Looking for a digital camera
Looking for a digital camera
Author
Discussion

8bit

Original Poster:

5,519 posts

184 months

Tuesday 5th June 2012
quotequote all
Off on holiday soon and would like to get a reasonable digital camera. Not looking for anything too fancy (or expensive) but I'd like something that copes OK with low light.

Suggestions?

tenohfive

6,276 posts

211 months

Tuesday 5th June 2012
quotequote all
Budget?

Turn7

25,700 posts

250 months

Tuesday 5th June 2012
quotequote all
Compact or DSLR ?

8bit

Original Poster:

5,519 posts

184 months

Tuesday 5th June 2012
quotequote all
Budget - don't know. Happy to get something decent so long as it's worth the asking price, just don't know what that is these days.

It's a compact we're after.

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Tuesday 5th June 2012
quotequote all
I'm expecting a Canon S95 to arrive tomorrow following many recomendations on here.

fluffnik

20,156 posts

256 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
Canon S95 is a good bet - fast lens, good stabilisation, excellent image quality and the option of shooting RAW - and available fairly cheap now it's been superseded by the S100.

The S100 adds GPS and an easier to grip body.

Here's a 100% crop...



...of this shot - 70mm, 1/20s, f4, ISO 1000:


Gad-Westy

16,560 posts

242 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
Also worth looking for the older Canon S90 as it is more or less the same camera as the S95 but without full HD video. Should be able to find a lightly used one for very little these days.

Alternatively, Panasonic rarely make a bad compact. Their range is worth a look.

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
My S95 arrived today, paid £269.99 from Amazon. Can't wait to play with it later, only had chance to charge the battery, pop an SD card & make sure it works this lunchtime.
Feels solid & well built, looks quite nice & is smaller than I thought which is a good thing. I suspect my kids will be happy, they each have a Canon compact now I have this one smile

GetCarter

31,239 posts

308 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
S95 (and 90 and 100) also has fab macro function. These taken yesterday:




kingston12

5,836 posts

186 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
I have also just got a Canon S100, and it seems great for it's size.

If you are looking for reasonable low light performance, get the largest possible sensor and brightest lens to give yourself the best chance.

If you want to stay properly compact then S90/95/100 are a good step up on all others I have used of the same physical size.

If you are happy to go up a bit further in size, the cheaper end M4/3 and NEX cameras will be better still and don't cost much more.

Also have a look at the thread I just posted on the new Sony RX100 - this one is only a few mms bigger than the Canon, but has much better specs albeit at a very high price for a compact.

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
S95 (and 90 and 100) also has fab macro function. These taken yesterday:



Are these taken straight from the camera Steve or have they been processed?

GetCarter

31,239 posts

308 months

Wednesday 6th June 2012
quotequote all
Taken in macro mode in the S95 - cropped, resized and sharpened for web, No significant post processing - I added a bit of saturation to the orchids, to get them back to the colour they were.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,519 posts

184 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
quotequote all
Nice one, cheers. The S90 seems quite appealing, no need for HD video and it's a fair bit cheaper than the S95. Seen it here:

http://onlinemediacollection.com/product/canon-pow...

Never used this site before, is that price too good to be true?

fluffnik

20,156 posts

256 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
quotequote all
8bit said:
Nice one, cheers. The S90 seems quite appealing, no need for HD video and it's a fair bit cheaper than the S95. Seen it here:

http://onlinemediacollection.com/product/canon-pow...

Never used this site before, is that price too good to be true?
I asked the same about their too good to be true price on a Samsung Galaxy S3...

That site is a scam. frown

I got my factory refurb S95 via eBay for not much more IIRC...

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
quotequote all
fluffnik said:
I asked the same about their too good to be true price on a Samsung Galaxy S3...

That site is a scam. frown

I got my factory refurb S95 via eBay for not much more IIRC...
I bought a G10 factory refurb through eBay but didn't see any S95/S100 when I was looking.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,519 posts

184 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
quotequote all
OK so we had a look around but struggled to find an S90. I saw that SLRHut have the S95 for £230 and the S100 for £240. Are SLRHut a decent place to buy from? Compared to better known places (like Amazon) they seem very cheap...

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Thursday 7th June 2012
quotequote all
8bit said:
OK so we had a look around but struggled to find an S90. I saw that SLRHut have the S95 for £230 and the S100 for £240. Are SLRHut a decent place to buy from? Compared to better known places (like Amazon) they seem very cheap...
Could be a US version with sellers warranty or from HK?

Pulse

10,922 posts

247 months

Friday 8th June 2012
quotequote all
They look reputable enough.

8bit

Original Poster:

5,519 posts

184 months

LordHaveMurci

12,336 posts

198 months

Friday 8th June 2012
quotequote all
Anybody suggest a decent case for the S95? I'm tempted by the genuine Canon one but at £20 there must be a decent cheaper alternative?