Digital stills camera - which and where from?

[Bonce]

I know you're probably sick of the "what camera?" threads but tough.

I fancy a good quality digital stills camera, but I want something reasonably portable - preferably one I can carry round with me with minimum hassle.

I quite fancy having a wide angle lens as well.

With the limited research I've done, I think the Canon S50 or Canon G5 look pretty good. Any opinions on them? Maybe the G5 is too big and bulky for me though. Hmmm...

Oh, and finally - any recommendations on where to buy online?

Thanks!

[srider]

The new Oly 8080 looks very good, might be too big though.

[whittaker52]

id also maybe recommend looking at an ixus 500, a very pocketable camera and 5mp with most of the features of the G5 and S50.

if you want a wide angel lens then the G5 would be the way to go.

i currently run a G3 and find that to be extremely good and very flexible in terms of features and settings to play with. i have a 1.85x tele lens for my G3 as well and that works really well with the lensmate bayonet lens adapter, this would also allow you to use tons of filters and a wide angel lens. i would highly recommend the G series of Canon cameras!

Ive recently dealt with PRC direct and found them to be very efficent with my order, check out kelkoo for the best price on the camera.

>> Edited by whittaker52 on Monday 26th April 11:28

[Spoonman]

Olympus 5060WZ is a bit bulky but an excellent bit of kit. Has a much wider angle lens than virtually any other compact digi (27mm equivalent). Great colours and image quality too.

Costs £399 from www.digitaldepot.co.uk with two-year warranty.

[Bonce]

[redacted]

[docevi1]

"where from" ->

I got mine from Jessops and got a price match to Amazon.co.uk, you could try www.7dayshop.co.uk and there were various other sites listed here.

Something that was mentioned previous was buying from the US - the exchange rate at present makes it daft not to...

[whittaker52]

Bonce said:

Thanks guys. I'm thinking that realistically I need to be able to pocket the camera if I'm going to get good use out of it, so it will need to be a compact one at the cost of features. The Ixus 500 is a good suggestion, but what is the difference between that and the Canon S50? Is it just a style thing?

Yep basically just styling and a slight spec difference really.

the S50 looks to have more shooting modes compared with the ixus 500.

S50 shoot modes

ixus 500 shoot modes

[chimburt]

have an old ixus 300 ( probably a lot bulkier than the 5, and guess - only 3Mp ), but i've been really pleased with the shots it takes.


note: complete amatuer photgrapher, but juuuustaboutsmallenoughtocarryabout.

[simpo two]

chimburt said:

note: complete amatuer photgrapher, but juuuustaboutsmallenoughtocarryabout.

Why would I want to carry you about????

[Bonce]

Cheers Oliver, there is a good comparison tool at

www.powershot.com/powershot2/comparison/index.html

But I'm still not sure which to go for... the S50 has better features and is listed as "High end" and the S500 as "Point and shoot" but it's smaller.

Hmmmm

[chimburt]

simpo two said:

chimburt said: note: complete amatuer photgrapher, but juuuustaboutsmallenoughtocarryabout. Why would I want to carry you about????

in case you had any nails you want bangin' in - that sort of thing

incidentaly ( sp? ) pixmania ( french, i believe, but try not to hold that against them ) are building a strong rep amongst my co-workers, for delivery/price on all things digital camera related.

have fun with your new toy, whatever you get.

[whittaker52]

Bonce said:

Cheers Oliver, there is a good comparison tool at www.powershot.com/powershot2/comparison/index.html But I'm still not sure which to go for... the S50 has better features and is listed as "High end" and the S500 as "Point and shoot" but it's smaller. Hmmmm

Yes the S500 is very much point and shoot and very small, the S50 is basically the G5 in a smaller package with a few less options in terms of having no bayonet like on the G5.

I think the slide shutter on the S50 is a great little feature too, protects the lens a treat, alot more sturdy than the S500, abit easier to use than the tiny S500 too id imagine.

It sounds like from what you have said you want a bit more than just point and shoot, so id go with the S50

But if you choose either of those cameras you will end up with great results!

[Rickbrown74]

simpo two said:

chimburt said: note: complete amatuer photgrapher, but juuuustaboutsmallenoughtocarryabout. Why would I want to carry you about????

Obviously no-one else got the joke!

[ws6]

Had the G5 for about 10 months now - excellent !!! I did a lot of research before buying into a digital camera and dumping my Canon EOS SLR.

Found the cheapest deal on the net (try www.kelkoo.com) and got Jessops to price match it, also with the ibm 1gig microdrive.

Re: wide angle lense. The G5 comes with a great "photo-stich" utility. You just pan 2,3,4,5, or more pictures hit a few buttons and it stiches them all together (as long as the subject isn't moving)

Suggest you also get Adobe Photoshop for touching up and all manor of other affects.

[Quentin1]

Go get yourself a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ10.
12x optical Leica lens and other stuff.

Brilliant cost/performance ratio...

www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz10-review/index.shtml

[Bonce]

Thanks for all the advice all.

In the end I went with the IXUS 500 because I reasoned that I needed it to be as small as possible to get the most use out of it. If I get into the photography lark then I will buy a digital SLR for doing the arty stuff.

Amazon did the best overall price (also got spare battery and 256Mb CF card) from all the websites I looked at and it arrived yesterday. First impressions are very very good!

[whittaker52]

Excellent glad you like it and got a good deal Enjoy!