[thejudge]

I'm looking at buying a new camera and have narrowed it down to either a Canon Ixus 55 or a Sony DSC-P200, both being priced at around £210.

Both cameras get good reviews at dpreview.com and amazon.co.uk. Can anyone recommend one over the other? I'm basically after a point and click with a few options and variations thrown in for good measure.

[shoehorn]

Probably best if you go to a shop, pick them up and feel them for yourself. One may more suited to your hands than the other - so it'll make deciding a bit easier....

[thejudge]

Originally Posted by shoehorn

Probably best if you go to a shop, pick them up and feel them for yourself. One may more suited to your hands than the other - so it'll make deciding a bit easier....

I've already had a look at them both in the flesh and don't think either of them will be a problem for me................... I'm more interested in the quality of the shots taken by the camera, reliability etc.

[GaryB]

I've got an Ixus 50 which is the slightly older version of the 55. As far as I know, the only difference between the two is the screen size. Delighted with it. Excellent pictures, easy to use and very good battery life.

The Ixus 55 is also on PC Pro's "A List" which I generally find to be a good recommendation:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/80007...l-ixus-55.html

[nwhitta]

Check out www.cameras.co.uk for detailed reviews of digital cameras.

[SeedyR]

Originally Posted by GaryB

I've got an Ixus 50 which is the slightly older version of the 55. As far as I know, the only difference between the two is the screen size. Delighted with it. Excellent pictures, easy to use and very good battery life.

Totally agree. Infact, so do all my mates, as we went out the other night with 7 ixus' in tow. It really is a great camera! Pictures are amazing, and so are the videos. Just make sure you get a bigger memory card, i got a 1gb, but 512mb would probably do.

[thejudge]

So it looks like the Ixus55 then........... unless any P200 owners out there would like to chip in and give me their views

I'll be splashing out in the next couple of days any other views would be much apreciated

[blueboatdriver]

I've had my Ixus 400 for about three years now. Excellent photos and build quality; I would go for the Canon.

[GaryB]

Originally Posted by Craigy Boy

Totally agree. Infact, so do all my mates, as we went out the other night with 7 ixus' in tow. It really is a great camera! Pictures are amazing, and so are the videos. Just make sure you get a bigger memory card, i got a 1gb, but 512mb would probably do.

I use 2x 512Mb cards and always shoot a bit on each, just in case one of them happens to die or get corrupted.

[ush flynn]

canon without doubt, the p200 is a fair camera, memory sticks are finally coming down in price but SD cards still far cheaper, canon has great lcd in low light, good focusing, plenty of options to mess around with the photos like desaturating a photo but leaving one colour intact so you can take cheesy photos like a bunch of roses with only the buds in colour!
great batter, cheaper to buy extras or replace too

[musicman]

I received a p200 at Christmas and have found the quality excellent so far

[Alan_W]

Sorry if it's a bit off topic but my daughter got a Kodak V550 for Xmas and it's great. Really simple point and shoot, reasonable video clips and good connectivity. Hope I have not confused you further

[thejudge]

Originally Posted by Alan_W

Sorry if it's a bit off topic but my daughter got a Kodak V550 for Xmas and it's great. Really simple point and shoot, reasonable video clips and good connectivity. Hope I have not confused you further

Don't want to be a "Brand Snob" but my current digital camera is a Kodak DX3500 and it is an awful camera, my father in law has a DX3700 and that too isn't too great so i'm put off big style by Kodak cameras.

Has the Sony's 7.2m effective pixels got any great advantage over the canons 5.0m ?

I won't be doing large prints on a regular basis so I guess that 5.0m will suffice, am i right?

hi, if its any help i have had a p200 for 6 months, and cant sing its praises enough. the 7.2 always come out clear - will pick up things your eye cant see! but above all is the battery, it seems to last for ever - when i turn it on it gives me a minute counter which normally starts in the 300's! the red eye flashes always work, and its small enough to carry in my pocket - phone size i would say.

A 1 gig stick is about £40 so only a little bit more than a decent fast speed SD card. I am happy, although i paid £160 through a friend i would have been happier to pay alot more

[mr jones]

7.2mp v's 5mp, well the 7.2 will probably give you slightly bigger images, great for printing. however id hazard a guess that the 5.0mp would give less noise in the images at high iso's simple because the sensor is less populated.


as i said id go with the canon, its a great camera, like 90% of the canon range. ive been looking at getting myself an ixus as an every day cam to compliment my DSLR and id go nowhere else but canon

[dood]

I am a canon fan and use a dSLR which is great. I bought a sony P120 for my wife and she loves it. I find the operation of it very smooth and it seems extremely well built, metallic and not at all plasticky. Images are very sharp (probably sony's in-built sharpening algorithms). I compared it with my sister's canon A85 which was bulky, plasticky and images soft in comparison. Unfortunately I can't comment on the Ixus range as I haven't used them.

Your decision in the end will come down to the feel and pocket-friendliness of the 2 cameras you've shorlisted. I second the amazing battery life on the sony.

[thejudge]

I've ordered the Ixus 55 from ajpurdy.co.uk

Thanks for all the advice guys, I've gone for build quality over pixels in the end and just hope I'm correct in my choice! I'm sure I will find out soon enough!