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Digital camera

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Would be really grateful for some help for my future MIL.

OH's brother lives in Oz and she is going out to visit in a week or so. For Xmas this year they have requested a digital camera. They already have one, so I suspect they want a good one. They have 2 little boys who she only sees once every 2 years so obviously it's in her interests to get good pics of them.

We have suggested that she buys one out there, but she tried that with their last big present, a PC, and got completely fleeced. Whether that was by the Northern Queensland computer market or her daughter in law is not my place to comment. :rolleyes:

Anyhow, she is coming up this weekend and wants us to help to look for one here, and then she will obviously get an adaptor for it to be used in Oz.

Any recs for a good buy at the moment? Have looked on the Shop and Grabbit boards but nothing recent seems suitable. I think she would want at least 5 megapixels and 3 x optical zoom. Is there anything else we need to look for when thinking about photographing fast moving children?!

If available on the high street, all the better as otherwise I will probably have to order it online for her.

TIA

Comments

  • Meeten
    Meeten Posts: 236 Forumite
    100 Posts
    have a look here:

    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0508/05082202canona610a620.asp

    search the regular places for best deals....
    One day I want to be the pigeon...... and not the statue!
  • Dennis99
    Dennis99 Posts: 387 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    When I bought mine I found cameras.co.uk a great site, there's an Advice Centre, Camera Selector and price checks.
  • vansboy
    vansboy Posts: 6,483 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    https://www.digitaldepot.co.uk they're suggested by the guy taking a digital camera course, I'm taking

    VB
  • You'd probably be better posting this on the Techie board as the guys in there really know there stuff when it comes to digital cameras (also MSE user Evilmonkey gives great advice!)

    Here's the link to the board-

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=29

    Good luck!
    "There are no pockets in a shroud..."
  • Thanks for all the recommendations. Will check out the sites and give the Techie board a go too.
  • Fondue wrote:
    I think she would want at least 5 megapixels and 3 x optical zoom. Is there anything else we need to look for when thinking about photographing fast moving children?!
    Yes. You need a camera with minimal shutter lag. This can be a real problem with some. I read a review of one camera with a lag of over 3 seconds. Anyone with kids will know that if you have to wait that long between pressing the button and the camera taking the picture, you've probably missed the moment.
    This information will probably not be on the manafacturers' pages, so check out some independent reviews.
    My Fuji Finepix F610 is very good (for a digital camera) in this respect; shutter lag is normally well under a second on autofocus, and not much slower than a film camera when pre-focussed. It is a well-specified camera (6.3 MP, or 12+MP output when using interpolation, 3x optical zoom, choice of auto and manual controls, loads of useful features) and it's easy to use in auto modes. The twin screens (one for the picture, one for exposure info etc) make it very easy to see what you're doing. I have one or two minor niggles with it (e.g. colour rendition on screen is not always an accurate representation of recorded colour, which is normally very close to the actual subject), but overall I'd certainly recommend it if you can find it a price which suits you. I paid £175 for mine (then half the RRP) several months ago, and I've taken some very good (imho!) shots of fast-moving kids (and various other subjects) with it.
    What sort of price range did you have in mind?
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