Need New Camera Fast!

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 10:39

Hi everyone,

My digital camera was damaged in a house fire recently and I have just recieved confirmation that the insurance will pay £212 for a new one.

The camera I had was a Canon powershot S30 which has been discontinued. So its time to find me a new one. I have been out of the digicam loop for some time now and so dont really know where to start.

Firstly, my budget is around £250, and for that I would like at least 512mb storage and preferably a case too.

I have a number of Sony products and so I have a few 512mb Memory sticks around, but this isnt a huge consideration I dont think - I would rather have a dedicated card for photos anyway so the format doesnt really matter.

I dont like Olympus or Kodak, i find them slow and badly constructed, but as I say i've been out of the loop for some time!
I would like as much optical zoom as possible, but I guess 4x will be sufficient.
Good battery life.
Movie function.
512mb storage.
Case if possible.

The Canon S70 looks great... would that be a good starting point?

Can any of you gurus recommend a model for me? I am hoping to purchase by the end of the day

.

Regards,

NeoNemesis

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 10:50

Wow those shots are amazing! To be honest I didnt even think that my budget would stretch to an SLR-esque unit. But that looks great.

I know I shouldnt buy the first thing i see but i'm very tempted by the H1 (cant afford the H2).

Could you tell me about the build quality and how it feels in your hands as I think that's very important with a camera...

Neo

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 10:55

Is there a good comparisons / review site around. I'm being slightly overwhelmed by lovely cameras now!!!

Just saw in the post above - dpreview.com. Thanks

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:21

Well seeing as I wont have to pay for any extra memory, I think i'm going to treat myself and go for the H2. I have found somewhere that stocks it for £250 and I deserve a nice new toy!

It will mean easy integration with the card reader in my Vaio Laptop and the features look like just what I want.

Thanks for all of your help

Neo

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 11:33

Cant find anyone who still stocks the H1. I'd really like to be able to use the old sticks tho...

NeoNemesis · 22 Jun 2006 at 13:24

I've done it. Bitten the bullet and bought a brand spanking new Sony H1. Thanks for all of your help - i'll let you know how I get on with it!