# Anyone Know Anything About Cameras?



## adrianwong (Jun 16, 2008)

Hey guys,

I'm after a decent compact digital camera; I do a lot of bike touring so I don't really want the extra weight of an SLR to lug around! Preferably something with a big lens and not super-expensive would be ideal!

Anyone got any ideas?

-Adrian


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

It's a dangerous thing to give advice on cameras.....everyone has different needs and expectations, best advice is to take a good trawl through (for a start) these two sites www.dpreview.com www.steves-digicams.com

Once you have decided get out there and actually hold your desired camera before buying.....make sure you happy with the "feel" of it.....


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## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

I don't think you can go far wrong with many of the big name compacts these days. It can come down to a choice of memory card.

I got a Panasonic FZ18 after reading about it on here. 18x digital zoom which is equivalent of 35mm 28-504. Its 8mp I think. Its about Â£205 at amazon but well worth the Â£270 I paid for it a few months ago. It a bit bigger than a compact but worth it for the flexibility of the lens


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## chris l (Aug 5, 2005)

Panasonics have the big lenses, and Samsungs go very flat.

Both make cracking pictures..... (if you do your bit)...


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## Boxbrownie (Aug 11, 2005)

chris l said:


> Panasonics have the big lenses, and Samsungs go very flat.


Not always...my panny is tiny....28-to something or other (can you tell I never use the tele end?) and 12 giggly pixels 

Not a bad little compact...slips in the pocket and no one thinks your happy to see them :lol:


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

here I will give my pick. it gets a great review, antishake good telephoto. in the picture samples I am not seeng much fringing, looks damn good and under $200 Canadian not sure what they are where you are

/http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona720is/


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## Barryboy (Mar 21, 2006)

My pennyworth?? I have a Canon A640 which is excellent and cost about Â£140. There is only one criticism - it does not take RAW pictures and if I ever bought another compact it would have to take RAW pictures. FWIW I think that any of the big manufacturers have plenty of models to suit your needs (and don't forget Samsung) and it will all depend upon such things as brand loyalty (if any), price, special offers and finding the right blend of features to suit you.

And one piece of guidance? Make sure the camera is not too small to be used comfortably. Some of these 'shirt pocket' cameras have controls so small that they are difficult to use.

Rob


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Its very easy to get raw in the A640. There is a hack I posted that will let you boot into either an advanced mode or normal mode it works and I have tried it


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## chris l (Aug 5, 2005)

Boxbrownie said:


> chris l said:
> 
> 
> > Panasonics have the big lenses, and Samsungs go very flat.
> ...


I phrased it badly... I should have said that Panasonic have models with the longest lenses available in compacts...


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## Bill_uk (Jun 8, 2008)

would be a bit helpfull if we knew your budget but here's my top hints

a real good budget 10 megapixel at argos for Â£79.99 in there sale (just got one today) Samsung digimax S1050

for more money but a great camera the Canon Powershot SD790 IS ranked number 1 in all 4 categories 9-10megapixel/Canon/ Â£200-300/ultra compact

it maybe called the canon ixus 90 in the UK


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## BondandBigM (Apr 4, 2007)

Another vote for the Samsung here, got one last year, an L700, easy to use and good general results in auto mode. Tried a few others around the same price while in the shop and to me it seemed the best of the bunch for the money. What impressed me was that it takes good pictures at night as well. I think I paid around Â£100 for it at the time.

B.


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## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

I've always had Canon stuff and when I was looking for a digital compact I thought I'd look about to see if there was another make which would tempt me away. There wasn't, Canon did everything exceptionally - I went for an Ixus 70 (Powershot 1000/Digital Elph in US speak) and it's great, especially on macro and colour reproduction. Hope this helps!


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## DMP (Jun 6, 2008)

I use a Canon PowerShot A630 - fantastic camera, 8m/pix, 4x optical zoom (who cares about digital zoom, it's a waste of time) but the best thing about this series of camera's is the fact that it has a real viewfinder (I can't stand using LCD screens for viewfinding and they're bloody useless in sunlight) and the LCD screen is multi-positional (is that a word?) which means the screen is protected when folded inwards against the camera body. The camera is very easy to grip in your hand and has a decent weight which helps stabilise it in use. As a SLR user for many years, I appreciate being able to get a decent grip on a camera and for the camera to have a bit of "heft". Uses a SD card for storage.

This is my second PowerShot, the previous one was a A620 (7.2 m/pix) which didn't survive my 6 y/o dropping it onto a hard tiled floor when the lens was extended. The LCD screen on the 630 is larger than the 620, but not as good quality, unfortunately. Doesn't affect the quality of the photo's, of course, which have been excellent with both camera's.

Very good camera's for the money, and one of the few compact digitals with a proper viewfinder.


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## myhyperstore (Jul 8, 2008)

i felt that u need Panasonic Lumix TZ-15 ( or some called it TZ-5 ) , Canon S5IS , Nikon P80


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