Don't have a clue

BobBob21

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I must admit that I dont really have a clue about digital cameras and so looking for your collective expertise.

She that must be obeyed currently has a rather old digital camera - no LCD screen on the back, no memory slots, cannot connect to tv and probably not much more than 0.0000001 megapixles.

Anyway it is time for it to be replaced but I am really not sure what to go for. The majority of the time the pictures will be viewed on the camera, computer or TV screen (32" widescreen) and it would probably only occasionally be printed.

Taking into account the online discounts I would probably be spending arround the £250 mark.

Having had a quick look in the stores the Mrs is having a preference towards the look (though hasnt checked performance) of the Sony cameras. The models she has liked are:

Cyber-shot T1
Cyber-shot T3 ( & presumably Cyber-shot T33 as it is released soon)
Cyber-shot P150 ( & presumably Cyber-shot P200 as it is released soon)

All the cameras appear to be online for arround the £250 mark (even though the T1 is already discontinued and the T3 & P150 I assume will be shortly)

Given the proposed use which would you guys recommend out of these (or others if the Sony can easily be bettered) and why

Whilst an SLR camera would be nice it does need to be a 'handbag' sized thing
 
have a look at the canon ixus range...always seems to get ace reviews
 
The 7MP CCD in the Sony (and various other new 7MP cameras) is a very good one indeed, and the P150 is a lovely little camera with longer-term benefits as you get better than the other 2 you mention. One downside of Sony is their insistence on using costly proprietary MemoryStick storage, rather than the more easily available and cheaper CompactFlash and SecureDigital.

Two other cameras well worth a look using this same 7MP CCD are the Canon Powershot S70 and the Casio EX-P700 - but neither of these are close to £250 online, making the Sony a more affordable option. And to think Argos were knocking them out for £150 a couple of months back....

Remember to budget for more storage (I'd suggest 512mb for a 7MP camera) and a case, plus possibly an addtional battery - that's another £100 easily enough.

www.dpreview.net offers a group review of the cameras I mention, plus a couple of others using the new CCD. Well worth reading, and as you'll see there really is very little in it for all of the models in the test - making the choice one of personal preference.
 
Sorry for being a pain but CCD??

Whilst obviously a 7mp camera should give better picture quality (and isnt significantly more expensive) I was wondering if it was better to have 5mp & large lcd screen or 7mp and small lcd screen. How much difference does the extra 2 mp really make when you are going to be viewing the photos a lot more often than actually printing

Cheers
 
CCD - charge coupled device

7MP is arguably overkill for a compact, but the new 7MP CCD shared by a number of new cameras is a cracker.
 
I've had the Fuji s5000 for about a year and can't fault it. the s5500 has gone back to a normal 4.2mp, the s5000 had 6.1mp but was only a true 3.1 however it more than held it's own against higher spec cameras and both are hybrid SLR type/look (not true SLR). but the viewfinders are junk so use the screen.

But don't go on mp alone, so many people make that mistake, it's why there are so many 4-5 mp cameras coming out around the £100-150 mark. It's much more important to have a good lens and lower mp.

EBuyer sell the S5500 for £212.00 7dayshop.com are very good but seem to have limited stock, but there delivery and returns are first classs.
 
I recently went down the same road as you - starting with little digital understanding, but with the objective of purchasing a camera that effectively allowed me to do what I wanted. I needed a camera which could provide a good source for future prints up to A4 size. The most useful source of information for me was at www.dpreview.com (as has recently been recommended) and, perhaps, its US based equivalents (they have the disadvantage of having authors who appear not to be comfortable with written English). You just have to make an investment of time to read, learn and reach your own judgements.

Based my own choice (a Nikon Coolpix 5400, 5 Mp), compared to a close friend's choice (Fuji S602, 3.1 true Mp), I would advise that 7 Mp is more than you need for your intended main use. If you know in advance which shots you will want to print, then set the camera image size and resolution to give you the maximum size (in bytes). For most other shots, a 3 Mp image will give acceptable (i.e. very good)
results on most display media.

I have found the 5 Mp on my NIkon to be more than adequate for A4 prints, even though the theoretical calculations (based on 266 dpi for printing) say that 5 Mp is the absolute minmum you need. But it's not so simple as that - there is a lot of clever stuff the brain does when looking at the printed image, as well as a lot of clever things the printer does. 4 Mp is probably good enough for A4 prints, unless you are a member of a photographic society run by those who are excruciatingly exact.

I strongly endorse the previous comments about lens quality (esp. absence of purple fringing - see dpreview.com) being more important than number of pixels. Blowing up a poorly resolved image just gives you a larger, even more poorly resolved image. You must also decide if you prefer to take telephoto/long lens images or wide angle images, as different cameras have widely differing zoom capabililies (e.g. my Nikon is good at wide angle, but can't compete with my friend's Fuji on telephoto). I would advise that you maximise the size of the LCD display screen on the back of the camera, as it is a key component when composing your shot. The 'flip and twist' screens on some Canon and Nikon cameras are very useful.

The reommenndation to go for 512 Mb image storage is a bit heavy in my opinion. I decided to maximise availability by purchasing 2 256 compact flash cards for my camera. I now find that I tend to shoot 2 Mp images most of the time - and each 256 mb card will therefor hold a huge number of images - more than I can shoot in a day. I have never used my 2nd card yet - but it is valuable to have a back-up.

It is even more important to have a back-up battery. The Nikon is pretty good (i.e. low) in power consumption, but I frequently have to change batteries in the field. Using non-rechargeable AA batteries will make you a poor man. The rechargeable battery is much better bet, financially and practically. There is a wide choice of solutions in the market place, if you don't like the (exorbitant) cost of the manufacturer's original battery.

Finally make sure you think of usability: these new cameras from Sony are of excellent quality and performance, but are just too small to be able to hold and handle easily. Look for a good and comfortable single-handed grip.

The last thing to look at is the price.
 

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