Page 1 of Which digital camera ?

I hope this is the right forum,I can`t see any other suitable one.
I`m looking to change my digital camera.
I have £200 to spend.
It must be easy to use as my wife will be using it as well as myself.
I would like it to have as big an inbuilt memory as possible (or cheap memory cards) and I would prefer if it had a built-in battery that can be recharged,rather than having to buy batteries.
Any suggestions ??? :/

Try http://www.steves-digicams.com/
Or
http://www.dcresource.com/

Both good review sites. A word of advice. Don`t get hung up on the mega pixel thing. There`s more to a digital camera than just how many mega pixels it is. Lots of good choice out there for £200.

go for the optical zoom rather than the digital, if it dont have optical then dont bother.
should get a good one for £200. :)

My daughter got a £100 Fuji from Asda before Christmas,3.3mp and 3x optical zoom,plus a good lens,bought a seperate inteligent A4 charger with 4 NI-MI batteries for less then tenner from Argos ( camera takes 2),Well impressed with the camera and battery life,only downside there was no case with the camera :)

This item was edited on Friday, 11th March 2005, 00:34

Get a Canon Ixus (probably a iv for that money). Great looking and performing camera - memory cards are cheap these days and it uses rechargeable Li-ion batteries. Try www.ebuyer.co.uk

I second looking at steves-digicams.com it is an excellent site.

Depending on size you want and zoom, I have an Olympus C-765UZ, has an excellent 10x Optical zoom, is simple to use but has advanced stuff also should you want it..

If you want something small and pocketable, Casio`s Exilim Range are good too (pentax lens). Nice big displays and easy to use, small and cool looking too.

I ordered from Pixmania, there based in France and are normally the cheapest, you still get the european warranty and I have had no problems. However, if it broke you would have to send back to Olympus I belive.

This item was edited on Friday, 11th March 2005, 11:25

I have two digital cameras. A Fuji & a Nikon. Both ar great, the pictures on both out perform dearer (other name) cameras. I take students & see many makes of cameras & transfer their pictures to CD for them. I see Japanese cameras & phone cameras we will only see next year...if at all. I think all the people have given good advice but unless something super duper comes out from another make I would make Nikon my first choice, Fuji second then Canon. That does not take anything away from Olympus etc, it`s just of the camera`s I`ve seen in my house they perform that bit better.

Ive got a 5.1 mega pixel sony cyber shot and to be honest I think i have used the 5.1 megapixel setting once or twice. For the size of the photos i usually print out the difference is utterly negligable between 4 and 5. And 5 just eats up room on the memory stick. I usually keep it on about 3, unless theres something particularly spectacular I want to take, but for everyday pics it does just fine.

As has been mentioned, the optical zoom is a key feature. But its also worth noting that a lot of the higher spec ones have a lot better quality controls, like white balance, on screen histograms and so on, so while the mega pixel aspect may not neccesarily be crucial its a good indicator of how well the camera will be able to process the image, if you see what i mean.

Bowfer

Bought myself a Canon A400 at Christmas. Only cost me £140 with an extra 64Mb card. Takes SD card which are relatively cheap compared to some of the others. I use some rechargeable batteries. if you don`t go in for fancy zooming etc, they last quite a while. Huge MP ratings just eat up your card. Read up on the best MP ratings (catalogues from photo shops etc) for what you want and look at cameras with that rating.

Only problem I`ve had is red-eye but I`ve been given tips on avoiding. It mainly due to cameras being so small that the line of the flash is very close to the line of the lens. best solution, turn off flash and illuminate with other source (ie turn on lights). Obviously can`t use everytime but my under photos have been better since.

Mike J

Bowfer

In summary, you`ll just get people praising their own cameras. You prob can`t go far wrong with any of the leading makes. Most are now over 3MP and have an optical zoom. Many also have a red-eye reduction mode that fire a pre-flash to contract the subject`s pupils.

Go on the dcmag site (or get Digital Camera mag as that will have lots of ads for you to compare prices) and look at some of the reviews within your budget! There`s no pint paying for features like WB and exposure adjust if you`re not going to use them.