Which DigiCam should I buy?
Discussion
Bodo,
There are some very good camera review sites out there. I used the following sites when choosing a camera a little while ago.
www.dcresource.com
www.dpreview.com
also
www.jessops.com
has a good search facility when looking for cameras.
I hope this helps in your search.
Ian
There are some very good camera review sites out there. I used the following sites when choosing a camera a little while ago.
www.dcresource.com
www.dpreview.com
also
www.jessops.com
has a good search facility when looking for cameras.
I hope this helps in your search.
Ian
Thanks for the helpful feedback, gentlemen!
Ian, these are very good and comprehensive resources, especially dpreview.com; they really left no detail out
Stephen, my current analogue camera is a Nikon F-801 which I'm very satisfied with. Digital SLR cameras are still a bit expensive for my occasional use though.
Best value IMHO is the discontinued and now cheap-ish CoolPix 5000, which blends well with my Nikon speedlight.
USB 2.0 seems to be uncommon in that price range, but that could be worked around with an external card reader
Ian, these are very good and comprehensive resources, especially dpreview.com; they really left no detail out
Stephen, my current analogue camera is a Nikon F-801 which I'm very satisfied with. Digital SLR cameras are still a bit expensive for my occasional use though.
Best value IMHO is the discontinued and now cheap-ish CoolPix 5000, which blends well with my Nikon speedlight.
USB 2.0 seems to be uncommon in that price range, but that could be worked around with an external card reader
I'm also looking for a digital camera & found this site yesterday:
www.buyacamera.co.uk
The prices seem to be pretty much the best I could find on the internet.
Personally I was looking at a 2, or maybe 3 megapixel camera. Make sure it has a 3x OPTICAL zoom though.
www.buyacamera.co.uk
The prices seem to be pretty much the best I could find on the internet.
Personally I was looking at a 2, or maybe 3 megapixel camera. Make sure it has a 3x OPTICAL zoom though.
I'd recommend the Canon IXUS 400, is the latest in the digital ixus range.
It fits the specs you mentioned almost perfectly and its a really good looking piece of kit. Very well made, compact, excellent picture quality with lots of manual settings to play around with. Only downside is no 640x480 movies, just does 320x240. But I dont want it to be camcorder so for me its a great little camera.
Very pleased with mine...
It fits the specs you mentioned almost perfectly and its a really good looking piece of kit. Very well made, compact, excellent picture quality with lots of manual settings to play around with. Only downside is no 640x480 movies, just does 320x240. But I dont want it to be camcorder so for me its a great little camera.
Very pleased with mine...
Can't think of anything off the top of my head that fits all that - however Canon S45 and S50 probably come closest. 4 or 5MP, 3x optical zoom, Compactflash (will take microdrives too), weight is around 300g, and they're a decent pocketable size without being quite as fiddly as an Ixus. Full manual control if you want it - it does almost everything the G3 does.
Uses Canon's own rechargeable battery, but it's good for 240 shots of typical use (switch on, couple of shots, switch off) per charge. A spare costs about 30 quid.
I find www.dcviews.com very handy - they have a database of all the cameras and link to whatever reviews/galleries the other sites have done.
Uses Canon's own rechargeable battery, but it's good for 240 shots of typical use (switch on, couple of shots, switch off) per charge. A spare costs about 30 quid.
I find www.dcviews.com very handy - they have a database of all the cameras and link to whatever reviews/galleries the other sites have done.
I found this site had some good info
www.digital-camera-reviews.info/
Fuji have just released the s5000 which is SLR looking but isn't. It does have a 10x optical zoom with a 3.3/6 megapixel sensor.
The s7000 is a closer match to the Nikon your are looking at as it has micro drive function and a spare slot. Can be had for about the same price but has fujis trick ccd sensor in it. Looks like the Nikon 5400 has taken over from the 5000, you now get 4x optical instead of 3
I've been using www.dealtime.co.uk to compare prices.
I'm looking at the moment and the list I'm using is
ordinary batteries
>= 3x optical zoom
>= 3 mega pixel
< £300
Let us know what you get and what you think of it.
After lots of reading and comparing, I've moved my choice to the consumer, rather than the prosumer range. I'll keep my (quite heavy) analogue SLR camera in service, but use the digicam to have always with me.
So it's going to be lighter, less feature equipped and cheaper.
3x opt. zoom and 3MP, as malman mentioned is the first choice
There'll be no external speedlight support and no microdrive et al, but the camera will be outdated in less than twelve months; so I'll bridge the time until SLR digicams drop under GBP350.
The closer choice is now
Nikon Coolpix 3100 (200gr)
Minolta Dimage F200 (245gr)
Canon PowerShot A70 (335gr)
which are all just above €300, support AA batteries and had their first price drop yet.
There is an offer for the Nikon with 16MB&128MB CF card for just €319
>> Edited by Bodo on Monday 13th October 20:45
So it's going to be lighter, less feature equipped and cheaper.
3x opt. zoom and 3MP, as malman mentioned is the first choice
There'll be no external speedlight support and no microdrive et al, but the camera will be outdated in less than twelve months; so I'll bridge the time until SLR digicams drop under GBP350.
The closer choice is now
Nikon Coolpix 3100 (200gr)
Minolta Dimage F200 (245gr)
Canon PowerShot A70 (335gr)
which are all just above €300, support AA batteries and had their first price drop yet.
There is an offer for the Nikon with 16MB&128MB CF card for just €319
>> Edited by Bodo on Monday 13th October 20:45
No direct experience of the other two, but I've had an A70 for a while and still think it's superb for the price. Small enough to be pocketable (although not quite as compact as the S45/S50), takes standard AAs and lasts for ages on a set. The other weekend I took over 400 shots at Brands, then some after and still no low battery warning. (some pics at http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~kiteless/gt/ )
Lots of manual control if you want it, and a few neat things like the stitch assist for taking panoramas (fixes settings, and makes sure the pics overlap as you take them) along with the software to stick them together after.
It's a bit cheap-feeling - it is mostly plastic - but feels solid enough. Also, Canon supposedly offer add-on tele/wide/macro lenses for it. I say "supposedly" because I have yet to find somewhere in the UK with them in stock, after a traipse up and down TCR and endless searching the web. Lots of places say they can get them in, but then can't. Canon don't seem to have bought many into the country at all.
Top camera though - still find it hard to believe a £250 camera can be so good. The A80 is out very soon though with a metal body, 4MP and a G3-style flip-out screen. Shouldn't be much more expensive than the A70.
) Lots of manual control if you want it, and a few neat things like the stitch assist for taking panoramas (fixes settings, and makes sure the pics overlap as you take them) along with the software to stick them together after.
It's a bit cheap-feeling - it is mostly plastic - but feels solid enough. Also, Canon supposedly offer add-on tele/wide/macro lenses for it. I say "supposedly" because I have yet to find somewhere in the UK with them in stock, after a traipse up and down TCR and endless searching the web. Lots of places say they can get them in, but then can't. Canon don't seem to have bought many into the country at all.
Top camera though - still find it hard to believe a £250 camera can be so good. The A80 is out very soon though with a metal body, 4MP and a G3-style flip-out screen. Shouldn't be much more expensive than the A70.
Bodo
Pity, the Nikon and the Fuji look nice but I know what you mean about waiting for the SLRs. Have you seen the new canon EOS 300D. Not long now before they start to drop like a rock (hopefully)
I have been torn between the Nikon and the Canon myself
Edited to say: Just noticed those Euro symbols so the prices I HAD posted would be of little use to you probably. I really should read posts properly
>> Edited by malman on Tuesday 14th October 17:18
Pity, the Nikon and the Fuji look nice but I know what you mean about waiting for the SLRs. Have you seen the new canon EOS 300D. Not long now before they start to drop like a rock (hopefully
) I have been torn between the Nikon and the Canon myself
Edited to say: Just noticed those Euro symbols so the prices I HAD posted would be of little use to you probably. I really should read posts properly
>> Edited by malman on Tuesday 14th October 17:18
sjg
Nice shots. How were they done? Manual pre-focus or did you use the AF. The thing that is worrying me most about any digital camera I buy is the AF system being dodgy. We have an Olympus at work and it can't focus on stationary targets never mind moving ones (and theres no manual focus Arrgghh).
I have an EOS SLR and the AF is excellent and rarely have to turn it off except in extreme conditions but then I'm usually not that good
Nice shots. How were they done? Manual pre-focus or did you use the AF. The thing that is worrying me most about any digital camera I buy is the AF system being dodgy. We have an Olympus at work and it can't focus on stationary targets never mind moving ones (and theres no manual focus Arrgghh).
I have an EOS SLR and the AF is excellent and rarely have to turn it off except in extreme conditions but then I'm usually not that good
I just went downtown and bought the Coolpix 3100. The offer was EUR 299 including SanDisk 64MB card. I couldn't resist, as it was cheaper than all online offers; and I picked the last one in Frankfurt 
I'd probably have bought the Canon (thanks, sjg) because it looks like the accus last a lot longer (www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona70/page9.asp - on the bottom) than on the Nikon, but sparing matters
I'll keep you posted on my experiences in the next days (batteries still charging
)
I'd probably have bought the Canon (thanks, sjg
) because it looks like the accus last a lot longer (www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona70/page9.asp - on the bottom) than on the Nikon, but sparing matters I'll keep you posted on my experiences in the next days (batteries still charging
)malman said:
Nice shots. How were they done? Manual pre-focus or did you use the AF.
AF, mostly by pre-focussing on a bit of the track then panning as the cars went past. Found later in the day the evaluative/centre-weighted/spot metering menu and that was made easier with spot - evaluative seems to pick some random place in the frame to focus on.
It has an AF assist light which seems to help a lot for closer things. Those photos were almost all taken in Tv mode, trying different shutter speeds as otherwise everything ends up too "still".
I'm a bit of a photography numpty, mainly just playing with setting at the moment and seeing what works better. At least experimenting isn't using up film!
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