Best available camera for £350?

[patmahe]

Ok fairly clueless on the whole photography thing, so forgive me if my criteria seem stupid, unrealistic or ill described but here's what I'm after.

- The very best camera I can get for £350, could stretch a little for something really great.
- Compact enough to carry in an ordinary shirt pocket, so no huge SLR's
- Will be in 'auto mode' 90% of the time, so very important that it can take shots quickly, nothing that takes and age to focus or only takes the photo 30 seconds after you press the button.
- As many useful, practical features as possible (eg preset sports mode, red eye reduction etc...)
- Decent zoom, should be able to take a decent picture at a wedding from the back of the church type of thing, again without taking an age to focus, its such a pain when the camera causes you to miss the moment you wanted to capture.
- I suppose basically an all purpose camera, that takes great pictures in most circumstances.

All advice/suggestions welcome.

[Crafty_]

Something like a Canon SX40 ?

To be honest the entry level SLRs aren't very big, you could go for a second hand 450D/500D/550D.
Depends if you wanted to get in to seperate lenses etc.

[Synchromesh]

Just bought a 2 month old Canon 1100d with the 18-55 IS lens for under £350 inc. postage and a 3 year warranty from ebay. Hardly pocketable I know, but a cracking bit of kit for the money, and something that gives me a bit of room to grow in to with regards to lenses etc.

[Simpo Two]

Either get a shirt-pocket compact for £99 and forget the weddings, or get a DSLR for £500 and forget the shirt pocket



As it happens I have a decent D200 going spare which would fit inside your first budget...

[SirBlade]

Panasonic Lumix TZ20

[TomN1994]

I asked the chaps from the Gadget Show this just before Christmas last year, and Jon Bentley replied recommending the Canon EOS 1000D, which I did buy and don't regret it.

[itsnotarace]

Sony HX9V. Slightly bigger than shirt pocket sized but an awesome camera. Image quality way better than the Lumix TZ, the Exmor sensor is really good. HD video is stunning

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_cybers...

[s4avant]

Another vote for the Panasonic Lumix TZ20.

[Major Bloodnok]

Panasonic Lumix LX5. Probably won't fit the 'wedding from the back of the church' bill, but I doubt any compact would really.