Compact/compact system bargain buys?
Discussion
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?
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?
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...
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...
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.
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 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.
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