Digital Camera advice wanted

[Oddjob]

Hi all Im after advice on what digi camera to buy before our trip in December
Wanting to be able to print at A4 so I guess 4 Mpixels
As you can see Ive done very little research So any advice and I will be very grateful
-IAN5150

 

[Aceman88888]

My advice would be to read the reviews on the net, visit some high street stores and absorb some of the specialist advice interdispersed between the sales patter then buy your model from a good online retailer such as 7dayshop.com or ebuyer.co.uk. I did just this and saved £170 (40%) by buying from 7dayshop rather than Dixons/Jessops. As a minimum use kelkoo.co.uk to hunt down the cheapest price.

On a personal note therefore I can wholeheartedly recommend the Casio EX-P505. A great mini SLR that does video as good as a budget mini DV camcorder, loads of stills options, full manual SLR type controls and takes SD cards. Most people would probably be put off because Casio are not well known for Cameras, but much of their current range is recieving good reviews.

 

[wicket2005]

I have a Canon A70 3 megapixel camera and can definitely recommend it. It won camera of the year awards a couple of years ago. Since then it has been replaced by the A95.

Your best bet is to buy a What Digital Camera mag and read the reviews, pick ones you are interested in, then find further reviews on the net.

My 3 megapixel camera has no problems whatever producing A4 size photographs but remember you do need a good quality printer to get the best from your photos.

What you should also look out for is the type of memory card the camera uses. My uses Compact Flash which is a cheap card. I bought a 512 mb card from Amazon for £25 which was excellent. Some cards can be very expensive, ie Sony memory sticks so it worth taking these into account before selecting a camera.

Bev

 

[Gibbo]

Totally agree about the Canon A95, bought one from Target last year for $360.00. Great to use, and like the fold-away LCD screen.

One you change to digital I am sure you will never go back.

Gibbo.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Definitely agree about avoiding high street retailers like Dixons, although I've found that Jessops are pretty good at price matching online retailers if you prefer to buy your camera from a shop rather than the internet.

A good site for in-depth reviews of digital cameras is http://www.dpreview.com/

I bought a Nikon Coolpix 5900 recently and have been very pleased with it. It's 5 megapixels so will easily go up to A4 prints, is very compact, comes with a nice leather case which can be worn on your belt, and the camera is very easy to use with a good range of different shooting modes (eg portrait, landscape, fireworks, dusk, etc, etc).

As an aside, consider whether you might be interested in taking photos in the pool or at the water park. I also bought a waterproof case for my Nikon, especially with Orlando in mind. Some of the underwater photos we took are lots of fun. The waterproof case cost about £135.

Regards

Rob

 

[irenelittlewood]

My hubby and i bought a fuji S3500 it is 3megapixel and we get great pics from it by using the pic wizard (using xp home edition) we can have A4 or 4 pics to the page right down to about 16 wallwt size we bought it in UK 3 years ago and they are about £130 pound now (half the price of when we bought ours).
Hope this helps. ps memory for camera is the xd-picture card and the bigger the card the more images you can store.

 

[Goofyish]

Take a look at the camera review websites, find one that you like the look of and meets all your requirements and is in your price range, and then go to local camera shop (Jessops, Dixons, etc.) and try it out. Cameras handle differently for different people, so get one that feels right in your hand, with nice easy to find buttons and a clear menu system. Once you have found a camera that feels right - buy it online

Anything over 2 Megapixel will give you a decent A4 print, but the more megapixels you have the more you will able to crop your photos and still get an good A4 print. More pixels alone does not mean a better print, above a certain amount of pixels per inch (300 dpi) the human eye can't resolve the difference.

If you go for a camera with a large optical zoom, then get one with an image stabiliser so that you can get the most from the telephoto lens
On the same topic - ignore the 'digital zoom', it's not worth having

Online Camera Shops:

http://www.digitalfirst.co.uk/index.asp

http://www.ukdigital.co.uk/

http://www.internetdirect.co.uk/

http://www.jessops.com/shop.cfm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/browse/-/welcome/468294/202-9668118-3163859

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=777

Review Sites:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/

 

[julie d' tooth fairy]

Hi Oddjob,

My DH who is a Professional Photographer in the Royal Navy say’s…

Like most things in life you get what you pay for, but there are some good value digital cameras on the market.

He is very lucky as he can bring home his work equipment (Nikon D2x etc) but we have recently traded in (at Jessop’s) our old Nikon F90x (35mm SLR) for a Canon PowerShot Pro1 which is an 8 mega pixel camera but it is a bit pricy unless you have anything to trade it in against.

As some have already said, go for the highest mega pixel (MP) value you can afford,
Ensure it is a genuine value MP and not interpolated (this means they say it’s a 5 mega pixel, but really it’s only a 3-4 but the camera boosts up the value internally…in lay mans terms) and it’s not as good.

Also some of the regular brands use hi-end optics, such as leica and carl zeiss, if you see names as these then it should be a good un’.

The only type of zoom worth having is an optical zoom, don’t be taken in with any sales talk describing long digital zooms.

My DH always recommends Nikon (because its used throughout all the armed forces, and most professional photographers in the news gathering industry.)
However, he has switched to a Canon (the market leader in fast action sports photography) after Canon UK loaned him a number of compacts to try out while he was teaching photography back in 2003 and to be honest the results we have had of the PowerShot Pro1 have been fantastic.

If you want to produce A4 size prints, you either have very big albums…lol, or you are planning to frame up the odd shot, and if you consider yourself a keen amateur photographer, then its worth investing in a digital SRL, and again you get what you pay for, but now you have the added expense of having to buy lenses.

Most will come with a small zoom 18-55 or there abouts, and that will get you started, but as the years and your skill develops you can add telephotos and wide angle lenses to your collection,
The most popular are:

The Nikon D50 – is about £560 with a 18mm – 55mm zoom lens and has a 6.1 mega pixel chip.

The Nikon D70 – is the entry level Pro/Am camera and is about £750 with a 18mm – 55mm zoom lens and also and has a 6.1 mega pixel chip, but has a much more robust feel than the D50.

The Canon EOS 300D is about £450 with a 18mm – 55mm lens and has a 6.5 mega pixel chip.

The Canon EOS 350D is about £600 with a 18mm – 55mm lens and has a 8 mega pixel chip.

Buying from the high street stores, is ok Jessops will price match but so will Curry’s even though it’s the same company as Dixon’s, but you can save a lot On-Line or even buy in the USA all Nikon & Canon have a worldwide warranty and if you get it at the start of your holiday you have 2 weeks to really put it through its paces, and once its used do you really have to declare it when you return…I know I wouldn’t

Anyway I hope this helps…please don’t credit me with this advice my DH has narrated most of it…lol

We’ll be posting our holiday pic’s in our trip report in a weeks time see what you think!

Have a great time in Dec

Jue

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Although the picture quality from a digital SLR is fantastic (much better than a compact) I think size is a very important factor to consider when visiting theme parks: the smaller the better, just so long as the picture quality isn't compromised too much. I have a digital SLR (Canon 300D) and although it is leagues better than my little Nikon, I have only ever carried it around a theme park once and almost immediately regretted having such a bulky thing with me. I now no longer even take it to Orlando as I know I'm not going to use it there, as the Nikon is a perfectly good compromise between portability and picture quality.

Regards

Rob

 

[2 Point]

I've got the Canon A70, it really is excellent. With the additional pixels on the 80/95 this can only be better, with the additonal bonus that larger memory cards can be used.

I've also go the waterproof housing for my A70 (it's available for all the A range at a about £100 on ebay from Hong Kong), this is fully waterproof to 40 metres, this allows us to use the camera on the beach and at waterparks with no risk of sand or water spoiling our time. Highly recommended.

Using the video feature of the A70 with this housing gives some great results in the waterparks where I just wouldn't risk taking my videocamera.

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Another reviews site worth checking out is www.steves-digicams.com (which I now see someone else has mentioned already) its well respected and often pointed to by the online e-tailers themselves.

I recently upgraded my Fuji S3000 (which although had a great zoom and picture quality, I found to be too bulky to carry around) to a Fuji E550 as its on offer at Amazon for £159 with free postage. Its probably about my 8th digital camera as I tend to upgrade every year, and whats struck me about this one is how amazingly quick it is at actualy taking the picture once I press the button....all the others have had a noticable delay, not massive, but enough to annoy me and possibly miss the moment, but this new Fuji is instant. I cant see me upgrading this one for a while.

 

[Goofyish]

On the subject of Digital SLRs - I tried a firends Canon 350D and having been used to compact type digital cameras I found it quite difficult to get used to. I've got quite large hands and found the grip far too small. I also like taking photos using the lcd screen rather than the viewfinder, so using the SLR was difficult.
On my old Canon G1 the screen can be tilted and turned, so you can hold the camera in the air and still see the screen - useful for candid or over crowd shots (Disney parades!)

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

On the subject of Digital SLRs - I tried a firends Canon 350D and having been used to compact type digital cameras I found it quite difficult to get used to.

You can get a grip for the 350D (which also includes space for an additional bttery) which makes it easier to handle, and provides an additional shutter release for when you are holding the camera verttically.

Having grown up using SLRs I had the opposite problem to you - getting used to using the LCD when my instinct was to use a viewfinder!

Regards

Rob

 

[Oddjob]

Thanks everyone for the advice
Ive had digi cameras just out the loop of whats out there now
Got great Photo printer which easily prins good A4 Pics and yeah I know what you man about size The cam I took last time was an all terrain Kodak DC5000 and that strap round your neck every day for 10 hours for 2 weeks made me get a really sore neck!!..
So far Trons Fuji E550 sounds fave I hate slow takers so that one sounds great
Thanks everyone IAN

 

[homerdog]

More pixels alone does not mean a better print, above a certain amount of pixels per inch (300 dpi) the human eye can't resolve the difference.

This is a common misconception - dpi (dots per inch) relates to printers and is completely different to ppi (pixels per inch), which is the resolution of a camera's sensor. An 8 megapixel camera would be able to print a much larger picture at 300dpi than a 2 megapixel camera. Have a look here for a more detailed explanation.

Oddjob, there's a review of the Fuji here. Have a look at some of the other reviews on DPReview, it's a great site. If it was my money, I would be tempted by the Panasonic FZ5 which has a 12x optical zoom and image stabilisation. It is much smaller than you would imagine and can be had for £265 from here. It comes in black or silver, as well

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Panasonic have got that camera down to a decent size for a 12x optical zoom, thats for sure.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

Sony P12

 

[carolfoy]

One of my clients is David Bailey (yes, THE David Bailey and his beautiful wife) and I asked his advice from a totally techno allergic amateur photographer to the master, and he recommended the Canon A95 as a great starter digital, so I bought one and haven't regretted it since, beautiful prints and just enough gadgets for a techno phobe like me