Digital Camera Help

Tony_H_3

After having a little luck at jackpotjoy to the tune of £400.00 via greasypalm I have decided to treat my wife to a digital camera. To be truthful I am totally lost and am considering a Fuji A340 which I have found for £128.87 from a local shop.

Heres the dilema, I have an old 2.1 mega pixel cyber-shot Sony F55E. This is a fantastic camera but is obviously very limited by todays standard & this is the type of quality I would like to see in the new camera.

I have established that the above camera is 4.0 mega pixels and has a 3x opital zoom but is it a wise buy? Will it live upto my expectations compared to the Sony?

I am happy to hear your views on how best to spend my money, the most I'm looking to spend is £150.00 - £200.00

Waits patiently for advise!! ;D

queen_d_2

When I was looking for a digital camera last Christmas I found this website very useful:

internetcamerasdirect.co.uk

As well as cheap prices & free delivery I think it also gives very good opinions and stats on the cameras.
Hope this helps.

EvilMonkey

Tony,

I guess the first question is what are your expectations? What is it about the Sony that you love? What is it you hate etc.

A good place to check for camera reviews is

http://www.steves-digicams.com

Heres a quick snippet from his conclusion on the A340 "Bottom line - the A340 will make a good choice for those who want an inexpensive 4.0 megapixel camera that performs well outdoor -- however we can't recommend it as an indoor/flash camera. Its 4M/Fine images can produce high-quality 8x10-inch prints. If you don't need 4.0 megapixels of resolution, take a look at the A330, it's physically and functionally identical, but offers 3.2 megapixels for about $50 less."

So yes, it looks like its mostly ok, with the weak flash letting it down for indoor \ party pics....

Post if there's anything specific you're wanting your new Cam to do and I'll check it out if you like?

Tony_H_3

I don't know if you've ever come across the Sony digital camera but it has a decent weight & generally feels high quality. It's biggest let down I would say is that it is limited to upto 15 seconds of video clips. On the camera side of things you are able to adjust the "white balance" ...oO(I have no idea what all the settings do) & adjust the flash level, which gives the potential to make good indoor pictures. Personally though I find I usually & more often than not use software such as MS Photoeditor to enhance pictures if there is a need. It also has the ability to take pictures with effects such as black & white, sepia etc.

I do like the look of the A340 and would have to purchase a new card reader to support it's XD card use or look for an alternative make with similiar specs to my requirements but one which uses CF SM SD etc...

I am now going to take a look at the provided links for additional info. Thanks for providing them.

digital

Pixmania at http://www.pixmania.co.uk (although they are a French company and ship from France) have very keen pricing and there are £10 vouchers around at places like HotDeals (http://www.hotukdeals.com/Category31-All.phtml

My elder daughter has a Sony Cybershot P-93 and is very pleased with it so this week I bought another one from them for my younger daughter for £169 all in. 5 megapixel and 3x zoom (ignore all references to 'digital' zoom on any digital camera as it's worthless and something you can do later on on your PC).

From memory, I had looked at the Fuji you mentioned but I don't think it had a zoom which can be quite useful and doesn't always add a lot to the price.

I had previously bought a Fuji with 10X zoom from them which is an excellent camera but unfortunately the other side of £200 (although possibly less than your recent spot of luck!).

No connection with Pixmania other than that of a satisfied purchaser of three cameras.

welshknuckles1

Hi,

Stretching to £215.95 gets you a Canon A95

from 7daysshop.com

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_4_409_40901&products_id=99249

Simply the best camera for quality under £300

I have the A80 4 megapixel version and it is fantastic. By all accounts this camera raises the bar to a new level. Forget Sony the memory is soooo expensive.
Also this camera uses AA batteries

http://www.megapixel.net/cgi-bin/fs_loader.pl?p=http%3A//www.megapixel.net/reviews/canon-a95/a95-review.html


Sorry about the huge links but this camera is worth it 8)

welshknuckles1

If you must go under £200, it has to be the canon A85 4Megapixel.

£168 incl del

Tony_H_3

Wow, thank for all your help folks. I have a list of possibles and will be ringing around locally to view them with the wife. I have searched for the best prices and will give local retailers the opportunity of our custom, but I think actually seing the cameras is the next step.

Heres the list, I must stress as much as I would like to blow the full amount I cant and must stick to within my budget

Canon Powershot A85 (best price £171.00)
I do like this one it has a host of features and I will attempt to steer her towards this choice.

Konica G400 (best price £163.00) This is fast, but im really not sure about this one.

Fuji A340 (best price £112.00) This is pretty much what we are looking for, but is it the best of the bunch?

Sony Cybershot P73 (best price £153.00) I think I know what we'll be getting with this, but neither of us like the look of it!!

and finally

Olympus D-580 (best price £140.12) This looks just as capable as the others, but have had bad experiences with this company in the past. Not sure if this piece of kit is good enough to make up for that.

If there are any downsides to the above or things to look out for I would be greatful for feed back.

Tony_H_3

If you must go under £200, it has to be the canon A85 4Megapixel.

£168 incl del  

It's in me list

Tony_H_3

Just to put you all out of your misery, the wife returned home looked at the short list and these comments.

I have ordered the Canon Powershot A85 from 7Dayshop for £161.95. I have told the wife that she must also let me play with it!! Mwah ha ha ;D

tee_3

Beware the customs duty from 7dayshop