Digital Camera Recommendations

[El Loto]

This Summer I'm hoping to head down to London to see the Tour de France Grand Depart. The current digital camera we have was bought at Lidl, yes the discount European supermarket. I'm looking for reasonably high specs, lots of pixels and the like. Maybe setting a limit at just under £200 (<$400).

Help pwease guyz.

[Daysleeper]

My latest camera...which is now broken...not the camera's fault...it was a clumsy friend at a wedding....was a Canon Powershot A80, that I got 4 years ago...There are loads more in the Powershot range (http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/Digital_Camera/PowerShot/index.asp) now...maybe worth checking out...???

[Nak Nak]

My Panasonic is excellent. It was about 200 quid when I bought it, probably cheaper now. That whole range is good. The 10x zoom would be handy too.

[El Loto]

I should divulge what I would like of it.

Good zoom
Stabilised shots, I've seen expensive cameras with blurry shots.
Quality filming
Reliable and fast shutter speeds, maybe even a rapid fire mode if it doesn't exceed my budget.

[i]

I haven't really kept up with digital camera technology recently, but I still highly recommend this site

http://dpreview.com/

They have very in depth reviews and have been covering digital cameras for years.

[i]

I should divulge what I would like of it.

Good zoom
Stabilised shots, I've seen expensive cameras with blurry shots.
Quality filming
Reliable and fast shutter speeds, maybe even a rapid fire mode if it doesn't exceed my budget.

What counts as good optical zoom? 3x? 6x? 10x?
That will probably influence the size of the camera a lot.

[El Loto]

Well Craig said 10x zoom would be handy so lets say just that.

[i]

I'm a Canon fan because of their image quality but in recent years they've started falling behind on camera features, and they've actually pushed some of their older models too far I think.

If you're considering a Panasonic 10x Zoom, I've heard good things about this one:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Panasonic/panasonic_dmctz3.asp
Read the review (or at least the last page of it) for the caveats.

[i]

I'm a Canon fan because of their image quality but in recent years they've started falling behind on camera features, and they've actually pushed some of their older models too far I think.

at least their consumer models anyway. their digital SLRs are meant to be top notch.

[Nak Nak]

there is my camera, or a version of it at least.

only thing it is bad for is poor shot in bad lighting, but this is common to most digital cameras

[Squirrel]

Yeah dude, definitely go Canon.

Any of the Elph cameras should do you just fine, although if you're spending that much anyway, I would say tack a little bit more on and get a G7. They are so tits, I am thinking about getting one instead of a DSLR.....

[El Loto]

That G7 looks sweet

[Squirrel]

It's soooo sweet. I nabbed one from work and played around with it all weekend a while back, I am pretty much sold on it now.

The only down side is that the price is getting close enough to a DSLR that it's almost worth putting off and saving up for a few months to hop the gap. Almost....

[i]

yeah the next one i get (if i ever do) will probably be either something in their Gx range (when i bought my canon powershot S45, it was a choice between that and the G3) OR whatever the latest in the rebel xti / 350d series is. tho of course one of the ELPHs is always tempting cos of the ultracompact-ness.

incidentally when i bought my canon, it cost me A$1300... that was 2002 tho.

[clouds]

Canon is always a good choice. Are you looking for an SLR or consumer model?

I've had a Powershot SD550 before, and now I have a Powershot SD800. You really can't go wrong. They're so impeccably reliable.

[bassgirl]

I have a Nikon CoolPix 5700 which I love. I got it for Christmas several years ago so I'm sure they have an even better version out now. I've had a good experience with my Nikon.

[Nak Nak]

I like Nikons too, my bro has one of the fancier SLRs.

[El Loto]

Canon is always a good choice. Are you looking for an SLR or consumer model?

I've had a Powershot SD550 before, and now I have a Powershot SD800. You really can't go wrong. They're so impeccably reliable.

Consumer.

[El Loto]

Damn I'm looking at TZ3 and G7 prices. A G7 would only be like 50ish more than a TZ3. It's so tempting. Might need some extra shifts at work.

[AstrayCliche]

My vote also goes with Canon. I've had the S70 for about 2 years now and still has yet to fail. Even after a few scary moments of dropping on hardwood floors, the thing works great. Its 7 MP and shoots RAW as well. I think I spent somewhere in range of $380 at the time for the camera and a 1gb SD card.

Oh, just dont open the camera while its in your pocket. I've heard bad things come from that.

[i]

I've dropped my S45 onto brick/concrete several times. Luckily, it has survived, altho not without some exterior damage. I probably wouldn't be able to sell it for much.

[El Loto]

I settled for the G7. My friend who works in Jessops says it's pretty awesome and said I better not just stick it on auto.

[i]

Whoa a G7, that's hardly "settled for"! Enjoy.

[El Loto]

Just hope it arrives before Thursday.