Cheap mid-range branded digital cameras.

Speedee

brownbake wrote: »

Don't bother getting a camera that takes AA batteries - trust me you will regret it.

You will have to either keep buying batteries or spend out and buy high capacity rechargables and a charger.

Lidl have an excellent charger in stock tomorrow (I got one last year), getting another tomorrow for friend who has kicked himself since he passed up my offer to get him one at the same time!!

They are £10, take up to 6 AA / AAA or 4 C or D's and 2 PP3's. They test the state of the battery before discharging and then charge at a fast rate too.

Rechargeable Batteries are on sale too!! usually high capacity (2500mAh for AA) and £2 a pack of 4 AA / AAA or 2 C/D, 1 PP3; I have loads for model planes.

I have a Sony W50, it was a good buy last year, it is a bit slow on indoor auto-focus, but reviews with the Canon Ixus 60 I was going to get were similar, and it was cheaper, where I got it (small high street shop).
It has a view finder, which is great for outdoors summer shooting, as you can't always move - at Clacton Airshow I would of got my feet wet in the North Sea!!

:money: Speedee

theloser_2

:j

Duffy_Moon wrote: »

My daughter wants a camera for her birthday, she will be 13, I want a reasonably robust one !! would the ones above be suitable or can anyone recommend any others

At 13 your daughter will most probably be more savvy than you about the usability of most cameras and as for robustness, the cameras mentioned will be perfect

theloser_2

Dinahmyte wrote: »

Before I bought my new camera my friend said to be sure and get one with a view finder. I wish I'd remembered that advice. Does anyone else have problems seeing what they're taking in the screen? All I get is reflection! Then I have to find somewhere dark to check what I've taken and maybe delete it and try again! Has anyone got an answer to this problem- not buying another camera!?

Yes, the screen on digital cameras can be a problem, SOME have a focus aid light to illuminate a subject in dark conditions such as parties, the ones I've seen certainly help to FRAME a shot, although detail is not there and the pictures are still fairly randon. In some ways this adds to the candid nature of party shots though. My optical viewfinder has saved me many times, the current crop have technology built in that also brightens the optical viewfinder whichs helps a lot.
Sunny conditions bring more problems in terms of reflection on the screen. There is a simple gadget that will help, it's an old idea and can be found on high end cameras such as Hasselblad. it's a folding light shield that sticks on the back your camera around the viewing screen, close it when camera not in use, open it and it surrounds the screen to shade it. You could even make a simple one yourself out of thin black card.

jamwa

Be very wary of purchasing a Samsung camera
1. I have a Samsung digi camera and the battery life is usually 10 pictures before replacing and I use Duracells!!! and a friend had bought a Samsung and they too have the same power hungry problems..please correct me if I am wrong as this is a good deal....

theloser_2

For those who have not seen them yet you can now buy LITHIUM AA batteries. They're not expensive. I have thoroughly tested these and I can happily report that they do exactly what the manufacturer say they do and that is LAST AGES! The claim is around 700 photos and that seems about right. This has transformed my picture taking because I don't have to keep worrying about when the batteries are going to die (again!) and I was sick of buying and carrying loads of batteries with me "just in case". Even my rechargables would only take about 20 pics. I was on the verge of throwing my camera at the nearest wall!
Batteries always die quicker if you review photos constantly so if you want them to last longer just don't keep flicking back to check your work.
You cannot charge batteries when there is not electricity available so these LITHIUM AA's now offer a real solution.
I think it's about time more manufacturers addressed this problem and offered more cameras with the ability to use both types

buses7675

Hi All,

I use AA batteries in my Samsung camera (an older D73) but the ones I bought which are very good are Uniross Hybrio batteries.

These come already charged in the pack and can be recharged using a normal AA charger, but accoring to their site, will retain their charge very very well, reportedly after a year they'll still be approx 70% of when they were charged!

The ones I got, the only available I think at AA size, are 2100mAh ones, from Wilkinsons (around £6 for a pack of 4 IIRC), but these outperform by a long way my 2800mAh ones I bought from 7dayshop for the main reason that they don't lose the charge quickly when not used! This is a very useful feature if you wnat to charge a spare set but aren't sure exactly when you are going to need them.

I've had one set in my camera for around about 8 weeks, and took probably 80 odd pics over that period when they finally ran out! The 7dayshop ones would only ever last about 7 days, my 'normal' Unross ones lasted about 2 weeks, but these are far far better!

Cheers

Steve

icefall

buses7675 wrote: »

Hi All,

I use AA batteries in my Samsung camera (an older D73) but the ones I bought which are very good are Uniross Hybrio batteries.

These come already charged in the pack and can be recharged using a normal AA charger, but accoring to their site, will retain their charge very very well, reportedly after a year they'll still be approx 70% of when they were charged!

The ones I got, the only available I think at AA size, are 2100mAh ones, from Wilkinsons (around £6 for a pack of 4 IIRC), but these outperform by a long way my 2800mAh ones I bought from 7dayshop for the main reason that they don't lose the charge quickly when not used! This is a very useful feature if you wnat to charge a spare set but aren't sure exactly when you are going to need them.

I've had one set in my camera for around about 8 weeks, and took probably 80 odd pics over that period when they finally ran out! The 7dayshop ones would only ever last about 7 days, my 'normal' Unross ones lasted about 2 weeks, but these are far far better!

Cheers

Steve

I use the Hybrio batteries too, have to agree, they are very good and they do last a lot longer, I got mine when they were reduced for a while on the Amazon site. I could never use anything else now.

mickyblue_2

I've been looking at getting a new digital camera for a while, ive found this on play.com (Kodak Easyshare Z1285 12 Megapixel Digital Camera) priced at £109 pounds, it has numerous functions including HD video. can anyone shine some light as to if this is worth buying? and what if any accessories would be needed - thanks

deanos

Too many pixels on a small sensor and its a Kodak, i would avoid

BoingBoing_2

Why would you avoid Kodak? I'm looking into getting the M763 easyshare...