Recommend me a digital camera please, ~£300

Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2004
Posts
3,921
Location
Bucks
My old Fuji has decided to start taking nothing but brilliant white photos and seeing as it is out of warrenty I've decided to invest in a new camera :D

I'm a camera noob really so need advice on which to buy. I really like long exposure shots and captured some good ones with my old camera, like the one in this thread;

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17525010

Budget at around £300, go!
 
King4aDay said:
Sony DSC H1, comes it at around 300 once you've bought memory, great little camera, check out the review and forums at dpreview.com.
I've been looking at that "little" beauty. That's probably its main drawback, it's HUGE. I really can't decide between something like an A620 or a DSC H1.
 
Right, I've narrowed it down between a Canon S2is and a Sony DSC-H1. Here they both are.





The spec on the canon seems slightly better, but there isn't much in it. Any other opinions from the experts? :p
 
i personally wouldn't recommend the s70 - my GF has one (that I recommended she buy...) and having used it myself a new times it can produce good images, but also really quite poor ones, and can be very very grainy in low light.

It seems really hit & miss, and must never be used in auto mode
 
Psilonaught said:
i personally wouldn't recommend the s70 - my GF has one (that I recommended she buy...) and having used it myself a new times it can produce good images, but also really quite poor ones, and can be very very grainy in low light.

It seems really hit & miss, and must never be used in auto mode

It's grainy probably due to noise with high ISO, i take it you set it to auto, and poor pics, i personally put it down to the photographer, not the camera, even if someone have a Canon 1Ds.

No one can take perfect pictures everyshot, and auto mode.....never used it myself, use Av personally.
 
Mulder, I was in exactly the same position as you, trying to choose between those two cameras, just before Christmas. Did loads of research comparing the two, and actually theres not an enormous amount of difference. In the end I just went into a shop and had a go with both, the Sony just felt much nicer for me. It feels reliably solid, and is simply loads of fun to use. The fact that the cheapest I could find the Canon online was £45 more than the Sony clinched it for me.

I cant compare picture quality from personal experience, but professional reviews say theres very little between them. The Canon has a swivel screen, but the Sony screen is bigger and really beautiful. The only major difference is that the Canon can change zoom while recording video, which the Sony cant. This isnt a problem for me, as I bought it for taking photos, not as a camcorder. Personally I dont think thats worth the extra £45.

In the end its up to you. Check out user opinions on dpreview.com forums, go and play with them in a shop if you can find one that stocks both. See what the best price you can find is.

All I can say is I bought the H1 in the end, and I love it.
 
Thanks for that King4aDay.

I think I may go for the H1. After shopping around it can be had for £40 less although sony memory will be a little more expensive. I'l order it off the net so if I have any problems I'l just send it back within 7 days and then try out the S2.
 
Nice one, I don't think you'll regret it. The only 'quirks' ive found with the H1 is that the flash can be overly powerful, but you can make a diffuser out of a pingpong ball or film can easily enough, and that pictures are less bright and more colourful than they sometimes appear on the camera screen.

Check out the link below for a really great guide on getting the most from the H1.
http://www.aakatz.com/h1whitepaper/
 
Back
Top Bottom