Digital camera advice please

[Deleted User]

I can't see a sub-£100 model olympus and the reviews I found suggest that the model linked to has a rather slow shutter lag.

Buy the latest model you can - i've owned half a dozen digi cams and the most obvious change has been the decrease in shutter lag. It was amazingly frustrating with my first digi-cams.. they'd take a couple of seconds to take a photo. My newest one can now takes them with no obvious delay

lynnexxxo

I can't suggest what you should get, but I have a HP m417 photosmart that came with a printer. I really don't like it - it takes ages to start up, after you take a couple of pics it says 'processing' for ages and you miss photo ops.

Also the printer isn't very good, the ink is expensive, as is the paper and the prints stick together with the slightest moisture and are wasted.

IMO, I'd avoid.

MeNikki

As other posters suggested don't overdo it on the megapixels. Seriously anywhere between 3 and 5 MP should do it for home/holiday use (as in printing pictures at 5x7 to a max of A4).

I was once given a little Fuji Finepix as an x-mas prezzie by my partner, only 3.3 MP but Fuji has a technology in-built that could smartly double the size to a good 6MP....I have printed pictures from that camera up to A3..... ok to be fair I spent a little time in Photoshop with it, however, the quality was good enough. And it worked a treat in A4.

For me the major drawback of loads of small digital cameras are the batteries. No matter how long the company says they last...at some point you will have to buy a new one or maybe just a second one if you think you will take loads of shots. A spare battery for my camera cost £45.....

So here my top tip:
Buy a camera that can take AA batteries. you can purchase rechargeable ones at a very decent price and if ever you run out you can walk into any store and buy a pack of AAs

I bought a little Fuji Finepix for my brother last year for x-mas. 5MP and with AA batteries. a year ago that cost me £95 for the camera, a pouch and a memory card.

it is worth looking around and I would say too that the most important features are:
-size (small is good, however again too small will make the buttons tricky to handle)
-make (it pays of to invest that little extra in a camera from well-established companies like fuji, pentax, canon, nikon or sony)
-megapixels (but don't overdo it)
-in-built zoom (only look at optical zoom, digital zoom is just digitally zooming in on the picture and is fake-zoom...you can do the same in your computer)
-batteries (personally i prefer cameras that like AA batteries, this will compromise the size a bit as the camera will need to accomodate the batteries)
-price (you want to stick to a budget)

jessops, curry's digital etc are all good places to have a look. There you can get a close look at the camera, touch it and get some explanation.

Look on the internet to see if you can find your chosen camera cheaper, print out what it costs and take it back to the shop you saw....Some places will price-match or at least throw in a freebie like a camera pouch or memory card. It's always worth haggling

good luck

koopa_troopa

melbury wrote: »

I want to buy my son a digital camera for Christmas - price range about £60-£90. Don't really want to spend more than that in case he loses it, as he is away at university.

Any advice on make, best place to look, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Fujifilm F20

Very highly rated. If you can find one in your local Tesco they're currently going for £67.

andybrock

Id recommend the F20 too,picked one up in Tesco on thursday,marked up 73.34 and discontinued.It scanned at 67.34.Great camera for that price.Anyone recommend a case for a decent price?

saver123

I got the Fuji F20 in Tesco store for £67. It is very good.

saver123

andybrock wrote: »

Id recommend the F20 too,picked one up in Tesco on thursday,marked up 73.34 and discontinued.It scanned at 67.34.Great camera for that price.Anyone recommend a case for a decent price?

The tesco value case for £2.49 fits it perfectly.

tiamaria

I bought the F20 today as well. It pays to ask them to check the price as in our store it was priced at £149.99, but scanned at £67.47.

Tribulation

http://www.cameras.co.uk/

has loads of info on buying advice, what to look for etc. Has a huge review section with examples of photographs taken from each camera, so you can do a good comparison.

I learnt a lot from there.

andybrock

Thanks Saver123,does it have a item number or description?