£200 recommendation

[oldius]

My camera is now past its sell by date as recent pictures of my turntables demonstrate!

I would like to buy a well made, solidly built digital camera that is very portable and takes nice pictures. I do not know what ISO means so that gives an idea of my technical numptiness in this area.

I'm taking my son to Rome in February and I would like to have learned how to use it by then so nothing outlandishly complex. Budget £200 to £300 max. New or immaculate used.

 

[ishmac]

Look out for an original Canon 1D (Mk1), they sell for around £250 - £300 ish depending on shutter count and general condition etc...

Built to last, sturdy construction although slightly old school now compared to the new stuff, but it can really cut the mustard, awesome!

Here's a photo link below;
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo268/macvisual/1D-1.jpg

 

[dan m]

"very portable and takes nice pictures"

I'd still go with the Canon PowerShot S95, now £229 on Amazon --

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00400OK52/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

A solid little P&S. Here are a few pics I've taken with the prior version (s90):

 

[oldius]

I think that's the type I'm looking for (s95). I have absolutely no knowledge here so recommendations are definitely appreciated thanks.

 

[shrink]

ishmac... £200 and very portable

so you come up with a 1.5 kilo full size pro body camera, that will likely cost around £250, WITHOUT a lens. Add on another £200 for a barely acceptable lens that adds more weight and bulk.

As suggestions go, you're pretty out there with this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004I1KOIK/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

14 megapixels.. massive 16x optical zoom, optical image stabiliser, ultra portable.

and with a £160 discount at the moment

better yet:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003WOKU4W/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

24x optical zoom (crazy), great resolution, and a leica lens... also on huge discount just now

that would be almost enough to make me give up my SLR

 

[Eyebroughty]

Hi,

This old thread I posted some links to the compact I bought.
I tried it against my Nikon D300, this is the small Canon SX210, not sure if they still make it. But you can see the difference in some respects is small against a rather expensive DSLR!

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=79451

Cheers

John

 

[DevillEars]

One factor to be taken into consideration lies in what subject matter is likely to make you haul out the digicam and shoot? Are we talking architecture? Landscapes? People? Individuals? Urban scenes? Or any permutations of the above?

The question goes towards helping to define just how "flexible" your camera - lens in particular - needs to be to match your requirements as defined by listed subject targets.

If all you are going to be shooting consists of landscapes and urban scenery, then a very basic P&S digicam with a 3x zoom lens is likely to more than adequate and provide shirt-pocket compactness.

If your response to the questions posed in the first paragraph was "All of the above", then Shrink's recommendations around super-zoom compact cameras makes a lot of sense as, in one compact device you have a zoom range from a wide-angle of ~28mm to a telephoto of either ~450mm (at 16x) or ~650mm (at 24x) providing the versatility demanded by the "All of the above" response.

The bigger zoom range also allows you reach out and shoot scenes at distances that would otherwise result in lots of background and a tiny subject in the middle - barely distinguishable.

A super-zoom lacks the ultimate compactness of a P&S but offers a flexibility - not available on a P&S - that comes close to that of a DSLR with 3 or 4 lenses.

The decision as to P&S vs SuperZoom is yours (based on your response to paragraph one).

Whatever you decide, may you and your youngster have a truly great trip and record for posterity some great memories.

 

[cliffpatte]

Sounde like you need a small P&S a la S95 / LX5 / EZ1 or a Bridge camera like Fuji HS20. There are plenty of options in this price range - try somewhere like cameraworld.co.uk and see what they have on offer

 

[Patrick Dixon]

If the turntable photos are the ones I'm thinking of then it's not so much a camera issue as a user one!

Photographing a turntable is a different challenge to photographing Rome, so in addition to buying a new camera please do practice a bit and read up/ask for help! FWIW, most cameras/lenses have a minimum focus distance and if you try and take a photo closer than that, the autofocus simply can't work.

A better camera will probably have a Macro facility which will allow close-ups, but you'll need to try it out a bit to see how (and when) it works.

 

[oldius]

Patrick it's definitely both!

 

[oldius]

Thank you all and especially to devil for wishing me a nice trip. My son is ten and it's been an ambition to visit Rome since a school project four years ago. it's his Christmas present.

 

[NeilK]

The Lumix FZ is only £224 from Laskys at the moment if you want more than a "shirt pocket" camera.
www.laskys.com/cameras_and_camcorders/cameras/digital_cameras/panasonic_dmc_fz45eb_k.html?cm_mmc=Affwin-_-Feed-_-Digital_Cameras-_-670804&refid=affil&referred_site=aw&_$ja=tsid:6094%7Cprd:130606

If shirt pocket is fine then the Canon S95 mentioned is fantastic - I have the older S90 and as a simple 'point and shoot' it's fantastic.

 

[sam_cat]

I have the Canon Powershot S95 linked above, and its very very good. I use a fullsize SLR most of the time and this fills my need when I need something smaller and more portable. Its macro mode will focus as close as 5cm... Very impressed!

CameraPriceBuster is a good site for checking the prices: http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod1598.html
Sam

 

[oldius]

Bought the lumix from laskys. Thanks very much.