 from Kays catalogue      

I shall keep my eyes on the January Sales I think    

David

[Mark Stanton]

I got a Fuji Finepix 410 and found it very good       and easy to use - and yep prices have dropped a great deal of digi cameras alonside technology and facilities striding ahead          

[Nick A]

Fuji finepix 420

very good, easy to use   only thing wrong with it is battery life is not very good but just take a pack of standard batteries along and swap over when they are low

[Robert]

I'm also looking to buy one of these and have spent a considerable time stuying review sites for digital cameras.

My requirements are - quality, reasonable price, at least 4MP, min 3x optical zoom, small size and also fast shutter lag.

Shutter lag is an important spec if you want to take sports photo's as most digital cameras have a time lag which is the time for the auto-focus system to lock on plus the shutter speed (shutter speed is usually quicker than AF time)

The only compact cameras with low shutter lag apart from Rioch which are hard to get are the excellent Sony Cybershot's. Specifically the DSC-P73, the DSC-P93 and the newer DSC-P150.

Remember if it takes the best part of a second to fire a shot - you have probably missed it.

The P73 and the P93 are easily sub £200, however I am holding out till the new year as I expect the trully excellent P150 will be under £200 in a month or two - currently about £250.

The DSC-P150 is very similar to the P73 and P150, although both of those meet my initial requirements after reading lots of reviews I would like the P150 because it has one major improvement I like :-

The improved picture quality - due not just to the increased resolution to 7MP, but becasue it has superior quality even when you reduce the image resolution and compare an image of 3MP to 3MP of the P73 or P90.

The improved picture is due to a better lens (Carl Zeiss) and also a much improved electronic 'noise reduction' circuit which does not remove detail like blades of grass Etc.

The P150 also has an aluminium body which is a 'nice to have'

Best Review sites I have found are :-

www.steves-digicams.com

www.imaging-resource.com

Useful sites to compare and track prices are :-

www.dealtime.co.uk

www.planetprices.co.uk

I was disappointed when I visited my local Jessops recently for two reasons.

Despite phoning in advance to check that they had the Sony's in stock for me to look at and compare, the 'manager' tried to sell me an Olympus.

I then asked one simple question 'what is the shutter lag' and she did not have a clue - started talking a lot of B.S. about shutter speed ! We then waisted about 20 minutes when she got an Olympus out the box tried to read the specification for shutter lag - eventulally gave up and handed me the instruction book.

So it took a long time before I got to look at the Sony's I wanted to see, in the mean time my expectant wife felt unwell as they did not even have a seat for her to sit on so she had to go out the shop and sit on a bench.

To be fair to Jessop's I have visited another branch earlier this year and they were very helpful, just a bit further to travel.

I would recommend deciding for yourself the camera's to be on your short list, then go out and look at some. But be careful about advice from shops as they can be biased and/or just plain useless.

Hope this helps

Best Regards

Robert

P.S. The comparisons I have done are for 'small compact digital cameras' you will find different performance and prices for enthusiast or semi-pro digi cameras. I believe that Konica Minolta do good cameras but they are a bit too big and Casio have a good 'Pro' digicam but it is very expensive.

[Toby Mack]

Get a camera with a 'port' & lithium batteries, when you run low you just plug it into the port to charge it, like a mobile phone. Otherwise you'll be faffin' about with 'normal' re-chargables that don't last five minutes

Eh? your average camera lithium battery pack is less than 1Ah capacity. Nowadays a AA NiMH will give you over double that!

My vote is, if you don't mind the size, go for a camera that takes AAs like the Canon A75-95 and buy a spare set of batteries. This has the advantage that if you are aware from home and the batteries go you can use normal AAs (at a push, they do not last long!.

Just make sure you buy decent rechargables, not the rubbish some high street chains sell at inflated prices! (sometimes as low as 900mAH! )

I have an A40 which is a bit old hat now. I tend to use a Canon S50 most of the time now, it isn't perfect (a bit slow in operation) but has taken some very nice pictures.

For reviews etc look at steves digicams or dpreview.

Toby

[CedricTheBrave]

I went the whole hog

I like my photography a lot so I went and bought a Nikon D70 digital SLR.

I have to say it is outstanding.

Not the cheepest one on the shelf tho

[JonnyBoy]

it was asda i saw it

199.87

[JonnyBoy]

Eh? your average camera lithium battery pack is less than 1Ah capacity. Nowadays a AA NiMH will give you over double that!

i'd agree with replaceable rechargeable aa cells being ****e.. always get a propper battery in your camera.. much more convenient!