best £150 compact with reasonable zoom?

deepbeep

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I'm looking to spend up to £150 on a compact camera. i could stretch very slightly if there's something that's leagues ahead for not much more.

Had considered a DSLR but I don't think I'd get the use out of something that size, I need something that can fit into a coat pocket or the other half's handbag on a night out etc.

Aside from obviously wanting to get the best picture quality, I want a camera with a decent optical zoom (ie close to 10x or even more) and decent movie capture. Another thing that's important is that it takes photos quickly. My old compact took too long, and my 3 year old doesn't stand still much!

I've looked at Ricoh CX1, Panasonic TZ8, Finepix FX80exr, Samsung WB610... but there are loads and loads and I'm not finding online reviews all that much help tbh.

Any advice greatly appreciated!
 
WB610 should pretty much tick all your boxes TBH and is about£160 a the moment from Jessops - any particular area that you think it doesn't meet your needs ?

I've currently got a WB600 (pretty much identical spec) and a Panasonic TZ7.

Let me know if you need to see any test shots

Jim
 
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No - the samsung does meet my needs, spec-wise but so does the TZ8 and loads of others from about £120-£180. Just want to try and choose the best one!

I'm guessing the TZ7 is similar to the TZ8? How does it compare to the WB600? Which one comes out on top do you think? If they are similar in terms of picture quality, which does better video.

Cheers
 
No - the samsung does meet my needs, spec-wise but so does the TZ8 and loads of others from about £120-£180. Just want to try and choose the best one!

I'm guessing the TZ7 is similar to the TZ8? How does it compare to the WB600? Which one comes out on top do you think? If they are similar in terms of picture quality, which does better video.

Cheers

Just to let you know (in case you didn't), Argos are currently selling the Samsung WB600 in black for £130. Just reserved one myself, think it's a great buy at that price.

Buy Samsung WB600 12MP Camera - Black. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .
 
You could try the Casio Exilim FH100. It's £199.97 at BestBuy, but you can get 10% cashback through the usual cashback websites, and another £50 cashback from Casio making it £130ish. A good camera reviewed at £200-£250, at this price a potential bargain (but only if it makes the compromises you need)

Pay close attention to IQ and performance comments:

Of course there are compromises, I think I read macro/close up performance is poor/mediocre, but it has low shutter lag and can do 1000fps video.


EDIT: N.B. the UK price has always been artificially inflated - this Casio sells typically around £155-£165 across the rest of Europe.
 
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No - the samsung does meet my needs, spec-wise but so does the TZ8 and loads of others from about £120-£180. Just want to try and choose the best one!

I'm guessing the TZ7 is similar to the TZ8? How does it compare to the WB600? Which one comes out on top do you think? If they are similar in terms of picture quality, which does better video.

Cheers

Perhaos this is of some initial use for comparison ?

Samsung WB600 - Competitors

JIm
 
You can pick up the the Panasonic TZ10 for about £170 including £30 cashback. Think the best price is Amazon at around £200, then redeem the £30.
 
Argos just started selling the WB600 in their sale for £130 - great price :smashin:

JIm
 
Perhaos this is of some initial use for comparison ?

Samsung WB600 - Competitors

JIm
Thanks, it doesn't though really - just compares features which I can read up on. Not really telling my much in terms of picture/video quality which is what I really want to know at this stage.
You have both the samsung and tz7, no opinion on which gives better results generally - strengths and weaknesses?

Thanks all for the other suggestions and tips on deals.

Icm176 said:
1000fps video
:eek: presume a typo??
edit - it's not. Wow, but struggling to see the point in it!

Any more suggestions?
 
Thanks, it doesn't though really - just compares features which I can read up on. Not really telling my much in terms of picture/video quality which is what I really want to know at this stage.
You have both the samsung and tz7, no opinion on which gives better results generally - strengths and weaknesses?

Thanks all for the other suggestions and tips on deals.


:eek: presume a typo??
edit - it's not. Wow, but struggling to see the point in it!

Any more suggestions?

Well TBH I'm having difficulty choosing between the TZ7 and the WB600 myself as I really want to get rid of one of them soon :blush:

I like certain features of both models - e.g the 15x Zoom and manual modes on the WB600 and the "ISOMax" feature on the TZ7 - I prefer the Macro mode on the WB600 over the TZ7 - Image quality I'd say it's a close thing with the TZ7 slightly better.

Regarding video I've not really bothered that much with it on either just a couple of test clips to show it working and quality wise both look fine to me.


Jim
 
This weekend, DMC-TZ8 is on promotion at BestBuy (they are matching John Lewis) & you can get an extra 15% cashback. It's only for the silver version, but given the budget I think it's a good deal to grab while you can.
product: DMC-TZ8EB-S (silver TZ8)
promotion code: CAM104 (for £21 off)
£189.99 - £21 = £168.99
£169.99 x 0.85 = £143.64 via the 15% cashback site

Not bad at all :)
 
Cheers for all the advice on deals folks but really at the moment I'm more interested in opinions on how these cameras compare in terms of picture quality.

The WB600 seems to get some mixed reviews and I've seen mention about issues with noise in pictures. That coupled with the less important fact that it's a bit chunkier and uglier looking than others is putting me off a little.

Still pondering the Panasonic Lumix TZ range, also now considering whether the Canon SX210 is worth stretching the budget for.

Other options I've come accross are the Nikon S8000 and Sony DSC-H55.

More questions than answers at the moment! All of these are just about within my budget with some of the deals around at the moment, wish I could trial them all for a week!
 
Cheers for all the advice on deals folks but really at the moment I'm more interested in opinions on how these cameras compare in terms of picture quality.

The WB600 seems to get some mixed reviews and I've seen mention about issues with noise in pictures. That coupled with the less important fact that it's a bit chunkier and uglier looking than others is putting me off a little.

Still pondering the Panasonic Lumix TZ range, also now considering whether the Canon SX210 is worth stretching the budget for.

Other options I've come accross are the Nikon S8000 and Sony DSC-H55.

More questions than answers at the moment! All of these are just about within my budget with some of the deals around at the moment, wish I could trial them all for a week!

TBH - if you need to go beyond ISO400 then any compact is going to struggle with noise due to the much smaller sensors and high pixel density - compared to a DSLr sensor with similar pixel count.

I've owned a few compacts and currently own both the TZ7 and the WB600 - and BTW both the WB600 and TZ7 are virtually identical in size/appearance - and all suffer from noise at moderate to high isos - MUCH more so tha a DSLR so if you need noise free(ish) shots in low light situations then either get a DSLr and fast lenses - or get used to using flash and not shooting at much over 6 feet ;)

If you need to see sample shots from either camera then let me know and I'll see what I've got or can take for you :)

JIm
 
we got the wb600 today you get a £10 argos voucher when you buy it as well - I don't know [-]much[/-] anything about taking pictures so can't really comment on that aspect. Its a little bit bigger than our old casio camera but then it does have 15x zoom compared to 3x of the old camera - nice big bright screen, seems easy enough to go through the modes/ settings (theres quite a few) will probably just leave it on the setting that auto changes depending on what you taking pictures of. Over all seem like a decent, well build camera for £120 the 15x zoom is great, can't wait to get some birds on the feeder .:thumbsup:
 
I bought one of these for my daughter and son-in-law for crimbo. According to research, it's very highly rated for it's type and Amazon threw in a free camera case. Wonderful! The offer is still on BTW, and @ £59.00 delivered isn't a bad deal (batteries included).

3x optical, but hey . . if you want long and very very strong, you'll have to consider the Panasonic DMC-ZX3 I think, and if you find one at an affordable price, do sign up to TopCashBack and check the retailer is listed then click through them to earn a rebate and you can also save additional pennies by searching for money off codes online. The camera is rated extremely highly. See evilBay item number: 180591730788. And yes, evilBay is listed on TCB, so there!
 
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Right now I'm leaning towards the TZ10 - over my budget I know, £207 at Amazon - £30 cashback = £177.

Any final opinions? Thinking about purchasing tonight!
 
Right now I'm leaning towards the TZ10 - over my budget I know, £207 at Amazon - £30 cashback = £177.

Any final opinions? Thinking about purchasing tonight!

Why ? - might help us offer advice ? = otherwise unless you need GPS it's a waste of £87 IMO

JIm
 
Why a waste of £87? What are you suggesting that only costs £90?

The cheapest camera I seriously considered getting was the WB600 at £130 from Argos which is a £47 difference.

The things drawing me to the tz10:

* Connectivity (eg HDMI)
* Good video function (choice of encoding methods, better sound quality than most of the others, stereo sound, comparitively OK performance at lower lights, maximum film length twice as long as TZ8)
* Decent Screen
* GPS (definitely not a requirement but still nice to have)
* Gets good reviews for ease of use
* Read various comments stating the TZ7 8 & 10 have slightly better image quality than the samsung

The TZ10 and TZ8 seemed to get consistently good reviews. Seemed like all in reviews for all the other models I read something that put me off them. I was pretty sold on the TZ8 which can be had for £143 as posted above but then when I looked into the advantages of the TZ8 for an extra 35 quid (GPS, bigger higher res screen, stereo sound, HDMI output) it seemed worthwhile.
 
Why a waste of £87? What are you suggesting that only costs £90?

The cheapest camera I seriously considered getting was the WB600 at £130 from Argos which is a £47 difference.

The things drawing me to the tz10:

* Connectivity (eg HDMI)
* Good video function (choice of encoding methods, better sound quality than most of the others, stereo sound, comparitively OK performance at lower lights, maximum film length twice as long as TZ8)
* Decent Screen
* GPS (definitely not a requirement but still nice to have)
* Gets good reviews for ease of use
* Read various comments stating the TZ7 8 & 10 have slightly better image quality than the samsung

The TZ10 and TZ8 seemed to get consistently good reviews. Seemed like all in reviews for all the other models I read something that put me off them. I was pretty sold on the TZ8 which can be had for £143 as posted above but then when I looked into the advantages of the TZ8 for an extra 35 quid (GPS, bigger higher res screen, stereo sound, HDMI output) it seemed worthwhile.

O.K. - forgot the Pansonic cashback offer was still on - in that case it's only £57 ;) - so if you're prepared to pay that extra for "slightly better" image quality then fair play - go for it - if the extra zoom doesn't apeal to you the go for it too - I just think that for £130 (£129 after Argos £10 voucher back) you won't find a better specified compact at the moment - each will have their own strengths - you decide what's most important for you :)

JIm
 
It was a close call to be honest.

The Samsung is better value on paper, seems like a great deal at that price. I did nearly go for it.

The TZ10 just seemed to have an edge in some of the areas that were most important to me (as above). The difference in price I think is worth it for me. Last time I bought a camera was 5 years ago, and next time will probably be the same so I don't mind spending a bit extra and getting the best I can go for.
 
Enjoy - look forward to seeing some shots :)

Jim
 

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