Digital Camera buying advice

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Dan x

Active Member
Been looking to join the rest of civilisation and finally buy myself a (compact) digital camera. I understand a few of you on here are probably more intuned to the trends and technologies than I am in "the scene", so would greatly appreciate some advice.

I want loads of megapixels so I can have freudian oneupmanship against any pals with their pony 8mp efforts ;)
I'd like a massive optical zoom so I can do that hilarious thing where you put it on your groin and zoom in and out:oops:
I'd like to to be nice and small and light so I have an excuse when I inevitably leave it on a bar somewhere:x
And I want all the bells and whistles so that if Muhammed Ali is passing I can ask him to take a shot of me and my pals without it looking blurry (sorry :spank:)

From a half hour browsing session, I have a shortlist of the following:

Fuji Finepix F100fd
Nikon Coolpix S550
Sony DSC W170
Ricoh Caplio R7
Casio EX-Z200

Can anyone offer any advice or recomendations of the above?

Am I being a touch excessive with my requirements, or could I get something suitable for a lot less?

Any other advice greatly recieved

Thanks one and all in advance :D
 
a friend of mine is right into photography, cameras etc

when i was looking for a new one a couple of years ago
the advice he gave was that six megapixels was more than enough for standard use

apparently anything more than 6 is only really useful in professional photography or if you want the pics blown up to massive proportions
 
Sony cameras, unlike many I have tried don't have a delay between the flash going off and the picture being taken so you don't get accidental pics of the floor!
 
I've got the Nikon model and i don't rate it, stay clear.

I unfortunately bought two, one for me and one for the missus. Battery life is very poor and the zoom lense on both cameras has a mind of it's own. It also jams a lot and not in a Bob Marley type of way. Although it is quite pretty.
 
I picked up my latest about a year ago.

Checked out this site for all the reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/
(note that it's a US website so sometimes you have to figure out the European equivalent model number)

I ended up getting the editors' choice at the time, the Sony DSC-T100. Good camera for its size and has a 5x zoom which is somewhat rare for a sub-compact.

The model has been updated since but a quick look on Cnet now shows that they're recommending a couple of Canon models now.
 
i have the casio and its pretty good its my second time buying one so i would reccomend it, i like the huge lcd screens they have even though its a compact camera, just be careful and dont drop it!
 
I have this one

<H4 class=productTitle>Fujifilm FinePix Z10 fd (Orange) Digital Camera 7.0MP


I am not majorly happy with it to be honest. Maybe its a case of working out how it really works and mucking about with it to get the best shot. But I often find the pictures are sometimes blurry and even close up ones are not so good.

My friend has a Sony (dont think its a majorly new one as shes had it for well over a year) but the pictures come out amazing.

Id definitely invest in a Sony. I kind of wish I had now.

I bought mine because it looked "fun" where it was orange. :rolleyes:
</H4>
 
Mine's a Samsung that i got amazingly enough from Argos who i never used to buy from but this camera is class and ive had no trouble wioth it, 7.2 million mega pixels, optical zoom,video the lot and i got it for a bargain €100 over half price, id seriously check Argos for cameras you'll get some great deals.
 
cam

I would recommend a HD cam you can get one for under 200 pound,euro, dollars. I have the Kodak easyshare with 8.2 megapixel light weight and takes great pics. I will try to post some pics so you can see the end product.
 
Seconded with whoever above said that anything above 6MP is pointless on general use. I was told this by someone clever. I just waited until one of the highstreet stores did an offer, which tends to happen alot. And got a £200 Kodak one for £100. Suits my needs beautifully. Main thing I was looking for was it being small so fits in the pocket. You spend £400 on a camera and you'll either lose it, or it will be worth £50 in two hours.
 
I disagree a little on the 6 megapixel thing.

The nice Sony subcompact I mentioned above has 8 megapixels. I only ever have the thing set on 5 mpx. Who needs the extra file size taking up hard drive space when 5 will do?

BUT, when you're in situations when you just can't get close enough, you switch up to 8 and then you can crop the resulting photo.

The price difference between 6 and 8 is pretty small nowadays.
 
i got an 8 gig sd card for under 50 us dollars on the net and my cam is 8.2 mp so i can get well over 2000 pix at 8mp so i just leave it at that. but i agree you dont really NEED anything more than 6 mp unless you want to take some massive pix or you cant get close enough like said above.
 
My advice is the Cannon Ixus 70 or the 75 model, both really small and easy to use.

I'm crap with cameras and have the Ixus 70 and it's worked out great, really good battery life too, shop around and you can pick it up for less than £120.

Happy shopping!
 
Padster said:
Sony cameras, unlike many I have tried don't have a delay between the flash going off and the picture being taken so you don't get accidental pics of the floor!
Click to expand...

My Olympus does this - it drives me up the wall...... grrrrrrrrrr
 
Nighty

How are the newer cameras at taking pictures in the evening? I have a camera that is a couple years old and looking the buy a new one if this has gotten better.
Also the non-delay thing on Sonys sounds like a great advantage!
 
I dont have a great knowledge compared to many othes of digital camera's.

But at xmas i bought the Panasonic FX55 for my girlfriend. The guy recommended this one over the other i had picked, and i have to say ive been more than hapy with it. has got plent of features on it too.i got her it in the pink colour, which is actually quite nice as its not an 'inyer face' pink!

http://www.ukdigitalcameras.co.uk/prod.asp?i=4249
 
Fargoer said:
How are the newer cameras at taking pictures in the evening? I have a camera that is a couple years old and looking the buy a new one if this has gotten better.
Also the non-delay thing on Sonys sounds like a great advantage!
Click to expand...

Yeah, tried to use the wife's camera at the weekend getting some shots of animals, and they'd all buggered off by the time the flash decided to work :spank:

Cheers for the advice everyone tho.
 
I'd say make sure you get Zoom x 5, a spare battery, a viewfinder. I know that a lot of new cameras don't have a zoom finder but you will find that pictures are much better as you have the camera rested against your face so produce less wobble. Even with image stabilisation you will get a lot of out of focus shots otherwise.

The Canon IXUS range is quite good and has all I've mentioned above.

And bear in mind that all the DJ's on here would "always" use Technics SL/1200/1210 as this is where Technics are strong.

If you don't buy the Canons above at least buy a camera from a known maker, Nikon, Kodak etc.

I'd also say that setting your camera in a lower res mode than it can shoot at is a bad move. You never know when you might want to crop something in a picture and this is easiest at a higher resolution.
 
MARKB said:
I've got the Nikon model and i don't rate it, stay clear.
Click to expand...

I would never buy a Nikon again. I spent ages reading reviews a couple of years ago and bought the coolpix 7600. I have been disapointed ever since, friends who bought much cheaper cameras take far better pics.

As mentioned above DSLR :)
 
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