)I would like a wee bit of a zoom, and a view finder rather than (as someone stated) the bit at the back which is impossible to see at the best of times and one that I can download onto my own PC. Any advice will be extremely appreciated.DIGITAL CAMERAS - WHICH ONE
DIGITAL CAMERAS - WHICH ONE
I am wanting to buy a not too expensive digital camera, can anyone tell me which one they think is the best of most reasonable. I have seen a few passing comments on the PC/Digital thread, but alas the technical terms have lost me. (what are pixels! )I would like a wee bit of a zoom, and a view finder rather than (as someone stated) the bit at the back which is impossible to see at the best of times and one that I can download onto my own PC. Any advice will be extremely appreciated.
)I would like a wee bit of a zoom, and a view finder rather than (as someone stated) the bit at the back which is impossible to see at the best of times and one that I can download onto my own PC. Any advice will be extremely appreciated.-
Campo Kenny
Hiya Patricia, I was involved in the thread you mentioned.
I bought my camera a couple of days back after reccomendations from the forum.
I wanted a wide angle lens so bought a Canon which achieves this.
As for your needs which you state, the shop was full of nice looking cameras starting off at around £50/60, and all of them will do what you want
The concensus for a good cheap but quality camera seems to be the Fuji range.....Type Fuji finepix into Google and you'll be spoiled for choice.
As for the pixels, in a nutshell it means the more you have the cleare the pic is....ie 7.1 is better than 3.1 million etc., but to be honest you have to be good to notice it. It comes into its own when enlarging pics.
Most important upgrade to buy with camera is a new card, I upgraded to a 1 gig. card which means I can store more photos than I need, most cameras are supplied with a paltry 16meg card which is very small.
Kenny
PS I actually bought mine from a proper shop rather than the internet by the way and the guy was very helpful
I bought my camera a couple of days back after reccomendations from the forum.
I wanted a wide angle lens so bought a Canon which achieves this.
As for your needs which you state, the shop was full of nice looking cameras starting off at around £50/60, and all of them will do what you want
The concensus for a good cheap but quality camera seems to be the Fuji range.....Type Fuji finepix into Google and you'll be spoiled for choice.
As for the pixels, in a nutshell it means the more you have the cleare the pic is....ie 7.1 is better than 3.1 million etc., but to be honest you have to be good to notice it. It comes into its own when enlarging pics.
Most important upgrade to buy with camera is a new card, I upgraded to a 1 gig. card which means I can store more photos than I need, most cameras are supplied with a paltry 16meg card which is very small.
Kenny
PS I actually bought mine from a proper shop rather than the internet by the way and the guy was very helpful
Last edited by Campo Kenny on Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
DIGITAL CAMERA
Hi Kenny,
That was a nice quick response. Was that in the UK. I did see a fuji for sale in Carrefour on Wednesday for 100 euros, which I thought was not a bad price, and a Nikon for 129 and then a Pentax for 159, but I thought before I buy I had better learn a few things about them, as the technical jargon has lost me! Like you I wouldnt mind a wide angle lense as I like to take landscapes, I am not sure if the fuji has this function! Thanks for your reply.
That was a nice quick response. Was that in the UK. I did see a fuji for sale in Carrefour on Wednesday for 100 euros, which I thought was not a bad price, and a Nikon for 129 and then a Pentax for 159, but I thought before I buy I had better learn a few things about them, as the technical jargon has lost me! Like you I wouldnt mind a wide angle lense as I like to take landscapes, I am not sure if the fuji has this function! Thanks for your reply.
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Campo Kenny
Patricia, I've added a bit more above..............re. the wide angled lens.
This is a feature my wife said she wanted as our last one was no good if you wanted to shoot a group of friends from close proximity.
This feature was included on only 2 of the compacts in the price range I wanted to be in...sub £300.
One is tha Canon Ixus 850is which I bought, the other is the Panasonic Lumix which is about £50 cheaper but still a lovely little thing.
We tried it yesterday and it will snap a full rooms width at only a few paces back.
It has a numpty mode (for me) but has the facilities to replicate what large Slr camera costing a £1000 or more could do 10 years ago.
Any questions don't hestitate to ask..................whilst all this is still fresh in my mind after my "crash course" this week.
Kenny
PS Yes in UK
This is a feature my wife said she wanted as our last one was no good if you wanted to shoot a group of friends from close proximity.
This feature was included on only 2 of the compacts in the price range I wanted to be in...sub £300.
One is tha Canon Ixus 850is which I bought, the other is the Panasonic Lumix which is about £50 cheaper but still a lovely little thing.
We tried it yesterday and it will snap a full rooms width at only a few paces back.
It has a numpty mode (for me) but has the facilities to replicate what large Slr camera costing a £1000 or more could do 10 years ago.
Any questions don't hestitate to ask..................whilst all this is still fresh in my mind after my "crash course" this week.
Kenny
PS Yes in UK
Last edited by Campo Kenny on Fri Mar 16, 2007 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Beachcomber
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These two web sites give a comparison of hundreds of digital cameras. The first is an American site and the price is in dollars but gives you an idea of what is what:
http://www.betterphoto.com/digital/came ... erview.asp
http://digitalcameras.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ ... meras.html
If you type 'digital camera comparison' into Google you can come up with more.
As Kenny says, it is better to buy the camera from a proper shop whether in Spain or the UK than from the internet.
http://www.betterphoto.com/digital/came ... erview.asp
http://digitalcameras.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ ... meras.html
If you type 'digital camera comparison' into Google you can come up with more.
As Kenny says, it is better to buy the camera from a proper shop whether in Spain or the UK than from the internet.
digital
Oh yes I see what you mean, (with the zoom) it is all these things that I need to be aware of as I am not up with the technical jargon and will probably come away with a box brownie if I am not careful! The trouble is there is such a range on sale it is difficult to know which one, and why one is so expensive and why the other it so cheap. I just need the basic really but which will deliver nice pictures, with a reasonable zoom and where I can see what I am photographing from a view finder! Will they all download onto a PC or are there ones for example which will only download on a particular PC!
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El Cid
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Re: digital
Almost every digital camera on the market will meet your basic requirements except for the viewfinder.patricia wrote: . I just need the basic really but which will deliver nice pictures, with a reasonable zoom and where I can see what I am photographing from a view finder! Will they all download onto a PC or are there ones for example which will only download on a particular PC!
Most of the small cameras rely on using the screen for viewing. This can be OK on the really good quality cameras unless you are in bright sunlight but the cheaper the camera the worse it will be in this respect.
The only maker who seems to holding onto the concept of an optical viewfinder is Canon and even their smallest cameras have one.
If you do decide to buy one without don't rely on trying it in the shop - get outside in full sun and remember that if you are in habit of wearing sunglasses this will make it even worse.
As for the PC aspect, they all come with a cable that connects to one of the USB ports on your PC. They usually supply some program to make it easier to handle your photos but Windows will do a pretty good job on its own.
One of the best photo programs for a new user is Picasa which you can download free from http://picasa.google.com/ . This make it easy to create albums and to edit and email your photos.
Sid
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Beachcomber
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If you have Windows XP (presumably this works the same with Vista) you can download directly from your camera via a USB connection or, alternatively, buy a cheap multicard reader and put the card from the camera into it.
If you have an older Windows operating system you will need to install the software that comes with the camera in order to download the photographs.
I don't know about a Mac except that it comes in very handy when it's raining.
Edit: Sorry for the simultaneous posting again, Sid.
If you have an older Windows operating system you will need to install the software that comes with the camera in order to download the photographs.
I don't know about a Mac except that it comes in very handy when it's raining.
Edit: Sorry for the simultaneous posting again, Sid.
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Campo Kenny
Just thought of one more important thing that may be an issue for you re. playback/dowload to PC/TV.
tHE Fuji cameras come with an XD memory card and unless you buy a card reader, some PC'S and TV's don't have a slot for these.
The Canon and most others uses the larger SD card which all PCs/TVs equipped with card slots can take.
We bought a new TV only a couple of months back and it will not take XD from my old Fuji, as is the case for a not so old PC.......the laptop will read XD but a friends new laptop won't.
Kenny
tHE Fuji cameras come with an XD memory card and unless you buy a card reader, some PC'S and TV's don't have a slot for these.
The Canon and most others uses the larger SD card which all PCs/TVs equipped with card slots can take.
We bought a new TV only a couple of months back and it will not take XD from my old Fuji, as is the case for a not so old PC.......the laptop will read XD but a friends new laptop won't.
Kenny
Personally I think a camera without a viewfinder is just plain daft. If you want camera shake in a picture, a good way to get it is to wave your camera around in the air whilst squinting at the screen. Looking through a viewfinder, you make a natural tripod with your arms and head. As far as resolution goes, lens quality is as important as pixel numbers. You can print a picture as large as 8 x 6 ins from a 2 million pixel image with pretty good resolution if the lens is pin sharp. Go for 3x optical zoom minimum, with a viewfinder and anything over 2 million pixels with a good quality lens. Try the camera out in the shop and get them to show you the results on a computer screen.
Grouser
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zanuck
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Patricia,
My Nikon Coolpix 3100 (about 3 years old I think) started playing up a few weeks back, sometimes just showed horizontal lines on the screen, and the image when the shutter button was pressed, and on other occasions worked fine.
Got to the stage a week ago that I needed to take pictures of a customer's building site, and over 4 hours I managed to get six shots.
Time to replace (repair would have cost a minimum of £138).
In the UK checked Jessops stores - always heaving with bodies, reasonably helpful staff, discovered as others have said "cameras don't have viewfinders these days sir".
Just Googled Nikon, Fuji, Canon to see what was about, and found a newly released Canon Powershot A550, almost identical to my dodgy Nikon. It has a viewfinder 4 x zoom, 7.1megapixels and fits into my old Nikon bag.
Found to my surprise that the cheapest place was Amazon.co.uk, @ £116.79. Opted for free delivery (four or five business days) and it arrived less than two days later. Ordered a 1 gb card (camera came with a minute 16mb card - why do they do that??). the camera arrived on Wednesday, the card, via a link on Amazon, arrived today, with a p&p charge of £5.65. The jiffy bag was stamped at £0.44. I've never tried Amazon before, always thought they would be expensive, but not on this occasion. BTW the card was £1.12 plus p&p.
Best thing is to go to a shop or two, try some out, get a feel for the camera, check the web to compare prices, then buy whichever is cheaper. You could always take a printout of the web price to a shop and see if they'll match it or come close to it.
My Nikon Coolpix 3100 (about 3 years old I think) started playing up a few weeks back, sometimes just showed horizontal lines on the screen, and the image when the shutter button was pressed, and on other occasions worked fine.
Got to the stage a week ago that I needed to take pictures of a customer's building site, and over 4 hours I managed to get six shots.
Time to replace (repair would have cost a minimum of £138).
In the UK checked Jessops stores - always heaving with bodies, reasonably helpful staff, discovered as others have said "cameras don't have viewfinders these days sir".
Just Googled Nikon, Fuji, Canon to see what was about, and found a newly released Canon Powershot A550, almost identical to my dodgy Nikon. It has a viewfinder 4 x zoom, 7.1megapixels and fits into my old Nikon bag.
Found to my surprise that the cheapest place was Amazon.co.uk, @ £116.79. Opted for free delivery (four or five business days) and it arrived less than two days later. Ordered a 1 gb card (camera came with a minute 16mb card - why do they do that??). the camera arrived on Wednesday, the card, via a link on Amazon, arrived today, with a p&p charge of £5.65. The jiffy bag was stamped at £0.44. I've never tried Amazon before, always thought they would be expensive, but not on this occasion. BTW the card was £1.12 plus p&p.
Best thing is to go to a shop or two, try some out, get a feel for the camera, check the web to compare prices, then buy whichever is cheaper. You could always take a printout of the web price to a shop and see if they'll match it or come close to it.
I bought a fuji finepix A500 last year, my first digital camera, and it's very easy to use. All I wanted was something that I can take snapshots with and not have to wait 2 years to finish the film before I can see my pictures 
I spent a lot of time researching cameras on the internet before I bought and one thing I noticed is that in the UK you have to buy the camera and all the accessories separately, including the battery charger. Here in Spain in came as a complete package so worked out cheaper. I actually went to buy the A400 but the A500 was only 30 euros more whereas in the UK it was about £50 more! The only drawback was that the instruction book was in Spanish but it has diagrams and the language on the camera's menu can be set in English.
Kenny suggested you upgrade the memory card. I actually bought a second one, their easy to change over and if one gets corrupted then you don't lose everything, you can also keep a permanent record for special occasions, say a wedding or something where you might take lots of pics.
I spent a lot of time researching cameras on the internet before I bought and one thing I noticed is that in the UK you have to buy the camera and all the accessories separately, including the battery charger. Here in Spain in came as a complete package so worked out cheaper. I actually went to buy the A400 but the A500 was only 30 euros more whereas in the UK it was about £50 more! The only drawback was that the instruction book was in Spanish but it has diagrams and the language on the camera's menu can be set in English.
Kenny suggested you upgrade the memory card. I actually bought a second one, their easy to change over and if one gets corrupted then you don't lose everything, you can also keep a permanent record for special occasions, say a wedding or something where you might take lots of pics.
Actually Cassandra it will depend on the type of battery the camera is using. If it is a Lithium Ion one the camera will come complete with one battery and a charger.
I would agree with the recommendation of Jessops. the staff in the shops are reasonably knowledgeable and helpful. Also if you buy from them they take responsibility if things go wrong. I bought a photo quality printer from them via the internet. It packed up a week before the guarantee expired. I contacted them and they arranged to collect it. Somehow the printer got lost in transit. They credited me its full value and when I chose a replacement printer that was cheaper, refunded the difference.
I would agree with the recommendation of Jessops. the staff in the shops are reasonably knowledgeable and helpful. Also if you buy from them they take responsibility if things go wrong. I bought a photo quality printer from them via the internet. It packed up a week before the guarantee expired. I contacted them and they arranged to collect it. Somehow the printer got lost in transit. They credited me its full value and when I chose a replacement printer that was cheaper, refunded the difference.
Grouser
digintal
Yes Jessops are good, but as I rarely go to the UK I shall have to buy in Spain or make my way down to Gibralter!
But thank you for all your suggestions and I shall bear all these comments and advice in mind when I do buy one
But thank you for all your suggestions and I shall bear all these comments and advice in mind when I do buy one
Grouser. It was specifically the A400 and it was Jessops that were charging extra for the charger, or maybe they just wanted to sell you their own I just assumed (wrongly) that it would be the same for all makes.
Jessops were one of the few who would supply to Spain though and I was about to order when I found the much better deal locally. Having said that it would be worth checking to see if they have a sale on at the moment before you commit yourself. Amazon, although well priced, will not supply electronics outside of the UK.
I just assumed (wrongly) that it would be the same for all makes.Jessops were one of the few who would supply to Spain though and I was about to order when I found the much better deal locally. Having said that it would be worth checking to see if they have a sale on at the moment before you commit yourself. Amazon, although well priced, will not supply electronics outside of the UK.
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El Cid
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Re: digintal
Do not buy a camera in Gib.patricia wrote:Yes Jessops are good, but as I rarely go to the UK I shall have to buy in Spain or make my way down to Gibralter
The prices are not that good and you may have warranty problems.
Their "duty free" prices are a complete con. The only thing you save is the VAT and their prices are not competitive. The only people who can get true "duty free" prices are people arriving on ships/boats.
How come they never show the prices in the shop windows?
If you insist on buying in Gib make sure you know the equivalent UK/Spain prices before parting with any money and if it is not at least 10% cheaper don't buy it.
The only good deal in Gib is Morrison's bacon and sausages!
Sid
digital camaras
Yes I am aware that they are con merchants in Gibraltar. I will try them in the shop and compare prices, it will give me some idea of what they the different cameras are like etc., and then if there is one that I like and it is a bit cheaper I can buy it if not I will buy it elsewhere
I have a Canon Powershot A620 7.1 megapixels, I believe I paid 249 euros for it in Amsterdam last year, it\s an excellent product with both traditional viewfinder and big viewing screen which can be also used as a viewfinder, it comes with a 256 bm memory card and an extra 32mb card for emergencies.
The picture quality is tremendous and it's very easy to use, also very simple to download to your computer, I'm sure there are other cameras as good as this but I am very satisfied with my camera and would recommend it!
The picture quality is tremendous and it's very easy to use, also very simple to download to your computer, I'm sure there are other cameras as good as this but I am very satisfied with my camera and would recommend it!
Ah! the full english!!
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