Digital camera advice please! Search used!

stmidwife

loaner wrote: »

The Sony is a bridge camera, so if the weight is the issue, you are unlikely to find anything much smaller.

The Sony A300 is a DSLR not a bridge camera!

Is the Nikon D40 worth getting with my list of requirements? I did like the look of it but wasn't sure?

stmidwife

loaner wrote: »

Oh sorry, my mistake (watching TV!).

No worries, just got a bit confused then! (Doesn't take much )

Marty_J

stmidwife wrote: »

Is the Nikon D40 worth getting with my list of requirements? I did like the look of it but wasn't sure?

I have one, and would have no hesitation in recommending it. It's light, small, relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and it takes absolutely fantastic pictures. If you want to take indoor pictures, or photos of fast moving things (such as kids), a dSLR will give you the best results.

You can leave it in auto until you get more comfortable with using it, and as your abilities grow, you can start using the manual modes and add accessories such as new lenses and flash guns.

stmidwife

Marty_J wrote: »

I have one, and would have no hesitation in recommending it. It's light, small, relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and it takes absolutely fantastic pictures. If you want to take indoor pictures, or photos of fast moving things (such as kids), a dSLR will give you the best results.

You can leave it in auto until you get more comfortable with using it, and as your abilities grow, you can start using the manual modes and add accessories such as new lenses and flash guns.

Apart from the weight, why would you chose the Nikon over the Sony?

nick.simpson19

I bought a Sony P200 about 2 years ago now 7.2megapixels 3 x optical zoom and its thes best camera i have ever owned!

So i say stay with Sony but get a smaller model . Im not too clued up on my cameras

Marty_J

stmidwife wrote: »

Apart from the weight, why would you chose the Nikon over the Sony?

Do you still have the Sony? You were talking about it in the past tense, so I assumed you had sold it or something.

If you still have it, you might be better getting a few photography books or taking a few evening classes. It would certainly be cheaper than a new camera!

bookduck

I was in a similar predicament a month ago. All I wanted was great pics, some video and good night (inside) shots.

You have to decide if you want to carry it in your pocket or bag. Also what you want to do with it. Non of the cameras are perfect in everything, so you have to prioritize the usage

I ended up going for a refurb g7 (G9 was too much £££ for what I wanted and I think it was bigger than the G7 too)

Wanted the D40. Seen a second hand one on amazon cost £199, but that would not fit in my pocket, and so would not carry it around. Panasonic ones either had bad video sound, lacked zoom, poor in low light and my friends had BAD macro shots, indoor photos in tube lights were a bit grainy - but could not tell him that

Canon to me seemed a very good all rounder, but not great at everything. If you just want to point and shoot, you cant really go much wrong with SD850 - sell for around £130 on the canon refub shop on ebay, or a newer model.

DwainDibley

It all depends as well on if you want the manual controls to play with when you're a bit more confident or are happy with 'auto' mode.

If you want to stay with Sony there's models like the W130, W300 etc., these both have optical image stabilisation, face priority autofocus - and even a 'smile shutter' - the camera won't fire the shutter until the subject smiles!

I've found with my Panasonic (The TZ3) is that it's noise reduction is too aggressive - even in well lit shots it seems to lose a bit of detail, and lower light shots (and therefore higher ISO settings) it's even worse. Otherwise it's a very good camera! Not sure if the TZ5 improves on my model's shortcomings though.

stmidwife

DwainDibley wrote: »

It all depends as well on if you want the manual controls to play with when you're a bit more confident or are happy with 'auto' mode.

If you want to stay with Sony there's models like the W130, W300 etc., these both have optical image stabilisation, face priority autofocus - and even a 'smile shutter' - the camera won't fire the shutter until the subject smiles!

I've found with my Panasonic (The TZ3) is that it's noise reduction is too aggressive - even in well lit shots it seems to lose a bit of detail, and lower light shots (and therefore higher ISO settings) it's even worse. Otherwise it's a very good camera! Not sure if the TZ5 improves on my model's shortcomings though.

From the reviews I wouldn't say that TZ5 has changed much. Can I just ask - what is noise reduction? Sorry for being dim!

stmidwife

Marty_J wrote: »

Do you still have the Sony? You were talking about it in the past tense, so I assumed you had sold it or something.

If you still have it, you might be better getting a few photography books or taking a few evening classes. It would certainly be cheaper than a new camera!

Hiya, I bought the Sony but as it was "unused" I was able to return it and get my money back. I hadn't thought about classes but to be honest with my midwifery degree, 2 kids and all the other stuff, I probably wouldn't have time.