Need a new camera

[Propagator]

My 8 year old HP Photosmart is beginning to play up a little. The zoom is not working properly and other niggling little faults. Maybe it needs a good clean, but really now need to upgrade a bit. At the time I bought it this was a good camera at 3.2 mp but this has now gone through the roof. I am no photographer but like taking photos of what I see. I have no perspective for framing a shot, or eye for taking a photo.



Basically my needs for this camera.

Probably up to 10 mp
Zoom up to maybe 6 x
Need a fairly good Macro as I like taking close ups of flowers
Minimum 2.5" LCD screen as will have to get used to using a camera without a
viewfinder.
Face detection - maybe
Anti blur or image stablisation - dunno

Cost up to £250 quid.


Its a minefield out there looking at cameras and recommendations, so can you camera buffs help me out with pointers as to make, pros and cons

Thanks Props

[daveboy]

This one looks good.
Buy Panasonic DMC-TZ7 at The Digital Camera Shop, UK Online Digital Camera Dealers

[thairanat]

Check out the Samsung ES 60....has most of the features u want....12.2 mp, 2gig sd card.....bought one for 2700 baht.

[astasinim]

Like yourself props, im no photographer, and have similar needs to yourself. So just before Christmas I bought myself a lumix fs15 for £100. It does everything I want and more. The pics in the last couple of threads I did were using the lumix.


I got mine from this company
Panasonic Lumix Digital Cameras

Panasonic Lumix DMC FS15 Review

[DaffyDuck]

I swear by Canon - easy user interface, hackable (if you want, though I doubt you would), really great color fidelity, excellent compatibility with Mac & PC - most of the 10-12mp models cost around $200-$250.

[Aguda]

Hi Prop,

I have been an Olympus user for many, many years. Great quality equpiment
and great color. You may be interested in something like this:

Olympus E-PL1



Here is a link to the review.
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusepl1/

If this doesn't meet your tastes check out dpreview.com, It is a great resource for choosing a camera.

[Marmite the Dog]

Canon are the best, but not the best value.

The new Panasonics are very good.

Samsung should be avoided unless you like stuff with poorly written software.

[filch]

I swear by Canon

Canon are the best

I go with these two. Canon have always been my preferred choice.

[Propagator]

Thanks for your help so far, by majority the Canon looks the way to go. Will toddle aff and have a look at the reviews, keep the comments coming.

[thairanat]

BTW.....whats software got to do with a camera?

[Norton]

Bought a Panasonic DMC-TZ2 a few months ago. A total inept at photography even I can't take a bad pic with it.

[filch]

BTW.....whats software got to do with a camera?

Firmware, i.e. the operating system.

[Bung]

^ User interface.

I just bought a Panasonic TS1 It's waterproof down to 3m and ruggedised, just the ticket for sonkran, beach, waterfalls etc. takes great pics and video in HD. I paid $300 US

Google DP reviews for good info.

[Norton]

It's waterproof down to 3m and ruggedised, just the ticket for sonkran

Water will be no problem but the bladdy ice is hard. Hope it's armor plated.

[Bangyai]

Canon are the best, but not the best value.

.

Pretty true I'd say. I am thinking of getting a new camera myself and after a lot of research have decided on the Sony Cyber shot DSC H20 .Not because it is the best but it seems very good value at 200 quid ( 10,500 baht ) It has 10x zoom which unusualy can be used when you are in video mode which itself is HD ( high definition ) and a 3" screen. Also has macro mode. I'm opying for this as having seen the video quality I am really impressed. It also gets the thumbs up from a lot of reviewers.

[Marmite the Dog]

^ You'll regret buying a Sony. They're the Apple of the real world and like to lock you in to only using their interfaces, their memory, their whatever.

[slackula]

Probably up to 10 mp

Don't get sucked in by the pixels thing, it is a bit* of a marketing ploy. Choose one with as much storage as you can get.




* I am not really up on this, but my understanding is that because of the sensor sizes on modern "point-and-shoot" cameras putting 10 million pixel sensors onto a detector that is 1/4 inch square is not really beneficial. I am sure some of TD's members who know about this stuff could chime in but my understanding is that unless you want to print out billboards or something 6-8 MP is more than enough. A 10 MP camera with a crap lens is a waste of money.

[slackula]

They're the Apple of the real world and like to lock you in

Yeah, because my iMac and MBP can *only* print to Apple printers and can *only* download pics from Apple cameras right, they can *only* sync to Apple phones?

I can't use the GIMP for photo editing/pixel pushing or OpenOffice to write a letter?

I can't compile software on a Mac for use elsewhere?

FFS

[raycarey]

my wife bought this camera about a month ago, and is really happy with it..



Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (silver) Digital camera reviews - CNET Reviews

[Bangyai]

^ You'll regret buying a Sony. They're the Apple of the real world and like to lock you in to only using their interfaces, their memory, their whatever.

Thanks . More research required then. As props said :

Its a minefield out there looking at cameras and recommendations

The little Pentax E50 I'm using now is o.k. for most things but I've been beguiled by the HD video now offered on newer models.

[Propagator]

Thanks for all your help. Might have nailed it down to four now.

The Panasonic lumix ZX 1 at £220

The Panasonic Lumix TZ 7 at £215

The Canon Powershot SX 200IS at £221
(this has a viewfinder as well as LCD screen, a plus for me)

One other that I run across the Pentax Optio H90 at £155

No one has mentioned Pentax but they used to be a good camera, or so I believe.

Any pros and cons for the ones I have mentioned

[Gipsy]

Propagator, the 4 cameras you mentioned side-by-side. See the differences and chose the one according to your needs. I'm very happy with the TZ 7 as my 'Point + Shoot' camera.

Digital Cameras Side-by-Side, 4 cameras: Digital Photography Review

Beware. A newer model of the Panasonic DMC TS 7 ( ZS 3 in the USA) is coming, but will not hit the shelves before end of June, early July

[Aguda]

Propagator,
My recommendations, as Cannon, Nikon, Olympus and Panasonic all produce quality cameras. First read the reviews and pay attention to users comments, especially problems experienced with the models. Then look at pictures produced by each of the models and pick those most pleasing to your eye for colors, sharpness etc. Finally go to a large camera shop and handle the models you researched, how does it feel in your hands, does the layout of the controls work for you, will you be comfortable using the camera etc.? Then buy what works best for you and go out take some pictures and start a photo thread here on TeakDoor.

[Spin]

The Panasonic lumix ZX 1 at £220
The Panasonic Lumix TZ 7 at £215

Both are less than that on ebay mate.....

zx1 for 188 inc postage

TZ7 for 194 free delivery

[BigRed]

Regarding megapixels, see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/te...y/08pogue.html
The Megapixel Myth

To summarise, 6mp without cropping is ample for any size print, you need to double the number to make a realistic difference, if the manufacturers concentrate on pixels at the expense of digital noise, dmax (saturation), and resolution a 3mp camera can look better than a 6mp camera.

Megapixels have become the hly grail as it is the only measure people 'understand' and the only one quoted.