Digital Cameras - Specs to consider

gonzo127

the best place to look is at reviews, as well as the dpreview i look at cnet and trustedreviews

i personally like the look and sound of the panisonic fz38 (my brother owns the previous model the fz28 and i love that and try to steal it when ever i can) however it is over your price range at about £250 so not suitable

however a quick look around and although there is not much about the s2500hd since it is new but the s2000hd seems pretty good on the reviews so i would expect the 2500 would be as good and hopefully better

sillygoose

I have the S2000HD which is the slightly lower spec. version (10 megapixel 15x zoom) and love it to pieces. My photography has moved on considerably over what I could achieve with my compacts.
Mainly down to the zoom, the stabilisation, quick camera start up, speed of capture and superior optics.

High pixel counts can be useful on compacts with limited zoom as you can crop into the area you want on the picture but that also brings out the noise in the picture. With these mid sized cameras with plenty of optical zoom I find 10mega pixels more than enough.

The wealth of features on these cameras are outstanding value, also means I don't need a camcorder any more as this does the job as well, some people claim problems with zoom motor noise on video shot but I have not had that at all.

By the way its £199 on Argos not £150? (£185 on Amazon!)

2010

For the money £99 it`s hard to beat this 12m pixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX40 Digital Camera from M&S.

I know it`s out of stock at the moment but it`s been going in and out all week,just keep checking the link.
2 year guarantee as well.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FX40-Digital-Camera/dp/B002C4PEKS?extid=af_b_vouchercodes_hotukdeals

Lil306

totalsolutions wrote: »

Why are you hung up on a new camera when you say "I really don't play it enough because I don't understand all the functions" WT*

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Don't waste your money, you are not ready ! RTFM then.

The zoom control only an angular rotation of the body, nothing to get excited about.

What about Macro photography, try that.
Some people use "pin hole" cameras to experiment with try it.

I'm hung up on a new camera because I feel like a change, plus I want to get a new camera so I can put the other in the car as I'd like to travel around with a camera for the car and keep a good one in the house and quite frankly having 3 x optical zoom is pretty crap for photos when there are some long range pictures I can't get. Having 18x optical would be handy

I did read the manual I just don't understand the functions much so never use them at some stage if I want to get some really good pics I will because I know the functions are there. For the moment I'm mostly point and click

EDIT - Reading up on techniques now

gonzo127 wrote: »

the best place to look is at reviews, as well as the dpreview i look at cnet and trustedreviews

i personally like the look and sound of the panisonic fz38 (my brother owns the previous model the fz28 and i love that and try to steal it when ever i can) however it is over your price range at about £250 so not suitable

however a quick look around and although there is not much about the s2500hd since it is new but the s2000hd seems pretty good on the reviews so i would expect the 2500 would be as good and hopefully better

I used to use Steve's Digicams but I don't believe that site is active anymore, was a shame because they posted some great reviews. I'll try out those sites

sillygoose wrote: »

I have the S2000HD which is the slightly lower spec. version (10 megapixel 15x zoom) and love it to pieces. My photography has moved on considerably over what I could achieve with my compacts.
Mainly down to the zoom, the stabilisation, quick camera start up, speed of capture and superior optics.

High pixel counts can be useful on compacts with limited zoom as you can crop into the area you want on the picture but that also brings out the noise in the picture. With these mid sized cameras with plenty of optical zoom I find 10mega pixels more than enough.

The wealth of features on these cameras are outstanding value, also means I don't need a camcorder any more as this does the job as well, some people claim problems with zoom motor noise on video shot but I have not had that at all.

By the way its £199 on Argos not £150? (£185 on Amazon!)

I was looking at the wrong one, there is one in argos too (S1730) I misread it without looking. Doesn't matter too much, I'd pay up to £200 because I love the cameras and last one I bought was about £150 anyway

2010 wrote: »

For the money £99 it`s hard to beat this 12m pixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX40 Digital Camera from M&S.

I know it`s out of stock at the moment but it`s been going in and out all week,just keep checking the link.
2 year guarantee as well.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FX40-Digital-Camera/dp/B002C4PEKS?extid=af_b_vouchercodes_hotukdeals

Thanks, I'll keep that one to look at.. I'm not buying it yet just getting ideas on different models

Does M*s have a quidco link ?

Lil306

Viewed that site, I quite like the look for that one

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/77265/show.html?cm_vc=PPZ1

I'll have to remember to buy myself a tripod for the really stable photos however since they will be best for them

2010

Lil306 wrote: »

Thanks, I'll keep that one to look at.. I'm not buying it yet just getting ideas on different models

Does M*s have a quidco link ?

Don`t know,I used topcashback and the 5% showed within an hour.

bcl999

Lil306 wrote: »

Does M*s have a quidco link ?

I think so - there is definitely a topcashback one. It's usually 5% but was 8% one day last week. You'll need to check that cameras aren't classed as technology as cashback is different rate for that.

Lil306

Thanks

I'm going to have to learn to use those cashback sites as I know I can save money with them

Lil306

I'd just like to add this site is coming in useful for tips...

http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/digital_photography/tours/controls/index.html

Stompa

Lil306 wrote: »

I used to use Steve's Digicams but I don't believe that site is active anymore, was a shame because they posted some great reviews.

It still looks active to me:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/