Digital camera- overwhelmed by choice/reviews - help?

Hmm_Messiah

I've decided to treat myself to a new camera- mostly I guess to capture a few trips coming up, partly very much as a treat , after long weeks earning a buck.

i've read hours of reviews etc but am now getting confused.

so any advice?

was also thinking of getting from pixmania

i guess i'm looking for a compact one but am really open to suggestions from those who know better, and I've liked the idea of some10x optical zoom (i like church architecture etc-would be useful) but am open to any suggestions

finepix seems to be what i like mostly when i look at reviews

genuinely would appreciate any help. heading to london and egypt soon and sappy i know but like sharing it as much as i can with my mum who can't travel
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Calina

Hmmm.

I'm not sure zoom is what you want when it comes to architecture. You need wide, particularly if shooting from outside the building. I was in Portugal recently and shot buildings with the shorter lenses rather than the longer lenses.

I strongly suspect a compact is what you need, and although I'm not an expert in the area being an SLR kiddie, I'd be inclined to recommend something like a Canon IXUS if it's in budget.

One thing I'd suggest if you have the time is to do a camera search on flickr and see what sort of photographs people have been taking with the cameras you're thinking of (like one of the FinePix). You might get a better feel for what you want to do as well.

one of the hardest thigns we have to do here is advise people what camera to buy when:

1) we're not absolutely sure what photographs they want to take
2) we're not absolutely sure what's on the market as it changes all the time and
3) a lot of us use dSLRs most of the time and many people are more interested in consumer cameras.

If you already have a bunch of photographs which you have taken, with whatever other camera, that you like, might give us some ideas of them, post one or two if necessary.

Please look at any advice in that light.

Thanks and good luck.

incidentally I haven't ordered much from them but Pixmania have generally been quite good to me.

Hmm_Messiah

thanks for the quick imput, since i've been looking at the ixus range alright

major fault with them only seems to be how slow xd cards are

the zoom would be for example was in a cathedral lastnight at concert, the roof beams were carved and would love to have captured them. I like monuments/scupture, tombstones etc, but also want i guess some panoramic type pics of the nile if i manage to board the plane (me no like plans)

had a kodak , 3.1 megs but did take some lovely pics, was told it was the lens in the model i had.

I'll never be an expert( though might have an eye for photos, or so am told) also like , not sure its portraits, - people like my wee nephew in his spiderman suit (when he wears it he seems to think he needs to stand only with his feet spread to the extreme)

some of my fav pics might be a good idea.
thanks again

Hmm_Messiah

hi again

travelling to london next month, crete week after, and a family thing - so looking this wee to buy a camera

as suggested above i think wide angle is good idea for e.g. pics of ruins, fortresses etc etc

was looking at canon / and casio exilim

is there such a thing as a compact with a viewfinder?

also looked at sony - dmc-t20 i think it was?

read lots of threads here, and guess my interest in photography is less than many people, but i'd quite like to maybe even do one of those vec courses in sept, though in kilkenny they such mostly (maybe some one knows a club in kilkenny?)

apologies for the vagueness and thanks for the help