Samsung A503 - any use as a beginners digital camera ?

Capt'n Midnight

Looking for a cheap and chearful, point & shoot camera, with as few controls/options as possile. Mainly for portraits.

I've not used samsung cameras before - how do they compare to Fuji cameras ?

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&searchTerms=5604700&go.x=0&go.y=0

Samsung Digimax A503 5MP Digital Camera. 560/4700
£79.99
* 5m pixels.
* 5 x digital zoom.
* 2in LCD colour screen.
* SD memory card compatible up to 1GB capacity.
* 8 scene modes.
* 24MB internal memory.
* Movie capture and sound recording.
* USB connection 2.0.
* 2 x AA batteries supplied.
* PictBridge compatible.
* Accessories included in box - Digimax Master, strap.
* Software compatibility: PC and Mac.
* Weight 98g.
* Size (H)5.3, (W)9.6, (D)2.8cm.

http://www.samsungcamera.com/product/pro_view.asp?prol_uid=1286&cat_uid=11
I'm downloading the manual.

Fionn

whats the question?

Roen

It looks ok, I'd instantly ignore the 5x digital zoom, optical zoom is the only one you should be interested in. 5Million pixies for that price is good, and seeing as it's got a fixed focal length lens in it you will definitely learn about getting yourself into angles and positions to get the shot rather than relying on a zoom to do the work for you.

For portraits you'll need a fairly decent focal length and a good wide aperture to throw the background out of focus. That may not be possible with a relatively cheap camera like that but as I said for €80 it's a good way to learn.

redrob13

To be honest I think it's a bit over priced for what you're getting, a rough conversion from £80 is €120. And you're not getting much for that, I'd look around online, www.pixmania.ie for example, have quite a range for under €150 and pretty much all seems to be superior to the Samsung you've found in Argos.

I'm not particularly recommending this, but pixmania have this Sanyo XACTI S6 €100 + 11.90 delivery. It's got optical zoom which would give you a bit more flexibility, and slightly more megapixels which doesn't really matter.

Anything that you can afford, that's going to let you take pictures with relative ease (by which I mean the quality of the camera isn't so low that it hinders you), is going to be good for a beginner. If the Samsung from Argos is indicative of your budget, then personally I'd suggest looking elsewhere. Also remember you're going to want to get a memory card, and maybe some sort of case for the camera.

I'd suggest getting some sort of point&shoot camera, but which will also allow some manual control over aperture, shutter speed, ISO ... while it won't be the same as using a SLR, it will introduce you to these things and start learning, but have the full auto to compare with.

Roen

Whoops, I thought it was 80 euros not sterling!