Best compact camera frrom Curry's/PC World?

[Cock Womble 7]

A couple of months ago now, I was unlucky enough to be the victim of a burglary. Amongst other things, the scrotes nicked my Panasonic LX-3 and my Lumix G10.

(Luckily, I had the D7000 with me at the time, so that's safe.)

My insurers have provided me with an "Insurance Replacement Card", loaded with a certain amount of money, but it's only usable at Curry's or PC World.

Clearly, now I have the D7000, I don't really need to replace the G10 bridge camera, but I would like a little pocket-sized compact to carry around when the DSLR would be too much.

Thing is, there's not a great deal of choice from the preferred supplier.

I thought I'd stick with Nikon for continuity/brand loyalty issues and have narrowed my choice down to either the S9300, the S9200 or the P310.

I'm currently favouring the P310, mainly for it's faster f1.8 lens (the others are both f3.5) but it lacks the 18x zoom of the other two - although I doubt I'd need such a long reach on a compact.

Are the aforementioned three any good, or is there a gem from here http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compact-digital-camer... that I'm missing?

[14-7]

Favoured compacts tend to be the Canon S95/S100.


Winter Hill by 14-7, on Flickr

Edited by 14-7 on Thursday 8th November 18:41

[K12beano]

Cock Womble 7 said:

I thought I'd stick with Nikon for continuity/brand loyalty issues

Yeah - I made that mistake. Having had experience of their P7000, I couldn't recommend one to anybody. F90x, F100, D2x, D800 all absolutely brilliant; D70 passable; I'm otherwise a Niko-fanboy-geek.

Do yourself a favour and get a Canon S100 or something! Anything!

[Cock Womble 7]

Curry's don't seem to do the S100 though.

[2slo]

Cock Womble 7 said:

My insurers have provided me with an "Insurance Replacement Card", loaded with a certain amount of money, but it's only usable at Curry's or PC World.

I wouldn't be happy accepting that. No doubt the ins co gets a nice kickback from them, but that forces you to shop there when there are invariably better deals to be had on pretty much everything they sell.

[ian in lancs]

K12beano said:

Cock Womble 7 said:

I thought I'd stick with Nikon for continuity/brand loyalty issues

Yeah - I made that mistake. Having had experience of their P7000, I couldn't recommend one to anybody. F90x, F100, D2x, D800 all absolutely brilliant; D70 passable; I'm otherwise a Niko-fanboy-geek.

Do yourself a favour and get a Canon S100 or something! Anything!

I'm a Nikon addict too! The only bad, bad fix I had was a P7000; dreadful thing!

[PJ S]

2slo said:

Cock Womble 7 said:

My insurers have provided me with an "Insurance Replacement Card", loaded with a certain amount of money, but it's only usable at Curry's or PC World.

I wouldn't be happy accepting that. No doubt the ins co gets a nice kickback from them, but that forces you to shop there when there are invariably better deals to be had on pretty much everything they sell.

Agreed.
Any chance you can reject the insurance company's offering?
I would fight it tooth and nail, so you have more choice.
Not knowing what the budget is, but what about the Sony RX-100?
Similar fast 1.8 lens as the Nikon.

[Cock Womble 7]

PJ S said:

2slo said:

I wouldn't be happy accepting that. No doubt the ins co gets a nice kickback from them, but that forces you to shop there when there are invariably better deals to be had on pretty much everything they sell.

Agreed.
Any chance you can reject the insurance company's offering?
I would fight it tooth and nail, so you have more choice.

Well, I won't be "fighting tooth and nail", as I am more than happy with the generous settlement the insurance company have offered me and have no problem being limited to Curry's and PC World. They've said "Here's a stack of money and here's a toy shop to spend it in. Enjoy." Anything that saves farting about is fine by me.

Besides, I've spent the last two months looking at a space on the wall where my TV used to be, a gap on the shelf where my XBox 360 used to be and all in the knowledge that some thieving scumbags have rifled through my flat grabbing whatever took their fancy.

I just want an end to the whole sorry episode and to get back to normal.




So, from the list in the link above, can anyone please recommend me a decent compact digital camera for around the £200 mark?

[Jonnas]

I have the Olympus XZ-1 and I have found it to be an excellent little compact. I'm struggling to think of anything I can criticise it on other than it is probably a little big to carry in a front pocket.

[K12beano]

ian in lancs said:

I'm a Nikon addict too! The only bad, bad fix I had was a P7000; dreadful thing!

Having stuck my head above the parapet, I'm rather relieved that someone agrees with me!!! Nikon, like their lenses, have some sweet spots........ the P7000, and compact range generally, is not one of them!

CW7 - I can see exactly where you're coming from.

Get ALMOST ANY recent model, Nikon included, and - having given it a go to see if it is any good for what you want - either:

1) Take it back after you've tried it and within any reasonable return time and see if you can get cash

or

2) Flog it on Fleabay for a small, reasonable discount


then put the money to a Leica.......


Just my tuppence.....

[Simpo Two]

Mr Womble - as a Plan C, if Currys/PC World don't stock the camera you would like, but stock other products from the same manufacturuer, would it be worth going into the store and asking if they can order you one?

[binliner]

Not a great choice on their website but from that list, if it was me I'd add a bit to the budget and get the Fuji X10 or maybe XF1 when it comes out

[browno]

I've recently bought a fuji X10, and it's a great little camera - not tiny, but with a larger sensor and decent lens it give really nice images, but also the auto modes seem very well judged, so I'm happy to let it do it's own thing and get great images without too much messing around - which is I guess the point of a compact really...

[Colin RedGriff]

I'd go for the Olympus xz1 or Fufi x10. They've just released the xz2, not sure if the xz1 price reflects that.

[9.3]

Panasonic TZ30 - I've had a TZ5, TZ7 and a TZ10 and now the 30. Absoolutely stonking and available in Currys at about £230. Highly recommended.
Edited to say you can have this camera with a Leica badge for only £300 more!!

Edited by 9.3 on Friday 9th November 17:08

[Cock Womble 7]

(Sorry for my little outburst earlier - had just got home from a 10 hour night shift a little tired and grumpy.)

Any balance on the card is valid for 12 months, so I could hang on to it for a bit and see what new stuff gets released. Or I might visit a branch and have a play.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[rottie102]

Jonnas said:

I'm struggling to think of anything I can criticise it on other than it is probably a little big to carry in a front pocket.

What pissed me off the most was that you have to manually change the focusing range in options between 0-100cm or sth like that and then 100cm to infinity. A stupid and extremely annoying thing on an otherwise very good camera.

Edited by rottie102 on Friday 9th November 19:28

[Jonnas]

rottie102 said:

What pissed me off the most was that you have to manually change the zooming range in options between 0-100cm or sth like that and then 100cm to infinity. A stupid and extremely annoying thing on an otherwise very good camera.

Yes, yes this obviously! I didn't mention it as I thought everyone knew this!

(You have to manually change the wha........?)