tips for a cheap but good camera

[shyguy]

There seem to be lots of enthusatic photographers in Cathiness - Hurrah!

So I'm hoping for some advice. I can't stretch to a digital SLR, so what the best (cost effective - :lol:) buy camera on the market at the moment.

Experience has taught me that I really need some form of optical zoom, digital zoom just makes things pixel-y.

But I've been impressed with lots of the photographs on the forum and would like to be able to do some of the tricker things e.g. night photography, long shutter speeds for blurry effects etc.

The adverts seem to focus on the number of mega pixels, but as I'm not looking to print out larger than A4 and probably not that most of the time, I'm guessing quality of optics is more important than total pixels. Also I'm not interested in making movies with it, or recording sound, just still photography.

Any thoughts/tips/recommendations would be appreciated.

Cheers

[nirofo]

You don't say how much you want to spend, but from what you've said you would like the camera for, have a look at the Nikon P80, it will cover just about anything and give good quality results.

See this web link for spec and price.

http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product.asp?ProductID=4719&gclid=CPmM57Kw7JgCFZSB3godQzPc0w

nirofo.

[new driver]

I'm very pleased with the Canon Powershot A720 IS that I bought in March 2008. It has an viewfinder, which is useful in very bright sunshine, as well as an LCD screen.
Good optical zoom and macro as well. Easy to use at once and lots of features which I am learning to use now. You can turn flash on or off in the different settings although the auto is pretty good. Software is very user friendly and it is my first choice when downloading and cropping.
Decide which features you must have and read the camera magazines and revues on line. They will point you in the right direction and then you have to go by the feel in your hand and the price you are prepared to pay. Last year's models are usually cheaper so shop around.

[Tugmistress]

It sounds like you are looking for what is called a 'bridge' camera. it's apoint and shoot but you also have the option of a lot of dslr settings.
Fuji cameras give good results as do other brands. if you search on google for "bridge camera" (don't forget the quote marks or your results will be different) youll find a lot of information out there. I started with a Konica Minolta Z10 bridge camera and after a year went full dslr. I was very pleased with the results i got from that little camera and the pictures i uploaded with it still sell now.
hope you find what you want.

[North Light]

Not knowing how much you want too spend makes recommendations difficult.

If you are looking at compacts look at these reviews:-
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408slimgroup/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408premiumgroup/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408enthusiastgroup/

Also think about secondhand cameras, might be a route to a DSLR?
https://secure.ffordes.com/index.htm
http://www.mifsuds.com/acatalog/ActChange.htm

Mifsuds have a couple of Olympus E500's with lens for less than £200.

Hope that this helps.

[jean]

if its a compact this has more manual control than normal,you can use it fully manual which is unusual in a compact. It has a 10x zoom which is great and a big, clear screen for viewing the photos. The other deciding factor for me other than the manual control was the lens quality.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2008/10/03/Canon-PowerShot-SX110-IS/p1
or theres this one..
http://www.digicamreview.com/panasonic_lumix_dmc_tz5_review.htm

[shyguy]

Gosh,

many thanks for all the replies. You've all certainly given me lots to think about :)

Gonna have a busy weekend looking at the various links:lol:

Thanks again to you all for the useful advice.

[avalon]

I bourght a Samsung NV100 HD 14.7 Megapixel Digital Camera from Tesco Direct for £127 and on ebay they selling for £240+ I got this camera so I could carry it around in my pocket, great little camera and 14.7 mp.

The picture was taken hand held no flash

http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/ll435/brjf36/SDC10037.jpg