Digital Camera's?

Alreet peeps'

im after a new digital camera, but not got a clue what to get. Obviously im after the best i can get for around ?250. Im looking on ebay but theres too many to pick from. Basicaly i would like a good zoom feature, great pictures and lots of options on the menu….

any ideas??

cheers :mrgreen:

Canon make the best digital cameras IMO, in terms of picture quality and ease of use. Something like this should do you very well…

I've got an olympus one, which is brilliant for car pics and larger landscape type shots - it's not so good on close-up detail though.

HTH

Rich

mcscrew said

Canon make the best digital cameras IMO, in terms of picture quality and ease of use. Something like this should do you very well…

I've got an olympus one, which is brilliant for car pics and larger landscape type shots - it's not so good on close-up detail though.

HTH

Rich

the man's right dude. Canon make their own lenses and they are the best. I have an old IXUS with a tiny 2meg but it's still way better than lots I've seen with much bigger resolutions. It's all about the lense.

Tian :wink:

Panasonic are doing some decent cameras in that price range

I'm a DSLR convert (Digital SLR).

Could never even think about going back to a point and shoot now…
DSLR's are great, though once you start adding to your kit it becomes addictive and expensive!

If you fancy spending a bit more on a REAL camera, check out the Canon 350D (If you get the "Kit", you get a lens to get you going). It has just been replaced by the 400D, so the 350's should be reduced to clear just in time for Xmas.

I have the 350D and it is a cracking camera! Including the camera, lenses, flash, CF cards etc, I have racked up over ?1K's worth of gear already…
Check out my website for some of my pics. www.pix-al.co.uk
The best thing is - it is earning me a bit of money so I can buy all the extras without worrying about the cost!

Try the fuji finepix s5600. Brilliant camera for the money, including a 10x optical zoom. I always had slrs before and didn't want a little tinny digital camera with short lens. This feels more like an slr with loads of trimmings and at a reasonable price.

russt said

Try the fuji finepix s5600. Brilliant camera for the money, including a 10x optical zoom. I always had slrs before and didn't want a little tinny digital camera with short lens. This feels more like an slr with loads of trimmings and at a reasonable price.

True - I have the s5000, its predecessor. It was my first Digi cam and it does produce some great images! Took it to New York on our honeymoon and took around 400 pics and they are superb.

One thing I will say is don't worry about megapixel count. If you just want to make some 6x4 or 7x5 prints and have the odd picture as your desktop wall paper, 3MP is more than enough. This is the downside of the DSLR's. My Canon is 8.1MP and when shooting RAW, each image is 6 to 8 Meg in size! Fills your hard drive up pretty quickly!

I don't really get this whole SLR digital bit.

On a film camera SLR means you look through the same hole on the front of the camera that the camera takes the picture out of. needs a whole bunch of mirrors and stuff to work.

Thought all digitals did this? Theres only ever one hole at the front?

Peter.

A DSLR does the same as a conventional SLR. There is a prism in the top which directs your line of sight frome the viewfinder onto a mirror and out through the front of the lens. The mirror kicks up out of the way when you press the shutter to allow light to fall on the sensor (Which is where the film would normally be).

A point and shoot Digital shows you your preview image on either the LCD screen or through a miniature LCD in a view finder. What you are actually looking at is a real time view of what the sensor is seeing. This is why you can use the screen to compose your shot with a P&S and not with a DSLR…

DSLR's are generally  much more capable due to the ability to change the lenses for specific types of shot. With a prime lens for example, you can get much wider apertures (F-Stops) than with zooms, so you can get away with faster shutter speeds for low light situations. A P&S with a lens that does everything, just cannot reach the extremes achievable with a DSLR. In Low light,  A P&S will bump up the ISO (Film speed) to allow you to get the composed picture within the aperture ranges available. This ultimately produces more noise and a lower quality image.

Hope that helps!  :mrgreen:

Now I see, Cheers Al.

This is why you can use the screen to compose your shot with a P&S and not with a DSLR…

On a DSLR the sensor is not being fed any information until you click the button, so you need to look through the viewfinder to compose.

Think I am a point and shoot person. I still use my Yashica T zoom!

Peter.

tallpete said

On a DSLR the sensor is not being fed any information until you click the button, so you need to look through the viewfinder to compose.

Exactly!

I'm a Canon fan too. Mines getting on a bit now but its still good compared to others out there. It has plenty of features.

I have one in the powershot range. The beauty about these is they are point n shoot but you can still swap the lenses. You can get fish eye and telephoto lenses and also waterproof housings to allow you to go diving with it too!

A feature to look out for when buying is the movie mode. Make sure this mode also has sound. Some manufacturers only allow you to take video for a set period of time to make it so you have to go out and buy one their proper video camera.

I've had a Sony Cybershot P200 (7.1 MP) for over a year now and I haven't had a dot of trouble with it. I read loads of reviews when choosing mine.  Should be able to get it for just under ?200 now and it has movie mode with sound!!

Canon are meant to be very good and I used to have a Nikon Coolpix and I'd have another one of those also!!

I reckon you should have plenty to choose from in that price range. For point and shoot I would also recommend canon, especially the Powershot S series. These are still quite compact but as well as a wide range of auto options, also allow full manual control.

I have had an S30, followed more recently by an S50 (5MP), and loved these cameras. Canon are also good for accessories, and I had a great waterproof housing for both my Powershots that allowed me to take it snorkelling, to the beach, shoot in the rain etc.

Having said all that if you get the bug, then its hard to beat a DSLR for quality and flexibility. I recently bought a Nikon D50 with zoom lens and the quality is amazing, plus you get a lot of nice features like the ability to use continuous shooting mode that allows you to take about 2-3 frames per second - ideal for making sure you get the shot  :wink: .

My first digicam was also a Fuji and would recommend those highly - my mum still uses it on a regular basis and its almost 9 years old and still performs flawlessly.

http://www.dpreview.com is probably the best and most comprehensive site for in depth impartial reviews.

Cheers,

Chris

I have a Canon Ixus it rocks  

If you have a Costco near you, they seem to be really cheap with a few well worth a look! Got my Nikon cool pix from there...Very impressed!

I bought a new camera about 2 weeks ago and I'm more than happy with it. I got a Samsung Digimax Cyber 530 and it only cost ?80 from Comet and is small enough to fit in your pocket without it being anoying. The quality is ideal (5.1mp) and considdering I paid alot more for my last one and it was no where near as good, I feel satisfied I've spent my money well.

I recommended one of these to a mate of mine and it's produced some great shots, myself I'm a DSLR user with a Canon 1Ds  :wink:

Try a canon eos 300d it's the version before the 350 d and has a point and shoot mode (which they all have) and go for one with say a 28-80 zoom lens or a bog standard package lens. they will suit you fine for your needs. If you fancy learning or buying more kit for it you can, with a p&s you can't. They are quite cheap at the mo on ebay and pretty well will do anything the newer ones will. the resolution of the camera only transcribes into resolution on the picture so unless you are blowing up to a4 or a3 size don't bother with the more expensive types. The point ans shoots while great always left me stood in low light or composition bacause you only have what the affixed lens does, light counts for a lot and the larger the lens the more gets into the cmos. more light=less flash and better low light results. go to a jessops and try a few out. The people there will let you try cameras and lenses out.