Polite request:£300 to spend on a camera?

[Neiliboy]

Title says it all really.

My friend has a budget of £300 ish to spend on a digital camera as he's going round the world in december.

I've searched the web but cant really find alot of info so i thought I'd ask some real camera owners on here.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Many thanks in advance

Neil

 

[stevegreen]

Any idea what he is after as far as features go? I assume he will want it to be pretty lightweight and small for a worldwide trip.

 

[mjw123]

Best all rounder for that price is probably the panasonic FZ5.....will do everything well for them and has some excellent feature like image stabilisation, superb leica lens, long zoom and yet it still manages to retain a lovely size for a traveller

 

[mjw123]

...meant to add for just over £300 the gorgeous Olympus 7070 is worth a look but it's a different beast altogether - very much bigger, sturdier without the long zoom and image stabilisation....however the results will be a touch better than the FZ5.

My prices are internet not high street (is anyone daft enough to pay hight street prices these days?)

 

[kbfern]

Yes the Z5 would fit the bill nicely,have a look at some of my pictures posted today on the Cosford thread these were shot with my newly aquired Z5. go to www.dpreview.com where you will find reviews for this and other cameras.

By the way bought mine from jessops for £295 just a little over some internet sites but they do a 30 day money back offer if you don't like the camera.

 

[Neiliboy]

Thanks for those prompt responses guys.....as far as spec goes i think ultimately he just wants the best Picture Quality for the outlay - although strong, reliable and good battery life are obvious pre- requisites.

Any more suggestions?

Neil

 

[Big-Toe-T]

I'm after a camera that sort of price as well & am thinking of getting the Nikon S4. It's a compact camera with 10X optical zoom, 6.0 Mega pixels, takes 2 x AA, Width 11.2 cm, Height 6.9 cm, Depth 3.7 cm.

If not this one then maybe the Ricoh R3 with 7.1x optical zoom lens, 5 mega pix, - 95.0 mm (W) x 26.0 mm (D) x 53.0 mm (H)

What with a compact camera & large optical zoom loads of great shots are to be had.

 

[Neiliboy]

That Panny looks realy nice....

 

[mjw123]

It is mate - reviews very well across the board as well....

 

[Neiliboy]

Mike - I just looked at the photos on your sig - what fantastic shots!

Neil

 

[Geordie Jester]

Keith,

How did you get the Fz5 for under 300 ? Did they price-match to another store ? I see its listed as 349.

Im trying to decide what to do. There are a few sellers on Ebay that are tempting. Huge Hong Kong based one with UK reps..... around 278 for delivery, case and 1Gb card.

 

[kbfern]

Geordie

I just looked round on the net and found places offering them for around £275-£285 + £7 shipping.I then called up my local Jessops in Wolverhampton (they have 3 branches there and the Z5 is listed at £349) spoke with the manager told him I could buy off the net for around £280 or so and asked what could he do it for.I also told him I did not expect him to match the price but how close could he get.

He offered me a new boxed FZ5 for £295 I asked him to keep it for me and went straight down the shop and picked it up.

It was only after I bought it that he told me I had 30 days to return it for a full refund If I was not happy with it,as long as I didn't open the software and install it on my pc.

This was no problem as I use picasa to view and process my pictures(great little free programme).Anyway the upshot is I was able to get my hands on the camera the same day and for only around £13 more than off the net.

It's a super camera and the pictures I am getting are fantastic.I have taken at least 500 shots with it in the 3 weeks I have had it.Thats more pics than i have taken in the last 10 yrs with my Canon EOS650 35mm film camera.Don't you just love digital!!!!!! take loads and loads of pictures download to your pc play around with the pictures(crop,sharpen,tint etc) delete the pics you don't want and view them on your pc or tv and they haven't cost you a bean.

That's different from the old days of film,go out and buy the film, take your pics, wait for them to come back from the lab just to find half were no good and still have paid out £££££££££.

Anyways the FZ5 is a fantastic camera that can be had for less than £300 and is ideal for a beginner who only wants to point and shoot up to a keen enthusiast who wants to play around with diferent settings.

 

[stevegreen]

I then called up my local Jessops in Wolverhampton (they have 3 branches there and the Z5 is listed at £349) spoke with the manager told him I could buy off the net for around £280 or so and asked what could he do it for.I also told him I did not expect him to match the price but how close could he get.

He offered me a new boxed FZ5 for £295 I asked him to keep it for me and went straight down the shop and picked it up.

You ddin't try hard enough Keith.

Jessops will match internet prices £ for £. They did when I initially bought my A80 and did again when I exchanged it for the A95. that was from the one at Merry Hill initially and then again at the one in Walsall. I just provided print out's of the page with the offer on

 

[kbfern]

Steve

I had heard that jessops had stopped matching internet prices lately and will only match to bricks and mortar stores in the area and the item had to be instock.

Anyways, everbody is allowed to make a profit (even jessops) and I considered that I was getting a more than fair price along with the immediate satisfaction of getting the camera in my hot sweaty hand that same day.

 

[stevegreen]

I guess I must have been cheeky to the point that they wanted me out of the shop in that case

Not that I am tight or anything

 

[kbfern]

Geordie

Watch out for the HK or any International sellers as you may get caught with paying duty and vat when it arrives and that cheap price is then not so cheap.

As far as sd cards you could take the risk there as I have seen them for under £20 for 1gb sd card and vat and duty might add only £3-4.

I also wanted a spare battery and car charger and jessops wanted to charge £29 each.I have found a HK supplier that will sell 2 batteries and a charger for £12.80 + £7.50 carriage all in.

 

[NicolasB]

Depending on the resolution you need, you might try an Olympus 5060, or (if you want something compact) Olympus 5000. Both getting a little long in the tooth, but good. You can get the 5000 for about £180 on eBay (reconditioned).