The billionth thread on digital cameras

stick with the 5 top (big) brandnames and you should get one with a good chip in it. that means you wont have to wait for ages for the contrast to sort itself out before taking piccys. best advice is go to a shop and have a play with a few - you'll soon see the difference. & make sure you look at the really expensive ones so you know exactly how close to great the cheaper ones are.

This one seems like a good deal but not sure if you can get it (the deal not the camera)in the US

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002BRJDS/ref=br_lf_li_1_2/026-9511758-6079632

(And they can cost $50 or more!)

(this has been the case with film SLR cameras for quite a while too, at least in my experience)

And look:

Fujifilm FinePix E550.
PC Magazine, p NA 16-03-2005

The Fujifilm FinePix E550 6.3MP compact boots as fast as any digital camera we've tested (aside from digital SLRs). Focus is quick and there's hardly any lag on the shutter release or from shot to shot, as long as you're shooting without flash. The E550 uses Fujifilm's own SuperCCD HR sensor, which competes well with the spate of 7MP cameras recently released on the market, especially when shooting at the intelligently interpolated 12MP mode. We're quite enamored of the E550, which takes very good images with little fuss. And at $499, this camera is such a great deal that it's an Editors' Choice for compact cameras.

And that's at $499! Mike's right - there must be a catch.

I've had this camera since February and I really love using it, I'm very happy with the quality of the pics it can produce. Also you can set it to take 12mp RAW files which is very cool, mind you, you'll need a 256m card at least.

what does that mean? do you mean because you'll be able to take more pictures?

?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v426/Pernfors88/I_D_RATHER_JACKresize.jpg

I will keep you all informed of the catch.

This is a terrific digital camera for under $200.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a510.asp

Ask Ned!

1. Canon
2. Nikon
3. Pentax
4. Olympus

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Konica_Minolta/konicaminolta_dimagez5.asp

Reputable brand, popping colors and pictures that work right out of the camera. From what I've heard. I've never owned one, but something about the Battlestar Galactica design just says "sex" to me.

haha well haven't I been pwned. still, it's nice and compact.

Hey, it's a Canon camera. Like I said, you can't lose. Canon makes cameras. That's what they do.

Still, I'd have bought a Powershot with manual features, just in case you care to learn to use such things.

But yes, Canon seem to know what they're doing. Shutter lag on my cutesy point-and-shoot Ixus i is virtually nonexistent.

right. my piece of shit fuji finepix compact thing got nicked last week. two things i hated about it:

1. it made things seem further away than they actually bloody were
2. digital zoom = suXor

i've been told by more than one professional type that spending loads on anything more than 6megapixels is a fool's errand because i'm just an amateur snapper/flickr chap/impromptu gig immortaliser etc.

your thoughts, please. i'd rather not spend more than £100 on the camera itself, although more for a memory card, case etc. are argos/amazon a terrible idea? both have what look like great budget models for £70 with 3x optical zoom, video with sound etc. where else to recommend in londres?

I am not up on current models, but two things I'd say are 1) don't get hung up on megapixels. For a sub-£100 model, the megapixels you'll get as standard now are overkill for the quality of the optics anyway 2) get one with a viewfinder. You may get annoyed with it being inaccurate, but at least you'll be able to see it in bright sunshine, unlike a cheap LCD display, and what's more, it allows you to rest the camera against your face, which means you can hold it steady and have less camera shake.

I like Fuji Finepixs, mind. Perhaps you got a duff model. They're pretty good in low light. Being able to take photos indoors without a flash is a major plus for a cheap camera.

i really hated it so i'm quite pleased it got nicked. less pleased about the two years-worth of pictures on my memory card that went with it.

NO I HADN'T BACKED THEM UP STOP BLOODY ASKING EVERYONE.

humph. going shopping on oxford st tonight after work. is dixons totally useless? jessops too hoity-toity for me? i suspect so.

prices way cheaper on intarweb

jessops are fine if use the web to order and then pick up in store, cheaper that way. i've used it loads of times, no problem at all.

dixon know nothing about everything. i wouldn't buy a TDK ferric90 from them.

I couldn't help myself the other day in Dixons/Currys Digital on Oxford Street - a chap was getting zero help from a salesperson on scanners (he wanted something affordable that could do A4 documents and mounted slides) so I chipped in. He was well chuffed! Hope he's happy with his CanoScan 4400L (which he probably ended up buying on TCR or online). I don't even have one myself, maybe I steered him wrong...

How affordable are the Ricohs? They always look the business.

dixon know nothing about everything. i wouldn't buy a TDK ferric90 from them.

i appreciate this major shortcoming of most high street stores, but otoh i can't reach into my computer screen and hold the camera in my hand or play with it at all, which is really what i'd like to do.

solution: check stuff out in shops then buy online anyway! rah.

OH THE GUILT

TWO YEARS' WORTH OF PICTURES ON A MEMORY CARD? ARE YOU MENTAL?

Seriously though -- did you never want to ... look at the pictures you'd taken?

I got my eye on the Fuji s6900, but where is a good place to get this?