New, Cheap compact camera advice

Shrimply

Thanks Chris, kinda swivelling here, the amazon FS30 say 2 to 4 weeks for delivery and I'm going away a week on sat and would like to have it by then if possible.

But I can get it for £99.99 at play,again only in silver and I much prefer it in black, but kinda grudge paying extra just for the colour.

I'm also still debating whether I can justify the cost when there are other, I'm sure perfectly acceptable cameras for quite a bit less.

Still very undecided really.

WhiteChristmas

I never go anywhere without a camera. When my big 'un is impractical, I use a Samsung compact with spec waaaaay below the one linked upthread - it's getting on for 5 years old and I've never had a moment's trouble from it. Based on that, I certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend Samsung compacts.

Shrimply

Well I've just re-read the whole thread again, and still not really any further forward.

I do really like the Panasonic Lumix, the 8x optical zoom is one attractive point, and I can get it in Silver for £100 from Play or black for £110 from Tesco. On looks and features it probably wins but it is quite a bit more than I would ideally pay ( £60 doesn't sound too bad, £100 sounds a lot worse - stupid but true) Plus I'd need a second battery and case etc - Can anyone recommend which battery to buy and where from cause I'm not sure I'm guessing it really has to be a Panasonic and even they seem quite pricey.

But I do want something I can relay one to take good pictures without too much help - having said that one of the Panasonics I'd looked at apparently didn't have many manual controls, which really isn't much good. And I want a camera that will last a while and I will enjoy using.

Having said that, there are lots of Samsung and Fujifilm cameras which fall into a much lower price range, and they don't get many bad reviews either - the problem with reviews though is that it isn't you using the camera, and you don't know if these people are using the machine properly, what they're level of experience is and what they expect for the money they are paying. I do generally feel like I'm going round in circles, bouncing between just buying the originally suggested £40 samsung, or buying the Panasonic at almost 3x as much .

Inactive

Buy the Panasonic, the Samsung will be nowhere near as good.

You can get spare batteries for Panasonic Camera's at;

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=3&type=3030&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp=

However the included battery will last a very long time before needing a recharge.

ukcarper

This site has quite a few reviews http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/

Norman_Castle

On looks and features it probably wins but it is quite a bit more than I would ideally pay ( £60 doesn't sound too bad, £100 sounds a lot worse - stupid but true)

Alternately, £100 is ony £40 more than £60. So £40 divided by four years (the time your last camera lasted) is £10 per year, or 19p per week, plus the £100 camera will be worth £15 to £20 more in four years time.
I have been using a lumix ls2 for the last four years and have recently got an lumix fx8. The ls2 uses aa's, the fx8 has a square camera battery. The fx8 battery lasts longer than 2000+mah aa's plus it charges in less than two hours compared to between 7 and 20 hours for the aa's depending on the charger. Fast aa chargers are expensive as are large capacity aa's.
My Lumix cameras are both very good.

PZH

Knarf44 wrote: »

i recently bought a Kodak M530 as a reasonably priced, simple point and shoot although it does have numerous settings the more discerning photographer can play around with. It's a shade under £70 from Amazon and so far I'm very pleased with it.

Review here: http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2010/09/09/Kodak-EasyShare-M530/p1

I bought a Kodak Mxxx something - and am very dissapointed with the slow focusing, blurred close-ups (Althought there is a seperate setting for this, it's a bit fiddly) and the back screen is totally impossible to see in even moderate sunlight.

Photos are ok though - once it decides to eventually focus. :rotfl:

ukcarper

phoodless wrote: »

I the back screen is totally impossible to see in even moderate sunlight.

Photos are ok though - once it decides to eventually focus. :rotfl:

Thats a common problem I have a dslr and have just bought a Lumix tz8 as a carry about camera and although it produces good results I find it a real pain on a sunny day. But it is almost impossible to find a compact with optical viewfinder.

TZ8 a good buy £149.95 at sainsburys

PZH

ukcarper wrote: »

Thats a common problem I have a dslr and have just bought a Lumix tz8 as a carry about camera and although it produces good results I find it a real pain on a sunny day. But it is almost impossible to find a compact with optical viewfinder.

TZ8 a good buy £149.95 at sainsburys

Should have said that I was with someone who had a Samsung and had no problems seeing the back screen :T

Shrimply

Inactive wrote: »

Buy the Panasonic, the Samsung will be nowhere near as good.

You can get spare batteries for Panasonic Camera's at;

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=3&type=3030&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp=

Thank you, so is it ok just to use one of these batteries, rather than a genuine panasonic one ( which are very expensive), bit weary in this area and not sure what's safe and what's not.

Unless anyone has any last minute advice I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get the FS30, probably in black from Tesco.

Yes I've pretty much made a decisions be impressed :T

-edit- and guess what, its out of stock