Help choosing digital camera

Kido

I'm going to Vietnam in a couple of weeks and need a new digital camera. I've had a Nikon Coolpix P4 for about 5 years and it's been fantstic, but sadly it got dropped and my faithful friend is no more. Recently I've been using my brother's DSLR (it's a Nikon with HD movie capability) and although I liked that I only ever used it on automatic or preset modes and for what I want it's too big. I want something that's going to give me great pictures (as close to those on the DSLR on the automatic settings as possible) whilst being small enough to fit in my pocket or laptop bag. I'm not looking for anything fancy, it doesn't need to have video capability, it just needs to produce good pictures on auto settings. It would be good if it could have a portrait mode on it as I liked that on the DSLR.

Does anyone have any suggestions? There seems to be so many different models out there I don't know where to start.

buglawton

I am in the market for such a device too, this time, after experience with Panasonics, looking for something that can fit in the missus' handbag yet is truly capable with low light/no flash situations.

If price were no object it would be this very new model:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-XZ-1-Digital-Camera-i-Zuiko/dp/B004G8QSTO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297620311&sr=8-1

davester

Bridge cameras are bigger than compact but smaller than DSL.

Do you have a budget? as there are some good Super zoom bridge cameras for £250 ish

victor2

The Panasonic Lumix range consistently get good reviews. There's probably one in there to fit your budget. When I was choosing a camera, I wrote down my "essential" and "desirable" requirements and used that to narrow down the search. Ended up with a Fujifilm bridge camera, which I'm very pleased with, but if I was looking again, would seriously consider a Panasonic.
Don't forget to factor in the cost of a decent size memory card, spare battery and case. Most come with a charger, don't rely on charging it through a USB cable. The optical zoom is important to consider and many digital cameras have a terrific range. Digital zoom does nothing you can't do on a computer.
Go into a camera shop and get a feel for ones that interest you, even if you don't intend to buy from there.

buglawton

Been using Panny Lumix's for years and that's just the issue for me... all their truly compact models cannot handle low light well.

Kido

My budget is a maximum of £400 but ideally I'd like to spend a lot less than that, preferably about £300. I've got loads of memory cards so that needn't be a factor. I probably won't bother with a spare battery at first at least as I'll be taking the battery charger with me. Size is quite an issue and I don't want to be bothered with interchangeable lenses. I want to try and travel light. A decent optical zoom would be helpful. My old Nikon had a 3.5x zoom but I'd like more than that, but certainly no less.

Sorry I'm very confused reading all the reviews. The more I read, the more confused I get.

ukcarper

The big advantage of DSLRs and Cameras like the above Olympus is they have bigger sensors, which have less noise especially in higher ISOs, which can effect low light performance. But it is quite possible to get good results from compact cameras if you avoid the higher ISO settings.

I would think you would get a very good compact with a reasonable zoom for £300 bear in mind that with a big zoom at the higher end of the range it can be difficult to hold camera steady enough to get good pictures especially if the light is not to good.

Have a look here http://www.dpreview.com/

Sambucus_Nigra

Kido - I downsized from a Nikon DSLR to a Micro Four Thirds EP-1 a few months ago and the pics are stunning with a fraction of the weight. Interhangeable lenses but so light it's crazy. You don't HAVE to change lenses - you just can if you want. Comes with zoom lens but I ditched that and got a 50mm equivalent and have not looked back.

However, a few years back, I did my brother's wedding with a Fuji Bridge - a pretty nifty little camera and if I was going on a long trip, and the micro four thirds hadn't been invented - that's what I would get again. As long as your main technique isn't macro - and you only ever used a DSLR on auto - it will be plenty enough for your needs.

ukcarper

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Kido - I downsized from a Nikon DSLR to a Micro Four Thirds EP-1 a few months ago and the pics are stunning with a fraction of the weight. Interhangeable lenses but so light it's crazy. You don't HAVE to change lenses - you just can if you want. Comes with zoom lens but I ditched that and got a 50mm equivalent and have not looked back.

However, a few years back, I did my brother's wedding with a Fuji Bridge - a pretty nifty little camera and if I was going on a long trip, and the micro four thirds hadn't been invented - that's what I would get again. As long as your main technique isn't macro - and you only ever used a DSLR on auto - it will be plenty enough for your needs.

I believe the EP-1 hasn’t got an optical viewfinder how do you find screen in bright light. I fancy something smaller to complement my DSLR but I can’t get on with using an LCD screen. It seems very difficult to get a compact with an optical viewfinder.

victor2

Kido wrote: »

My budget is a maximum of £400 but ideally I'd like to spend a lot less than that, preferably about £300. I've got loads of memory cards so that needn't be a factor. I probably won't bother with a spare battery at first at least as I'll be taking the battery charger with me. Size is quite an issue and I don't want to be bothered with interchangeable lenses. I want to try and travel light. A decent optical zoom would be helpful. My old Nikon had a 3.5x zoom but I'd like more than that, but certainly no less.

Sorry I'm very confused reading all the reviews. The more I read, the more confused I get.

So you would need a camera that takes the same type of memory cards as you have, presumably SD, so that's not a problem. A spare battery is essential in my opinion. It's alright having the charger, but when you get that stunning view in Vietnam and your battery's gone flat, where do you plug the charger in and spend the next few hours waiting to charge the battery up? If you don't want to buy an extra battery, at least get a camera that runs on something like AA batteries so you can always have some spares with you.
For your budget, you will be looking at bridge cameras so you won't be changing lenses. They all tend to come with a good optical zoom range and most have image stabilisation, so that even at full zoom you can get a sharp picture. Those that work well in low light tend to do that using a very high ISO setting, which can badly affect the image quality. I find that by locking my ISO at 100 and letting it do the shutter and aperture automatically, I still get good crisp pictures in most light levels. To do that type of thing you want a camera that can be programmed in such a way, so that it is semi-automatic.

Sambucus_Nigra

ukcarper wrote: »

I believe the EP-1 hasn’t got an optical viewfinder how do you find screen in bright light. I fancy something smaller to complement my DSLR but I can’t get on with using an LCD screen. It seems very difficult to get a compact with an optical viewfinder.

Absolutely fine - I am a Holga fan so you don't get to see what is on that film for a week or so. And no viewfinder. That's half the magic - taking time to properly think about your images before you press the button.