digital camera help

gonzo127

hey all, really hope you can help

ok so its my step daughters 14th birthday soon and we are looking at getting her a new digital camera, she has previously had the fuji z100fd which she loved and used virtually every day, however due to the wonders of a teenagers ability to look after it, it has finally bitten the dust

so now we are looking at a new one i am looking at getting her something a bit more advanced to allow her to start learning more about photography, which she has appeared quite keen on when we have brought it up in passing, now i have been looking around and feel i have narrowed it down to 3 models each with pluses and minuses

my budget ideally is £150 although i might go a bit higher if it is massivly justified

the Fuji F80 EXR (~£140) - big bonus on this would be the EXR tech to allow better low light photos and some more interesting experimentation, the biggest problem in my mind is that appears to have the worst picture quality of the 3 i have found in normal situations

The Samsung wb600 (~£130) - the biggest bonus is the optical zoom of course, the biggest problem appears to be its low light capabilities

and finally the panisonic tz8 (~£180) - of course biggest bonus is that it appears to do everything very well and seems to be generally considered to be the class leader, biggest problem is its quite over budget as i seem to only be able to find it at around £180 give or take £5

so can any help with some thoughts on these camera's (or others i might want to consider),

is the tz8 really worth the extra for someone who is still learning and who will probably be taking photo's of herself and her friends for ~70% of the time

do you think the extra zoom would compensate for less than great low light abilities (max print size would be A4)

is the EXR tech really that good in low light and would it be worth a slightly worst photos in normal light conditions (once again taking into account the max print size) also is 10x optical zoom really going to be a hinderence compared to the 12x or the 15x of the others

jackieblack

TZ8 £168 here http://direct.tesco.com/search/default.aspx?search=TZ8%20&confirm.x=40&confirm.y=8

ukcarper

The extra zoom can be more of a hindrance than help if you don’t really need a long zoom. When using flash it is easy to zoom in and be out of the flash range, also it can lead to blurred photos due to camera shake or the picture being ruined by excessive noise as the camera increases ISO.

althas

If she is wanting to progress some into more advances photography, you have two real options. A Full blown DSLR (realistically £350+) or what is known as a "bridge" camera

The bridge camera has a mix of both worlds, and will give her some good control over things like shutter speed, exposure etc, which will allow her to start to experiment with things (for example the long exposure of a road at night, and all you see is the streaks of light from the car headlights kind of thing)

Now, like all things, you can pay £100 or you can pay £1000+ and everywhere inbetween

Now for the range you are looking at, you can get very good equipment

Something along the lines of http://www.trustedreviews.com/filter/digital-cameras?price_min=nmin&price_max=150&score=0&section_id=10&filter=143&manufacturer=0&submit.x=18&submit.y=13 would be ideal

It has the look and feel of a DSLR, a good zoom, which I think is a good thing. As you daughter is learning, she needs to make mistakes as well. So having a big zoom will show her about flash distances, camera shake, exposure and shutter speeds, using tripods and on. It will be a good thing

And of course being digital, it does not really cost to make a mistake, no film to develop

gonzo127

thanks althas,

although the bridge camera is an idea i have played with, i have kinda discounted it mainly because she is only turning 14 and generally doesnt want to carry a biggish bag around for her camera, and i can just imagine her taking it out getting feb up of carrying it so putting it down whilst they muck about and then leaving without it,

so the ones i have been looking at are all compact cameras which shoud mean easier for her to pop in a pocket, but they all also have manual controls for shutter time, appature control etc, so she can start to learn about that aspect of photography and they have all also got at least 10x optical zoom and image stabilisation to allow her to have a decent range

Lirin

Go look on Ebay. Backing up one model on each camera, you can pick up a fairly good one for nothing. Recently got my dad a Minolta for £24, which is more than adequate for his needs, and he loves it.
You can pick up cameras that have been barely used/ or were new presents and never opened.
One I've always found very handy, and very popular was the Olympus Mini-mju and mju-S.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05021711oly_stylusverves.asp

I can't recall what the replacement was called, though, but they are funky cameras aimed at teens, mainly! They have nice design, good looks- and are fairly robust.

The site I've linked above- dpreview- is fantastic to compare and review cameras.

I was going to suggest a bridge til I saw your reply to Althas.... it's a good 'tester' to get into photography.

Do remember, with compacts, there is no problem over mega-pixel rating. The lenses used are not full crystal/laser cut, and can have plastic elements- you will get the same quality from a 5mp as you will from a 10mp. Sony get around this by artifically enhancing the images in post-process, by sharpening them.

Olympus are funky, Canon are durable, Nikon have great quality but slightly shoddy bodies. Sony are good, but accessories etc will cost. Pentax and Panasonic- nice sharp images, prices not too bad. Fuji good quality, sometimes pricey for accessories.... I could go on.

Image stabilisation is found more and more in compacts now, but wouldn't worry overmuch about having it- compacts are very light, and there's always a chance of blurring anyway.

Preferably, I'd look at which ones support SD cards- purely as they're often pennies to pick up compared to others.

gonzo127

cheers Lirin

i have looked on DPreview however cant seem to come accross the reviews of the TZ8, wb600 or the f80exr which is about right for my luck sometimes, however been looking on trusted reviews, cnet, expert reviews, techradar and photographyblog at the reviews

as to funky, well i went with funky with the z100fd - bright pink, metal body fashion camera was great for the time however i am trying to encourage her to move forward with the photography so am looking for substance over style this time

hm isnt it always fun picking these things