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Recommend me a compact digital camera

  • 11-01-2007 01:21AM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭


    I have a Nikon Coolpix 5600 (5mp) which has gone belly up on me out of warranty so I need a replacement. I'm travelling to New York next month, so I'm thinking of picking up a new camera there. Last time I was over I visited B&H photo/video (www.bhphotovideo.com), and they have pretty much everything in there, and prices seem good to me so I will probably buy there.

    What I'm looking for in a replacement camera:
    Approx. 7 megapixels
    SD card slot if possible (I have a 2gig SD I could use in it). Still open to non-SD cameras though.
    at least 3x optical zoom, couldn't give a monkey's about digital zoom
    Battery & charger bundled with it if possible. The old Nikon required me to go out and buy my own NiMH AA's and a charger, unless I was going to spend all my money on disposables.
    A biggish screen would be nice too. The Nikon had a tiny one.
    Reasonable price. I have no set budget but would like to keep it sensible :)
    Video recording ability doesn't matter to me.

    My father has a Sony DSC-P200 which is lovely but the memory sticks are so bloody expensive.

    Thanks :)


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2 SMC


    Over Xams I purchased the Nikon Coolpix P4. I have in my possession a 35mm SLR, a digital SLR, and various other 35mm compacts. I bought the P4 to have something small and light to carry around with me unnoticed. The P4 has 8mp, a 3.5 optical zoom and it can even shoot in B&W, despite what most people say!! It has a host of other great features, one of them being the VR feature which actually works!! It comes with a rechargable battery, that is charged outside the camera. A disposable Duracell CP1 can be bought as a spare when travelling to countries, where electricity is sparce!! The price can range from anywere between 250-400e. It would be worth your while to look at the specs for this camera, even if thats all you do. I was extremely happy with my P4. Best of Luck camera hunting, I know its one of my favourite things to do!! :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    In the couple of days since I posted this thread I have been reading review after review... I'm now looking at not-so-compact ultrazoom bridge cameras, fitting in somewhere between point-n-shoot and dSLR's.
    The two models I'm most interested in now are the Fuji S6500fd (s6000fd in the US, exact same camera) and the Sony DSC-H5. Fuji costs $400 and the Sony costs $385.
    I'm trying to weigh up the pros and cons between them, and am kind of leaning towards the Fuji at the moment, despite its lower resolution (6.3 vs 7.1MP) and slightly higher price tag.
    The big advantage that the Fuji has in my eyes is a proper manual focus ring on the lens, rather than having to fiddle around with buttons to perform manual focusing. It also has a zoom ring instead of the usual W/T buttons. It also, apparently, performs far better in low light situations than its competitors.

    Both cameras take AA alkaline/NiMH batteries, except that the Fuji needs 4 while the Sony needs 2. I already have 4 high-capacity AA NiMH's and charger so should be fine for that.

    Fuji: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=445825&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
    Sony: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=424302&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

    Any advice/opinions welcome :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,730 ✭✭✭DaireQuinlan


    I've got the great grandaddy of the 6500, the s600z. I'd heartily recommend a fuji, I've taken some great pictures with it. However, the manual focus is next to useless. Even with the focus assist (which allows you to zoom the centre bit of the image x2) the viewfinder or indeed the screen on the back simply aren't enough to provide you with any indication as to whether you're focused correctly or not. The 6500 might have fixed up some of these problems. The lowlight/low contrast autofocus ability on the 600 was legendarily bad aswell, but I think they -have- actually fixed that up. Great camera though. Most of the shots on my flickr site that aren't tagged 35mm were taken with it. I've blown some of them up to a3 with great results.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,484 ✭✭✭✭Stephen


    From the reviews I've been reading on the net, the s6500fd's low light performance is excellent, compared to the competition. Looks like a heavy beast at about 600g before you load it up with 4 AA's though!


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