Recommend me a sub £200 digital camera please

longwalks1

Below is my original post people, wa after a camcorder but on thinking, and sillygooses idea too, decided maybe a decent digital camera with HD video would be better, as I need a new compact anyway. So, open to suggestions? My ancient Sony T5 compact has died on me, so ideally want something small, as I have a Lumix FZ18, so not realllllllly looking for another 'big' camera, but anyone recommend anything worth looking at?


"Am after a video camera/camcorder (dont even know what theyre called anymore), what should i be looking for? For holidays, outside with the dog just the usual stuff

I'm guessing memory card is the current media used?

yours, confused"

forgotmyname

Depends what you want and how much you want to spend.

Lots of cheap chinese ones out there for £10+

HD ones with screens etc from £60+

Something with a brand name on the highstreet £200+

What do you NEED from it?

Quality/Storage/Wide angle or fish eye lenses, zoom?

InsideInsurance

Most use memory cards, some have internal HDs.

Do you want High Def or is SD ok?

Really, you need to be realistic about what you're going to get for your money. Where as digital cameras the difference between top end and moderate consumer cameras are not massive in the majority of cases (tends to be more about the amount of control you have) with digital camcorders there is still a massive difference between top end and bottom end. Outside in most days you'll get an acceptable result with most cameras. Once you get inside or in sub prime lighting etc is when the differences really start showing up.

Probably best for you to specify your budget first before people start shooting at the wrong level

andrewjf

low light is where most budget and intermediate range camcorders suffer.
I would recommend going for high definition. The picture quality is worth it.
I have a Sony HDR-TG3, and although it's a few years old, produces superb footage. Sony's video/photo management software is also top quality.

longwalks1

Hi all

My budget is up to about £150 really, althoguh could stretch a little more for a very good camera

Am after good quality image, storage I'd prefer memory card, and would like a flip out/rotate touch screen if possible

Not too fussed on a huge zoom, although I know most come with a half decent optical zoom these days

Thanks in advance

sillygoose

I used a camcorder for years but it was made redundant when I bought a Fuji bridge camera as feature wise the camera beats the camcorder..

How about a bridge camera like the Fujifilm FinePix S4300, can be had for £99 (Argos) and it means in one device you get a pretty decent 14MP Camera with 26x optical zoom, image stabilisation, half decent lenses..

but it will record 720P HD (1280 x 720) video at 30 frames per second, the only restriction is individual shoots can only be up to 29 minutes, you can of course immediately then start a new shoot(s) as long as you have a big enough memory card, I have not found it a real restriction as in typical life you wouldn't want to shoot a scene that long in one shot anyway.

You can connect to a TV with an HDMI cable or pop the SD card into the computer and the camera sensor is better than you will find in most cheap digital camcorders.

longwalks1

Thanks goose, you must of read my mind. I've got a Lumix FZ18 (about 6 or 7 years old but hardly used it), and was thinknig for up to £200 i could probably get a decent new digital camera with a good video recording quality.

What would you say is the best sub £200 bridge/digital camera with decent video recording capabilities?
Thanks again

sillygoose

britishboy wrote: »

Thanks goose, you must of read my mind. I've got a Lumix FZ18 (about 6 or 7 years old but hardly used it), and was thinknig for up to £200 i could probably get a decent new digital camera with a good video recording quality.

What would you say is the best sub £200 bridge/digital camera with decent video recording capabilities?
Thanks again

Haha! Sorry I am no camera expert but my older Fuji bridge does all and more than I need, perhaps have a look through the current Fuji range.

I used to carry a decent quality (on paper) compact digital camera as well as a camcorder (what a faff!) but when I got the bigger bridge camera it was shocking better for photos even though 'only' 10 megapixel. (powerful zoom lets you frame those pixels and get the most from them)

I am sure the camera buffs can explain why but a camera with a 40mm lens is so much better than a compact with a 10mm lens, you see it in the results you get.

The big advantage is you have a camera and a camcorder to hand, just a twist of the dial to choose mode and only one thing to carry, charge..

longwalks1

Thanks again goose

Should i start a new thread, as I'm now branching off to cameras instead of camcorders, or change the title of this thread? (I dont want all camera experts to sail past my thread as it says camcorder)

Thanks again

sillygoose

britishboy wrote: »

Thanks again goose

Should i start a new thread, as I'm now branching off to cameras instead of camcorders, or change the title of this thread? (I dont want all camera experts to sail past my thread as it says camcorder)

Thanks again

If you click on edit on your opening post, then ' Go Advanced' you can re-title this thread then maybe add a change of direction to the post text?

longwalks1

Thanks again sillygoose, post amended