Compact Digital Camera - Best Buy for £250?

[mc_blue]

Hi all,

Looking for a new compact digital camera. Something that looks nice and is easy to use. Budget of around £250.

Kind regards

Amar

Edit - moved thread to correct forum now!

[Holst]

Im also looking for the same thing and its very difficult to choose what to buy.

I like the look of the lumix TX5, but it lacks manual control, big zoom might be handy as well.
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_...

the lumix LX3 is a bit over budget but does offer full manual control. Wide angle lense and only 2.5x zoom may be a limitation.
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_...

Powershot G7 also looks good
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/CanonG7/index.sh...

These are not recomendations, just some things I have been looking at.

My budget is £200, but could probably stretch to £300 if I felt it was worth the extra.

It seems that image quality with these sorts of cameras is limited at higher ISO settings when compared to DSLR cameras with bigger sensors.

The reason I dont want a DSLR is that they are too big to carry around all the time.

[fathomfive]

I bought the OH a Panasonic Lumix TZ5 yesterday (for xmas) after seeing some of the results on other threads in this section and reading what people had said about them. Cost was £184 inc VAT and a 2Gb memory card from Ebuyer.

[Puff Puff]

My Ixus 980 arrived yesterday so I haven't had a chance to fully evaluate it yet but so far I can't fault it. I paid £254.95 from a UK supplier.

[Elderly]

The Canon Powershot G9 can now be had for about £250.
It WAS considered one of the very best compacts and it does have the advantage
of also having an optical viewfinder.

[Puff Puff]

Elderly said:

The Canon Powershot G9 can now be had for about £250.
It WAS considered one of the very best compacts and it does have the advantage of also having an optical viewfinder.

That's one of the reasons I decided on the Ixus 980. The G9 was on the list too but I couldn't find one at around £250 (still can't - which is just as well). Also it seems a bit bulky to slip into a pocket which was another must-have for me.

[mc_blue]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, very much appreciated.

[Gillet]

I have a G9, awesome camera. I am trying to learn photography, but didnt want to just straight for a DSLR. This camera has more features than i thought possible, and is very similar in features and layout to a Canon DSLR, so means when i do upgrade i won't have to figure it out all over again.

i'd definately recomend it, but as someone else said, its not a "compact" camera as such, so it can fit in a pocket, but it will fill that pocket.

[Holst]

I bought the LX3 in Jessops for £315 today
It took me a whyle to get them to drop the price that far they wanted 349 to begin with.

First impressions are very good but ive not had a chance to take any photos yet.

I decided that I didnt need any more than 2.5x zoom.
The lense seems very good and I think I will make more use of the wider angle. It feels very good and looks nice in black.

Once I have had a play around I will start a new topic if anybody is interested