Good Digi Camera for <£300 ???

[PLJPlayer]

Hi folks,
I am looking for a good digi camera for less than or around £300,
I am not that bothered about it being compact. I would rather have better optics / functions , but dont really want the expense of an SLR.
I would only use it on holidays and days out etc but I want to get a good one now and not have to keep changing every year.
I have been looking at the Cannon Powershot S3 IS For approx £250.
Does anybody have any better suggestions?

P.S. I saw this on Amazon US for $308 which is almost £100 cheaper, Is there a better way to buy these things?

thanks in advance.

 

[horribleman]

You can probably get an end of line SLR for tht on eBay - check out Pentax *ist for example.

 

[Steve N]

Have a look at the Panasonic FZ50
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz50/

10.1 MP
15 x Zoom
Image Stabiliser

Probably the best bridge camera around at the moment.

 

[horribleman]

this is what I was thinking about:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Pentax-is...hZ008QQcategoryZ31388QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[Deleted member 152499]

After several weeks research, and great advice from the AV Forums, I'm going to be buying a Nikon D40, which can be got for around £300 with kit lens 18-55mm and 2gb SD Card from *cough* ebay *cough*

Looks compact, good for point and shoot, and with enough controls for more adventurous photography.

 

[PLJPlayer]

Thanks for the Help chaps.
Its always intersting to see people thinking from different angles.
I have to be honest I really don't like buying from Ebay,
but I am quit intereseted in the Panasonic, Only I read a review recently and it got slightly poor comments, regarding image quality despite the 10 MP and poor images in low light.
I do however like the auto/manual focus/apeture rings.

 

[geofftelforduk]

Thanks for the Help chaps.
Its always intersting to see people thinking from different angles.
I have to be honest I really don't like buying from Ebay,
but I am quit intereseted in the Panasonic, Only I read a review recently and it got slightly poor comments, regarding image quality despite the 10 MP and poor images in low light.
I do however like the auto/manual focus/apeture rings.

Can I ask why you dont like buying from eBay?

I have bought and sold alot of stuff from there and I havent had one bad experience as yet!! You just need to be careful, watch the sellers feedback and previous purchases and you will be fine!

There are a lot of good bargains to be had!!

 

[PLJPlayer]

I have personally only bought a few CDs from Ebay that the wife wanted.
I didnt have a problem with this they came within a few days and payment was OK.
I guess I like to get New shinny versions and not second hand.
Also I have seen people get duped by some clever descriptions of items.
Like a SKY HD box which was a normal Sky Reciever and a cardboard box for a HD reciever, People selling Guitar Hero Games, but this doesnt include a guitar (they have bought a second copy to get the Guitar and are just selling the useless DVD).
Yeah I understand there are good Deals to be done, but I'm afraid its not for me.

 

[ScottBT]

Have a look at the Panasonic FZ50
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz50/

10.1 MP
15 x Zoom
Image Stabiliser

Probably the best bridge camera around at the moment.

Poor high ISO.

I'd go fot the Fuji S6500FD or even the S9600 as this has a hot-shoe.

 

[PLJPlayer]

I've been looking at the Fujis, as they seem a lot cheaper, but I dont think that they have image stabilisation.
Does this only really matter at High zoom or will it give me grief at normal Zoom, If I've drunk too much Coffee that morning?

 

[Ikki]

The Canon S3IS is good as are the Canon G7 and A630 or A640, all will give top notch images for a compact. The Fuji S6500fd and S9600 are both versatile, DSLR sized cameras with good output, but you will have to remember about the lack of IS at the long end of the zoom. The Panasonic FZ50 is a good camera with lots of features and decent IQ at low iso but poor at higher iso. The Panasonic TZ3 is an amazing package, 28-280mm zoom in something that fits in your pocket and decent IQ, it's getting great user reviews. The Panasonic FZ8 delivers a lot in a small package, with another very good lens. The Sony H (H1, H2, H5, H7, H9) series are again very versatile cameras with a great lens, the H9 looks especially interesting but isn't quite on sale. The soon to be on sale Ricoh GX-100 also looks like a great camera for travel use.

 

[Strobe]

Pirate got shafted on an ebay purchase - might be worth dropping him a PM or searching for his thread about it. Just to make sure it's not the same seller as he had a problem with.