Recommend me a sub £100 compact from Jessops please!

[Dr Bob]

Pretty much as the title says, after the crappy job that my phone did of photos at Glastonbury, I want a compact that's going to give me:
Min 4x optical zoom
As fast response time as possible
It'd be nice to have something that lets me manage some arty stuff when I don't have my SLR.
Available from High Street (Jessops, Argos, etc)

That's all really, good value for money is important, so I've been looking in the sales, but there's just so much out there... on my current shortlist are:
fuji finepix J210W
nikon coolpix S570
Canon A3000 which is a bit more than 100, but is it worth it?
Canon Ixus 95 IS only 3x zoom, but has an optical viewfinder which I like
nikon coolpix S3000

...As you can see, I'm a little overwhelmed - is there anything on the list that stands out as a great buy... £100 is pretty much my limit, unless there's a ridiculous bargain out there, and the high street availability is a must as I'm funny like that (and I want it now!).

Thanks, CH

[andy400]

I usually make my choices using websites such as:

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

and all three compact digitals in our house are superb IMO.

[XG332]

Go in the a store and have a play with them.

Edited by XG332 on Thursday 1st July 13:47

[Dr Bob]

Think I'll do this, I wanted a better idea before I went in really, but I think I'm favouring the Nikon S3000, but the Fuji Finepix J210W might be a contender...

Cheers though, CH

[Dr Bob]

I've sort of changed my criteria as I realised that pushing my budget would get me more of a proper camera that would give me a lot more manual control...

Anyway, of these 3 are there any that are obvious winners or losers? I will be going to try them all out later (with the exception of the Lumix TZ-6, but I assume the TZ-8 isn't massively different for a quick once over, so I'll compare that with the others)

Panasonic Lumix TZ-6 £170
Nikon CoolPix S8000 £180
Canon Powershot SX200 IS £200

I realise the TZ6 has been around a while, but it still seems to get very good reviews and it's a good price; similarly the Canon isn't the latest model is it? But I remember it was _the_ compact camera to have a while back... The Nikon I know very little about, but the spec for the price is fantastic by the look of it.

Anyway, any advice gratefully received... I've done a fair bit of online research now, and I always value PH advice!

Thanks, CH

[XG332]

Try to find a TZ7, very good for the money.
Nikon is very good, i would choose over the rest.
SX200, loads of features. Not as good as the TX7 but a little cheaper.

Edited by XG332 on Friday 2nd July 17:02

[rottie102]

Is the Nikon one that ALWAYS opens the flash, no matter do you need it or not? Apparently it's very annoying. Or was it one of Kodak range?

[XG332]

rottie102 said:

Is the Nikon one that ALWAYS opens the flash, no matter do you need it or not? Apparently it's very annoying. Or was it one of Kodak range?

sx200 is does it aswell

[oobster]

Not quite sub £100 (I think it was £119) but I purchased, from Jessops in Glasgow earlier today, a Nikon coolpix S4000.

It seems to be a good wee camera, although I haven't had much chance to use it yet. It's got a large touch-screen LCD on the rear, 12.1MP and 3x optical zoom. I'll need to buy a bigger memory card for it, largest SD card I have is only 256MB.

Mainly bought it to take away abroad on hols with us later in the year instead of lugging the DSLR around, avoids all the sand in the DSLR too!

[Kinky]

Sony Cybershot, from £199 down to £89

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/sony-cyber-shot-w310-...