Recommend me a compact : £150-£200

[Slinky]

Folks,

Need to grab a compact for use in the new year (new member of the family arriving in March/April and the good lady isn't a fan of the 350D)..

Had picked up a Casio Exilim FH-20 as a halfway house P&S but it proved unreliable in the 7 days that we had it so that was returned to Jessops today..

Any recommendations for a compact P&S that falls in the 150 - 200 bracket would be appreciated.

TIA,

slinky

[Gold]

I'd reccommend a Canon Ixus simply off the back of having one (for 2 years now) for times when I cba with proper photos and it is far far better than either of the Nikon Coolpix or Olympus FE compacts that the rest of the family have.

For the intended use build quality, ease of use, size and even looks are more important in many ways than features and tech although pictures will still be good snapshots.

http://www.laskys.com/cameras_and_camcorders/camer...

[sawman]

Panasonic make a good range of compacts - I got a tz5 recently and have been very impressed with results so far - and very easy to use.

[Bee_Jay]

I have always been a big fan of the Canon Ixus range (B-I-L just got the 860IS for Xmas and it's excellent). The Panasonics have been catching my eye though recently and doing well in tests.

DPReview have just done several group tests of compacts, so I would have a read of those : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

[350Wedge]

Another vote for the Panasonic TZ5..!

I've got a TZ3 which is a take anywhere camera i use instead of my SLR. Really great camera with a brilliant lens and excellent image quality.

[chr15b]

350Wedge said:

Another vote for the Panasonic TZ5..!

I've got a TZ3 which is a take anywhere camera i use instead of my SLR. Really great camera with a brilliant lens and excellent image quality.

and another

got the tz1 when first released, has been a great camera for a few years now, very reliable, very easy to use, good pic quality etc

upgraded to a tz5 a few months ago and am very impressed - a very good upgrade.

[grumbledoak]

Cannot fault our "Ixus 85IS"; I'm no photographer, but it is small, seemingly well built, and easy to use. It gets 9/10 for picture quality in most reviews, too.

[malc350]

Get a used Canon G9: the best image quality I have ever experienced from a compact (at base ISO anyway). Other than that, a used Sony DSC-V3. I have a shot printed at 30x20" that impresses most people with its detail...

Malc

[Slinky]

FX55 for £100.. Deal or no deal.. I went for deal!