A What Camera Thread :)
Discussion
Hi,
I'm looking for a new camera and I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. My maximum budget is about £350-400 which will have to include a 1Gb memory card/ stick.
I used to have a Sony Cybershot DCS -7? (3.2 MPixel thing) but my Girlfriend lost that (left it on a train
), which I was very happy with appart from the following points:
1) In-doors and at night it could take ages to focus and sometimes it wouldn't focus at all.
2) There wasn't much in the way of manual control. I don't know much about photography but I would like to learn more and the setting available as I recal were minimal.
3) The MPEG movie quality could have been much better.
4) It was a bit bulky.
The new camera however, as my Girlfriend will want to use it it has to be point and shoot easy. I've used a friends Cannon IXUS (I think) which offered a lot more manual control as well as the fully automatic modes. Finally I have seen the Sony T9 which was very slim and compact and would be great for carring around in your back pocket
but I think it's nearly fully auto.
I was very impressed with my friends Canon, what else is worth considering and are there any ultra slim models (like the T9) which offer great pitures and manual control?
Thanks
I'm looking for a new camera and I wonder if anyone could give me some advice. My maximum budget is about £350-400 which will have to include a 1Gb memory card/ stick.
I used to have a Sony Cybershot DCS -7? (3.2 MPixel thing) but my Girlfriend lost that (left it on a train
), which I was very happy with appart from the following points: 1) In-doors and at night it could take ages to focus and sometimes it wouldn't focus at all.
2) There wasn't much in the way of manual control. I don't know much about photography but I would like to learn more and the setting available as I recal were minimal.
3) The MPEG movie quality could have been much better.
4) It was a bit bulky.
The new camera however, as my Girlfriend will want to use it it has to be point and shoot easy. I've used a friends Cannon IXUS (I think) which offered a lot more manual control as well as the fully automatic modes. Finally I have seen the Sony T9 which was very slim and compact and would be great for carring around in your back pocket
but I think it's nearly fully auto. I was very impressed with my friends Canon, what else is worth considering and are there any ultra slim models (like the T9) which offer great pitures and manual control?
Thanks
OK,
I recently was looking for a good compact camera to compliment my digital SLR 'collection' and take on business trips/parties etc.
I settled on the new Canon IXUS 800 IS (top of their range, just out). I bought mine for £249 including shipping from www.buybestdigitalcamera.com/ - they are based in Japan, you use paypal and it arrived in 4 days !!! Bought a 2GB Sandisk UltraII SD card (good for 700+ high quality shots or about 17mins of high quality video) on ebay for about £40 from 'flashman852' - a power seller in Hong Kong that a lot of people on here use. Also picked up a couple of spare batteries on ebay for about £10-£15 the pair, but have not had to use them yet - the battery life is great.
If you are not happy with buying from Japan and Hong Kong then try warehouseexpress or dabs for the camera and somewhere like valuemedia.co.uk for the memory.
I have been thoroughly impressed with it considering it's size - key features are 800ISO, Image stablising in the lens (anti-shake), 4x zoom and 30fps 640x480 video (smooth as silk).
To answer your specific questions:
1) In-doors and at night it could take ages to focus and sometimes it wouldn't focus at all.
Newer cameras have better focussing and focus assist so this should be better. Mine seems to be fine at this.
2) There wasn't much in the way of manual control. I don't know much about photography but I would like to learn more and the setting available as I recal were minimal.
You won't find many if any slim/compact cameras that allow you to control shutter speed/aperture. The Ixus allows you in it's 'manual' mode to pick ISOs, control flash modes, white balance, exposure compansation etc. in fact everything apart from shutter speed/aperture.
3) The MPEG movie quality could have been much better.
30 frames per second is incredibly smooth, just like video camera, looks great playing on my TV with the supplied cable. It even does a 60fps mode!!!
4) It was a bit bulky.
The Ixus 800 IS most certainly isn't, it is exactly the same size as a packet of fags!
HTH !
>> Edited by Bee_Jay on Wednesday 10th May 11:12
I recently was looking for a good compact camera to compliment my digital SLR 'collection' and take on business trips/parties etc.
I settled on the new Canon IXUS 800 IS (top of their range, just out). I bought mine for £249 including shipping from www.buybestdigitalcamera.com/ - they are based in Japan, you use paypal and it arrived in 4 days !!! Bought a 2GB Sandisk UltraII SD card (good for 700+ high quality shots or about 17mins of high quality video) on ebay for about £40 from 'flashman852' - a power seller in Hong Kong that a lot of people on here use. Also picked up a couple of spare batteries on ebay for about £10-£15 the pair, but have not had to use them yet - the battery life is great.
If you are not happy with buying from Japan and Hong Kong then try warehouseexpress or dabs for the camera and somewhere like valuemedia.co.uk for the memory.
I have been thoroughly impressed with it considering it's size - key features are 800ISO, Image stablising in the lens (anti-shake), 4x zoom and 30fps 640x480 video (smooth as silk).
To answer your specific questions:
1) In-doors and at night it could take ages to focus and sometimes it wouldn't focus at all.
Newer cameras have better focussing and focus assist so this should be better. Mine seems to be fine at this.
2) There wasn't much in the way of manual control. I don't know much about photography but I would like to learn more and the setting available as I recal were minimal.
You won't find many if any slim/compact cameras that allow you to control shutter speed/aperture. The Ixus allows you in it's 'manual' mode to pick ISOs, control flash modes, white balance, exposure compansation etc. in fact everything apart from shutter speed/aperture.
3) The MPEG movie quality could have been much better.
30 frames per second is incredibly smooth, just like video camera, looks great playing on my TV with the supplied cable. It even does a 60fps mode!!!
4) It was a bit bulky.
The Ixus 800 IS most certainly isn't, it is exactly the same size as a packet of fags!
HTH !
>> Edited by Bee_Jay on Wednesday 10th May 11:12
Thanks for the reply
The IXUS sounds like just the ticket, with regard to shipping from Japan how did you manage about C&E did you have to pay extra or can you notify C&E of the package when you've ordered?
It's just that my Girlfriend (god bless her) ordered cosmetics from USA and we had a hefty charge (TAX and something else) to pay this end when it was delivered, and that was only on about £90
The IXUS sounds like just the ticket, with regard to shipping from Japan how did you manage about C&E did you have to pay extra or can you notify C&E of the package when you've ordered?
It's just that my Girlfriend (god bless her) ordered cosmetics from USA and we had a hefty charge (TAX and something else) to pay this end when it was delivered, and that was only on about £90
mr_yogi said:
Thanks for the reply
The IXUS sounds like just the ticket, with regard to shipping from Japan how did you manage about C&E did you have to pay extra or can you notify C&E of the package when you've ordered?
It's just that my Girlfriend (god bless her) ordered cosmetics from USA and we had a hefty charge (TAX and something else) to pay this end when it was delivered, and that was only on about £90
Mine came marked as 'Camera - gift' and got through unscathed...
Nice thing is you can track the package on the internet all the way from Japan to your house...
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