Recommend a decent digital camera?

Tommy B · 29 Jul 2006 at 20:52

The days of using the old point and shoot cameras are over as I'm quite simply fed up with them. Can you buy digital cameras that have decent lenses (as featured on old cameras where you can obtain great depth of field) and shoot instantly?

Looking at £200-£350

Tommy B · 30 Jul 2006 at 13:33

C'mon guys. Just tell me what cameras you have and WHY you like them?

Many thanks in advance

bigredshark · 30 Jul 2006 at 13:43

Well personally I have a D200 for serious work and a pnetax optio wpi (which is carp but waterproof). For depth of field and good response I suppose you'd be looking at the fuji s5600 (i believe it is) which is close to an SLR without being one as it gets. I don't know how much it is though. You may want to look at an SLR (nikon d50 maybe) but it'd kill your budget

MichaelG · 30 Jul 2006 at 13:45

There are at least a dozen whole threads on here about different digital cameras. I won't try to summarise them, but i'll try and answer your question....

> Can you buy digital cameras that have decent lenses (as featured on old cameras where you can obtain great depth of field) and shoot instantly?

Yes

There are 1000s of good digital cameras. There are compact and SLR-type cameras with modern built-in lenses, which can give a good range of depth-of-field. There are DSLR cameras, each with a vast range of interchangeable lenses. A lot of people here tend to shoot with either a Canon or a Nikon DSLR. However many of us also shoot with compact cameras or even phone cameras.
As for shooting instantly, that depends on the start up time of the camera, the flash you may of may not be using and the focusing speed of the lens.

P_A_N_I_C · 30 Jul 2006 at 13:47

Tommy B said:
C'mon guys. Just tell me what cameras you have and WHY you like them?

Many thanks in advance

hiho

i think the problem is this gets asked a lot, and you will be pointed at http://www.dpreview.com/ to look at reviews.

sry but i'm new to the photography section and am ina a similar situation as yourself.

as far as i can tell, for this price range, 1/2 decent cameras are:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Sony Cyber-shot H5

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

one thing i'm having problems getting to grips with is the pricing, they just vary so much from site to site. e.g. the FZ30 is just over £500 on one site but on another is less then £350. i can't believe sites are not more competitive.

the fz7 can be had for just over £200 or just over £300 depending on what site you go to... crazy!

anyways, i hope some others can drop in some recommendations

SDK^ · 30 Jul 2006 at 14:14

Tommy B said:
C'mon guys. Just tell me what cameras you have and WHY you like them?

Well tell us what camera you are looking for ?
Ultra Compact
Long zoom etc...

???

Tommy B said:
The days of using the old point and shoot cameras are over as I'm quite simply fed up with them. Can you buy digital cameras that have decent lenses (as featured on old cameras where you can obtain great depth of field) and shoot instantly?

Looking at £200-£350

D-SLR cameras have not lag and and a massive selection of lenses available but you'll need to spend quite a lot more - probably around £500 for a basic camera, memory card and an average lens.

Tommy B · 30 Jul 2006 at 21:39

Firstly, thank you very much for all the information. I should have been more specific. Am I right in saying that SLR is where the camera takes the photo instantly?

I'm not really looking for a camera with changeable lenses, but I am after one that allows a great depth of field. (not sure if it's technically 'deep' or 'shallow' but you all know what I mean) Long zoom isn't really necessary, and whilst I'm not after a 'compact' one I don't want an enormous one either.

And of course I still want to be able to take good photos of family and friends on holiday

Many thanks, I'll have a read of the links.

SDK^ · 30 Jul 2006 at 21:58

D-SLR camera are much, much faster and better quality than any Point & shoot camera with a fixed lens.

The current best all round Point & Shoot camera available has to be the Fuji F30. It is very responsive, has class leading higher ISO performance and amazing battery life. It has it's bad points but is currently the class leader.

Retails for around £260

Review here : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf30/

Kop_Jedi · 9 Aug 2006 at 14:05

I am looking at the Canon S31S, since i need the big optical zoom for flying pictures.

I see them for around 350. Can anyone suggest a cheaper retailer or better camera?

Belly · 9 Aug 2006 at 18:16

Tommy B said:
Can you buy digital cameras that have decent lenses (as featured on old cameras where you can obtain great depth of field) and shoot instantly?

Looking at £200-£350

Usually when you want "depth of field" you make a decision how much in front and how much behind the subject you want to be in focus. This often requires a decision on each shot, or a series of shots. If you were at the races for example you could set the camera to have depth of field between the two sets of rails in focus. You can then stand at the same spot and take as many photos as you wish without worrying about focus (distance) and all shots should have the correct depth of field.

If however, you wanted the horse(s) at the nearsest rails only to be in focus you would have to made a different setting.

The same would go for taking a photo of say a butterfly where you might want a very narow depth of field - you would have to think about what you were trying to achieve for that shot, and, obviously you could not use the same setting at the races as you would for the butterfly.

I think you will need a camera with aperature priority and you'll need to study the hand-book.