Compact/compact system bargain buys?

[vladcjelli]

Looking for a camera for my eldest son for birthday/Christmas. He showed quite a bit of interest in my dslr this summer, so we thought we'd get him something to do his own thing with. Also, having a compact-ish camera around would be good for us as a family, so a decent quality device would be good.

From my by no means exhaustive browsing, I reckon on spending about £130.

Examples of the sort of thing that have caught my eye:

Fujifilm xf1
Like the way it looks, compact with a nice 1.8f lens for indoors stuff.

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras/digital-camer...

Pentax q10
Interchangeable lens, looks interesting.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0099ORMCM/ref=...

On the used front, apparently quick focussing.

Nikon j1
http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Nikon-J1-+-10-30mm_...

Also looking at bridge cameras, but they are all starting to look the same.

Anyone got any brilliant ideas/advice for me?

[mike9009]

I have just gone through a similar purchase, but eventually I upped my budget a little.

The Pentax q10 first piqued my interest but I read some pretty mediocre reviews. (Users seemed to like it - but the professional reviews did not rate it above its competition in any aspect). It seemed a decent compact camera would/ could out perform it - I already had a Canon SX220 which is pretty good for a compact.

The Nikon would be my choice from those - I cannot remember what eventually put me off the Nikon but it was a contender.

I eventually went for a Canon EOS M. Argos seem to have them really cheap at the moment (£199) and recently Currys had them at £149 in store - but I think all that stock has disappeared.....

Mike

[vladcjelli]

Initial thoughts on the Eos M...

Looks like a solid camera, well put together.

Pros - in future could get the lens adapter to use my (few) ef/ef-s lenses with it. Good price considering how much it was at launch.

Cons - no built in flash (although I assume the supplied flash would also work with my dslr). Good price, but still quite a bit over my budget.

Not making it on to my shortlist yet, I'm afraid. If I was looking for a compact system just for me, I think it would be a contender, but for my lad and the rest of the family to use, I think the lack of flash is a problem.

Although I will just check how many nectar points I have stashed away...

[DavidY]

I have two cameras on that list, the XF1 and a Nikon J1 (although my J1 is IR converted).

Given your budget I would plump for the XF1 as :-

1) The Image Quality is outstanding (especially for the £££).
2) It is small and very pocketable, the J1 with standard zoom lens is much bigger
3) It is easy to use in non-automatic modes (Aperture Priority, Speed Priority and Full Manual)
4) The EXR mode is clever
5) The scene modes are great
6) It works pretty well in low light

The only disadvantages are:- The battery life is quite short, and its not as fast to focus as the Nikon.

[damianmkv]

The xf1 is great - for under £130' you really can't go wrong. Bear in mind that this was nearly £400 originally

Some of mine



shaft ( explored - thank you ) by damianmkv, on Flickr


view from the tower by damianmkv, on Flickr



we're all ears by damianmkv, on Flickr


sea of tranquility by damianmkv, on Flickr

Album below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/59954848@N07/sets/72...

[vladcjelli]

Well, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with those snaps from the Fuji.

The only question mark over it was regards it's durability, is the extending lens mechanism going to be up to the job of resisting my kids (and wife's) heavy handedness?

[damianmkv]

I've not heard of any failures of the mechanism - there have been some technical issue reports with the odd few but I guess that can happen with any product

If you can wait until there's stock, you could buy a refurbed model from the FujiShop - I think you can get a further 10% off with PAYPAL12 code

http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/fujifilm-xf1-refurbishe...

[vladcjelli]

Good shout, I'll keep my peepers on that site while I keep agonising over the other various options.

[vladcjelli]

Oh well, best laid plans and all that...

Went for a hands on at PC World, get a feel for things. Made a hopeful enquiry about £150 Canon Eos Ms, but all gone at firesale prices.

Bridge cameras are too big, as suspected. Mrs Cjelli started talking about bags and from experience of dslr in a bag, getting it out all the time when wandering about is a bind. Shame, as they had a couple of well priced models with a zoom that caught her eye.

The Fuji XF-1. I quite liked the way it handled. Love the way it looks. If I was buying just for me, it would probably be the one. As it was, the lens/power on mechanism of the display model felt like it was about knackered. No obvious indication of which way to turn it to switch on. Even after a couple of goes, I genuinely couldn't remember which way to turn it. Just felt like a child related incident in the making.

But, in the end it came down to three units. The canon sx600, the sony wb220(?) and the nikon s9600.

For some reason, the canon struggled to focus in store at zoom. Hunted around, generally taking ages.

Can't remember the exact reason for discounting the Sony, but I'm sure it must have been a really good one.

In the end, the fast operation of the nikon won out. It picked out focus faster than almost anything else we picked up. Also liked the way the flash popped up of its own accord, rather than having to select it prior to taking a shot. May be the difference between catching a rushed shot, and not a dark mush.

So now I await a full dressing down for clearly choosing a substandard camera, tell me where I've gone wrong.

Can't show you example shots, as it locked away ready for birthday wrapping. Will be back in a couple of weeks with the evidence.

[Simpo Two]

The Nikon might focus better in low light at the 'long end' if it has a larger aperture than the rival/s.

[vladcjelli]

Simpo Two said:

The Nikon might focus better in low light at the 'long end' if it has a larger aperture than the rival/s.

Figures wise, it didn't seem like there was a lot in it. They all seemed about 3.0-6.something.

Wondered if there was more of a difference in the internal processing bits of each camera holding things up? There was definitely something stopping the canon from nailing it down as quickly.