Decent Digital camera required ( £200)

[davetwin]

Hi Guys

I have used these forums for advice on various things in the past and got good results so I am now back to get some advice for a digicam.

I have £200 to spend and am looking for something to replace my 10.1 megapixel Samsung Digimax D103. I have been extremely happy with this camera but unfortunately I dropped it on concrete, the camera now doesnt seem to take very good pictures.

I am far from being a pro / amateur photographer and dont really understand focul lenghts, ISOs etc.... suppose you could say I am a bit of a noob.

Anyway I am off to America for 3 weeks and need a replacement camera about the same sort of size as the Samsung Digimax d103, that I can point and shoot with, also with some different shoot modes like my samsung. Would need a flash and red eye reduction.

I did think about just going out and buying another D103 but if I can get a better one it would be great.

Thanks in advance

Dave

[Pirate!!]

Canon A720 IS or SX100 IS. Jack of all trades and great reviews. Do a forum search for more discussions. Also, have a look at the Panasonic DMC-FZ8. It's a bridge/prosumer camera. All will fall well under your £200.00 budget.

[rydeboyz]

Most likely cheaper in USA too? Not sure about compatability issues though..

[davetwin]

Thanks for the advise guys,

After reading the reviews on Cnet and trusted reviews I just cant seem to choose between the two.

I have spotted another camera whilst reading the reviews, the Panasonic DMZ TZ4

How would this compare with the other two

[Pirate!!]

Originally Posted by davetwin

Thanks for the advise guys,

After reading the reviews on Cnet and trusted reviews I just cant seem to choose between the two.

I have spotted another camera whilst reading the reviews, the Panasonic DMZ TZ4

How would this compare with the other two

Ahoy!

Which two are you having trouble choosing between (there are 3 in the list)?

Panna DMC-TZ4 is new on the market and would appear to be an slight upgrade to the DMC-FZ3 which many on this forum own. TZ4 is priced over your £200.00 limit.

The one thing I find (and is very well documented by reviewers) is unless you shoot in good light, Image Quality (IQ) won't be as good in low light (indoors, dusk etc), so take that into account. That said, we don't all need good low light performance.

Advise further please, and do HEAVY research. If possible, get 'hands on' and try before you buy.

[davetwin]

Thanks Pirate.

After doing some research and reading reviews on cnet and trusted reviews as well as looking in shops today. Not to mention reading various guides about photography.

I have decided that Im going to go for a prosumer range camera. After reading many guides about photography I decided it would be nice to have a camera with really good control so I could start to get away from the point and shoot and start learning more.

I have settled on 2 models now,

Fujifilm FinePix S9600 (£193.44) & Canon PowerShot S5 IS (£199.99) - prices from buyacamera.co.uk

Im tending to lean towards the S9600, after reading reviews

What do you think

[Pirate!!]

Ahoy!

Arr . . . now thee will also have to consider the Sony DSC-H50 (likely to be over a shade over budget), Panasonic DMC-FZ50, FZ8 and FZ18.

From my research, the S5-IS 'aint all that' so would be scratched off my shortlist. The S9600 I would leave on the list pending research on other makes/models, but the Fuji S8000fd, S9600fd and S1000fd would also need a further look. See here for more models from Fuji.

DPReview is always a good starting point, but the H50 is new on the market and I'm not sure there is a review out there yet.

This link might be helpful (scroll to lower end of page).

Happy hunting.

[rooster68]

hi mate thought get my say i just bought panasonics FZ18. camera last weekend moved up from a compact cam so glad i did thought it be to complicated but so far it fantastic cam and a brill 18 times zoom good deal 2http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product1....ProductID=1947 and got a 4 gig card from play .com for under a tenner