Enthusiastic photographer needs advice on first upgrade please.

[The_kUrGaN]

Sorry about this. My first post didn't register.

I'm looking to upgrade from my very basic compact digital Fujifilm 2mp camera. Now, I have always had a keen interest in photography, but have never bought a 'serious' digital camera. I have all the ideas and enthusiasm for a good photo, but not the camera to do them justice and now I think it's time I indulged in this interest.

I prefer taking general Landscapes and 'views', and sunrises/sunsets, maybe with water shots too. I also like the idea of 'macro' shots.

I like the idea of a 'proper' looking camera, something with a kind of DSLR appearance, but they are out of my budget.I'm not too up on all the specs, but I'd like a good mixture of auto settings with some manual settings too, so the camera has to be easy to use, but with the option of getting more out of it when you want to fine tune things. I'd like something with a decent optical zoom too.

Can anyone recommend some camera's to consider up to a budget of £400 ish please?

Also, if anyone can recommend some websites that can help me choose a camera and give explanations, that'd be great too.

Thanks very much for any advice anyone can give me.

[kbfern]

I have recently purchased the panasonic fz5 which is a 5 mega pixel with 12x optical zoom and does excellent macro work list price £348 but you can get them for around £290.

Others to consider would be Sony DSC H1 or Canon S21s both around £320 ish discount,Olympus just bringing out the SP500 at under £300.You will find plenty of good cameras around for £300-£400 the choice is quite confusing(I have just gone through the same exerise and chose the Z5)

sites worth visiting for reviews are:

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/

You should find plenty of info and help choosing your camera from these sites.

Hope you find the info usefull

[mjw123]

Kurgan - KBfern has made some good recommendations....however he's missed one belter which would really suit your requirements for landscapes / sunsets / Macro, it also has a very good spec for you to grow into.

It's the olympus 7070 - probably about £350 from the net.

It doesn't have the long zoom of the FZ5 but will give better results close (macro is remarkable on the 7070), low light results will probably be less noisy as well.

I love my panni FZ3 but want to buy a 7070 for landscapes, sunsets, portraits and macro where it will fare better than my FZ3 and it's replacement the FZ5.

Definately worth looking into...

[crocodile]

The Fuji S7000 also sounds like it would fit your requirements. Feels like a quality camera whereas (IMO) the Panasonics feel like plastic boxes.

Chances of finding the right camera first time are pretty slim. It's only in use that you will find what features are important to you as well as how they perform. I bought a Panasonic FZ20 based solely on specs/reviews & absolutely hated the handling.

I would suggest picking up a used model with a good spec & using that to establish your exact requirements. You can then sell on with little or no loss when you know exactly what to look for in the next one.

[mjw123]

Not a bad suggestion croc on the 2nd hand cam - can be a prob on the latest models though as there's very little in the way of 2nd hand market......

Panni's might feel that way but the results say otherwise with that cracking Leica lens up front.

[crocodile]

Originally Posted by mjw123

Not a bad suggestion croc on the 2nd hand cam - can be a prob on the latest models though as there's very little in the way of 2nd hand market......

If you were buying a camera to test the water, with no intention of keeping it, then obviously you wouldn't be looking for the latest models (Witters excepted ). Ebay has a plentiful supply of S7000s, Panny FZs, etc., etc.

In fact re-reading the OP, his budget would just about cover a 300D kit from the Canon Outlet if he wanted to jump into DSLR straight away. Having said that, taking into account his intended subject, I would still recommend the S7000 as a stepping stone.

[aliflack]

How rigid is the budget of £400 and does that include all the peripheral stuff - memory cards, card reader, camera case, spare batteries etc?

If you need to buy those things as well, a finger in the air guess says that'll knock at least £50-75 off your budget to spend on the camera itself...

Having a 300D myself, they are cracking cameras, but you will want to fork out a ton more cash when you see the results you can get from better lenses (presuming it will come with the 18-55 kit lens). So I would stear you away from that if you are on a fixed budget over the medium term, and especially if you want decent macro ability out of the box.

[The_kUrGaN]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone...I knew I could get some good help here. My budget to be honest is not too rigid, however common sense tell me that I don't want to go mental on what is essentially my first decent camera, but if I see a decent enough camera I could stretch it to £500 so long as it would give me results worthy of the price.

I do like the look of the S7000, and the price is a pretty decent one too. In fact, all of the camera's look just the ticket to be honest. I think where ever I end up will be such a massive improvement on what I already have.

I think DSLR camera's are where I will probably end up eventually though, however I need to prove to myself that my interest in photography and skills would warrant going to the extra expense and dedication needed to justify one.

I quite like the look of chunky camera's, something not flimsy or plasticy but something to get a hold of (I've got big flapping hands so I can't be doing with a titchy thing). I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting your camera to look the part as well as giving you great results though is there?

Thanks for the advice so far....and any more suggestions very welcome.

[kbfern]

Chunky!! look at the panasonic Z30,its just come out and will cost around £470 discount.It s quite a weighty camera at around 750grammes but should give top class results.The price is near dslr price but comes with up to 19x zoom & 8 mega pixels.

There has been some debate about noise at higher ISO settings but this can be easily overcome with post processing software.This is the camera I would have bought if not for its size.

see review here:http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz30/

[The_kUrGaN]

.....hey...I like it a lot. :-)

[Johndm]

Originally Posted by The_kUrGaN

Thanks for the suggestions everyone...I knew I could get some good help here. My budget to be honest is not too rigid, however common sense tell me that I don't want to go mental on what is essentially my first decent camera, but if I see a decent enough camera I could stretch it to £500 so long as it would give me results worthy of the price.

I do like the look of the S7000, and the price is a pretty decent one too. In fact, all of the camera's look just the ticket to be honest. I think where ever I end up will be such a massive improvement on what I already have.

I think DSLR camera's are where I will probably end up eventually though, however I need to prove to myself that my interest in photography and skills would warrant going to the extra expense and dedication needed to justify one.

I quite like the look of chunky camera's, something not flimsy or plasticy but something to get a hold of (I've got big flapping hands so I can't be doing with a titchy thing). I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting your camera to look the part as well as giving you great results though is there?

Thanks for the advice so far....and any more suggestions very welcome.

Hey...why not look for a second hand Canon 300D on ebay or forums if you need 'the look'..

Recommend you buy a second hand 75-300mm USM MKIII to go with it, then slip a sawn length of white drainpipe over it, and just paint a red band on it...

[senu]

Yeah a preloved ( hmm...second hand) Canon 300D seems a good choice .
The Nikon D50 or even Canon 350D.(with the £100 cash back) begin to look affordable if you can go that far.
A Canon Powershot Pro One is also worth a look . It is an 8 megapixel camera with a really good lens.. Check out reviews on it
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/PRO1/PRO1A.HTM
this seems to be within your budget Just saw this on my travels on the web
http://www.mydv.co.uk/xcart/product....cat=125&page=3

Fujifilm 9500/9000 at £500 is said to be good.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read..._finepixs9000z

WARNING

Don't by from MyDV, the site is a SCAM. Also www.gardenready.co.uk and www.nepine.co.uk are con sites owned by the same people (person?).

They will charge you more than you are invoiced and will fail to send you the product your ordered. They are based in the US but advertise themselves as a UK company. They don't reply to e-mails.

See:

http://clansharrock.blogspot.com/200...od-misery.html
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ctl/do/maxiM...eviews~4753223
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...d.php?t=285663
http://www.matrixwatch.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3269

[The_kUrGaN]

Thanks for that.....it's a site I have been looking at very recently.

[senu]

Originally Posted by shaurz

WARNING

Don't by from MyDV, the site is a SCAM. Also www.gardenready.co.uk and www.nepine.co.uk are con sites owned by the same people (person?).

They will charge you more than you are invoiced and will fail to send you the product your ordered. They are based in the US but advertise themselves as a UK company. They don't reply to e-mails.

Thanks for the warning .As I said it was something i saw on my travels on the internet.
The advice regarding the value of a used Canon 300d , powershot pro 1, or Fuji film 9000/9500 still hold true though
How can we get moore info in these fraudsters who clearly fron 3 companies with the same phone no and no address??