recommend me a small digital camera

[pugwash4x4]

Looking to spend £120-£150 on a digital camera and i'm looking for recommendations;

Must be small, take a LOT of pictures on one charge, be reasonablly rugged (will get thrown around a fair bit in an off road vehicle), take very very good pictures (last camera was an olympus mini-mju which took outstanding piccies- two below! which were both mine and both "oppotunistic" shots), and use preferably SD cards. Dont need a view finder but a high res rear screen would be good

[thehawk]

Panasonic FX-35

[rfn]

Canon Ixus.

Think you can get the "80 IS" in your price range from Amazon et al, but they are excellent cameras - had four or five over the past five years and they have all been brilliant. Use a Lithium Ion battery and can fill my 2Gb memory card before it needs charging.

[pincher]

Fujifilm F31 FD

They are officially discontinued now but you should still be able to pick one up for ~£130.

Good little camera and the battery lasts for ages on a single charge.

[Chrispy Porker]

Pardon my ignorance, but do all digital cameras have the facility to record short pieces of video as well as take photos?

[Jasandjules]

Chrispy Porker said:

Pardon my ignorance, but do all digital cameras have the facility to record short pieces of video as well as take photos?

Not all that I know of, certainly my cheaper one didn't!

[Cpt Stirling]

Have a look in the photography forum - a wealth of info and v.informative. I went for the panasonic FX-33 from a Pentax Optio and am v.pleased. The Panasonic certainly fits the 'small' criteria with added intelligent auto, zoom and wide angled lens.

[mat205125]

Olympus 790 SW. It's the one from the add where the little kid play with it in the garden with his dog.

It's durable, shock resistant, and waterproof to 3m.

I bought it as it would cope with being in my pocket on my mountain bike in all weathers. Really good

ETA Takes video footage too, however only really youtube res.

Edited by mat205125 on Saturday 28th June 11:39

[East Coast]

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/835168/art/casio/e...

great camera and amazing battery life....

[thehawk]

Cpt Stirling said:

Have a look in the photography forum - a wealth of info and v.informative. I went for the panasonic FX-33 from a Pentax Optio and am v.pleased. The Panasonic certainly fits the 'small' criteria with added intelligent auto, zoom and wide angled lens.

I have that too and am very impressed, but it has now been superceded by the FX-35.

They are the best built cameras out there, lovely quality feel to them.

[whitechief]

rfn said:

Canon Ixus.

Think you can get the "80 IS" in your price range from Amazon et al, but they are excellent cameras - had four or five over the past five years and they have all been brilliant. Use a Lithium Ion battery and can fill my 2Gb memory card before it needs charging.

I bought an 80 is from Comet a couple of months ago for £149 (special offer) for the money it is fantastic.

Edited by whitechief on Saturday 28th June 12:00

[jonesgm]

Another to consider is the Samsung NV3, stunning little camera

(Click to enlarge)

nice macro


Wide shot - dusk


Full zoom (including digital) - night


If i cannot take the big cannon 400D with me, I take the trusty NV3.

Edited by jonesgm on Saturday 28th June 15:50

[urban_alchemist]

Ricoh GX-200.

Full manual controls like an SLR
Optical 24-70mm zoom
f2.5 max aperture
RAW capability
Magnesium Construction
LCD viewfinder
1cm (!) Macro
12MP
Choice of 4:3, 3:2 or 1:1 aspect ratios
An 800ISO B&W mode that looks exactly like old-school Kodak TriX
Can run on AAA batteries in an emergency
Launched this week.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/revi...

For images from the last model (GX100), check this Flickr group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/351333@N21/

I've been using Ricoh Point and shoots for the past two years - they are so good that for many trips they are my only cameras. There are professional photographers who publish photos in the press using these little marvels.

I use a GRD-II daily (I'd definitely recommend it over the GX if you can live with a 28mm fixed-lense), and personally, I wouldn't use anything else.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0710/07103001ricohgrd...

some photos I took with the GRD:

Edited by urban_alchemist on Sunday 29th June 07:12

EDIT: The GX-200 may be a bit out of you price-range, but as long as you don't mind second hand, the GX-100 and GR-D are wonderful cameras and you may be able to pick up a bargain...

Edited by urban_alchemist on Sunday 29th June 15:41