I have an older bridge camera, It's a Fujifilm and does most of what I want. I would love a DSLR but can't bring myself to buy one just yet. I'd definitely give Currys and PC World a look, got the missus a nice little Nikon point and shoot in there the other week £120 reduced to about £40.
Cheers bud... I've been in there today actually... The cheaper ones seemed to have lower optical zoom, but I'll certainly be keeping an open mind
Im a dslr guy so don't really follow the compact market. There is very little between models for the average user. Have a look at jessops... Always found them to be a much better deal than currys and pcworld. One thing to consider though is that if your struggling to find something in your price bracket with sufficient optical zoom for what you want, if you aim for something with a higher amount of megapixels and less zoom youll be able to crop the photos afterwards yet still have a photo of the same quality. To put it into perspective, 18megapixels can be printed larger than a bus stop advert while maintaining the same quality as a 35mm film photo. If your keeping your photos at normal size, youll easily be able to crop to what you want while maintaining the same level of quality and may save yourself a few bob too. You can pick up 20mp compact cameras for about £100 such as this... http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/90182/show.html Never used this (or any other point and shoot as I went straight from film slr to dslr) but im sure it will be more than enough for what you need.
I've used compact Fujifilm finepix cameras in the past and they're great. My most recent compact camera is a Panasonic DMC-TZ30 (bought on a whim) and it's been a let down due to grainy shots with anything other than perfect light conditions. Have a look at these reviewed compact cameras, I'm sure there will be one to your liking: http://www.dpreview.com/camerareviews?category=compacts&sort=rating
I'm quite stuck... Please know that what you're about to read (if you choose to do so - I'd suggest you don't, lol) is just a stream of consciousness, as I've not yet come to a decision... Part of me thinks 'eff it, that one for £50-100 will do', but I am buying this for special occasions like holidays and weddings etc, and it will bug me if it doesn't do some of what I want, and I know in the past I've been very impressed with the optical zoom that some offer... plus I am concerned that some of the cheaper ones may be built less solidly, and I want something that will last That one that rjvader posted does look good, and is only 100 quid... but then the one that Jazzi posted (Coolpix S9600) is higher spec and 'only' 50 quid more, which for something I want to keep and rely on doesn't seem bad)... but then I was impressed with that one I tried at PC World which was 200 (Sony HX50)... so to try and help me make my mind up I read a few reviews... they each seem to say that the Sony is the best value, for the features it offers etc... but they all say that the Canon Powershot SX700 is the one to buy... which at 270 is about another 70 quid... but then I think 'arghhh... may I should just get the cheap one' lol This looks like the best deal on the Canon... most places are charging this just for the camera, so to get the spare battery and memory card too does seem good... http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/canon-powershot-sx700-hs-starter-kit.html I don't wanna get something and be disappointed... either because it's crap, or because I felt I spent too much on something that isn't all that special... I think I do want the optical zoom, I appreciate what was said about get one with higher resolution, but the ones with optical zoom are also high resolution... meh I dunno Any useful comments again welcome...
Cheers Dougall, there seem to be some bargain bridge cameras on there, but nothing compact that jumps out at me - plus I'd always be a bit concerned they've got something wrong with them, so it'd have to be a bargain or I'd rather have new with warranty I wish bridge cameras would fit into my pocket as I'd already have bought one of them, lol Cheers for the reply
@Jazzi - do you know how long one of these cameras would record video on a single battery? Obviously I expect it to vary by make/model, but the few that have been mentioned here, any clue? Thanks (I put the @ before your name in case the forum is linked enough to let you know you had a mention? Might have been dumb, lol)
Yeah I got a notification Errr, to be honest I'm not sure on battery life. Maybe around 30-40 minutes continuous? I could be completely wrong though..
Oh, at least I know that works now, lol I've read in some places that 15 minutes was a push, but others day more... It could be a key spec, 15 minutes isn't enough... I hope you're right with 30 minutes plus, I'll have to try googling a bit more Thanks
Only when I'm with you mate... Ginger pricks who dye their hair with boyband blonde streaks REALLY turn me on, can't contain myself Now shut up please, it's been a useful thread so far!
Ive got a fugi finepix s2950 and a cannon powershot a470 and a newer cannon sx280 hs I can honestly say the cannon compacts are easier and better. just been to Tunisia and the pictures are a decent quality.
Cheers Stu... That cannon I've been looking at gets good reviews but it's a bit pricy How long will yours record video for on a single battery?
