David Jenkins
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| posted on 11/8/07 at 06:55 PM |
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Digital camera?
Having just found out that my current camera (Fuji F401) has died, I am now looking for a replacement.
Can anyone suggest a decent pocket-sized camera with:-
Optical zoom (don't want digital zoom)
Optical viewfinder as well as LCD screen
Decent colour rendition
Light in weight
Small in size
Not too expensive
Doesn't have to be the very latest model - last year's technology is fine (and therefore a better price!). Will almost always be used for
holiday snaps and so on - so high megapixel count isn't essential.
Most makes considered, apart from Casio - I've had bad experiences with them.
Nice to haves (but not essential):
Flash hot-shoe
Remote shutter option
All suggestions welcome!
cheers,
David
[Edited on 11/8/07 by David Jenkins]
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macdave69
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| posted on 11/8/07 at 07:44 PM |
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I can vouch for the Fuji S5700
10x optical zoom
7.1 mpixels
big back screen
the optical viewfinder is a smaller LCD but still does the job,
Loads of functions and happilt works on aa batteries
Available for @ £150 new
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gezer
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| posted on 11/8/07 at 07:56 PM |
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I've also had a fuji and found it a damn good camera,
they seem to fit a better lense than most at the same price,
I'm to old to live and to young to die --- buggerit
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caber
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| posted on 11/8/07 at 09:28 PM |
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Panasonic pocket cameras are pretty good at the moment, the mostly have leica designed lenses and this does make a difference when you blow the
pictures up, I have seen some excellent A3 enlargements!
Caber
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tegwin
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| posted on 11/8/07 at 09:49 PM |
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I have an Olympus Mju 700 going spare if thats any use to you...
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MattCraneCustoms
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| posted on 12/8/07 at 03:26 AM |
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I had a Fuji s5000 Digi SLR and didn't find it half as good as our pocket Canon Ixus 60. just not as versatile, but the canon takes excellent
everyday photos, not sure what they would be like blown up. I too however like the panasonics . . .
Regards
Matt
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Hellfire
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| posted on 12/8/07 at 09:37 AM |
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A little past it best now but a Fuji F10 (6.3Mp) I still have for point and shoot purposes... excellent. Digital Zoom is, as you have found useless...
my youn'un still uses my old Olympus C2000 (only 2Mp) but the images are stunning for such a small resolution.
Steve
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 12/8/07 at 10:06 AM |
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I still keep an old Sony Mavica - the type that stored its pictures on a 3.5" floppy - and although the images are only 1024 x 768, the contrast
and colour rendition are excellent. Shame it's such a clunky great lump!
Most of my pictures never leave the PC once downloaded - I rarely print anything, and even then mostly on 6x4 paper - I usually just make up a
slide-show on the screen, or use images for the web (e.g. for this forum).
I do like the look of that Fuji S5700, but some reviews criticise the controls and some aspects of the image quality. Maybe they're just being
picky.
I really fancied one of the Panasonics a while back; it was the usual rectangular box, but it had a huge leica lens on the front. It also had a
hot-shoe and remote trigger, which would be useful to me. I came back down to earth when I saw the price... 
cheers,
David
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 13/8/07 at 06:19 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
I really fancied one of the Panasonics a while back; it was the usual rectangular box, but it had a huge leica lens on the front. It also had a
hot-shoe and remote trigger, which would be useful to me. I came back down to earth when I saw the price...
cheers,
David
Just remembered what it was - Panasonic Lumix L1 - lovely camera, really fancied it, until I saw the price. £1600! 
maybe I'll get something a bit more... er... modest.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 07:06 AM |
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Fuji have a lot of very happy customers, same goes for my friends and family with Olympus and Cannon.
I have had a Samsung Digimax A6 for almost 2 years which I am pretty happy with, but it was bought mainly because the wife likes the way if fitted in
her hand -- which is important.
Thing to watch for is not just the number of mega pixels but the quality of the lens --- which is where Olympus and Cannon score.
Cannon & Olympus also score on styling the Olympus mJu range is cool.
[Edited on 14/8/07 by britishtrident]
[Edited on 14/8/07 by britishtrident]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 07:09 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Hellfire
A little past it best now but a Fuji F10 (6.3Mp) I still have for point and shoot purposes... excellent. Digital Zoom is, as you have found useless...
my youn'un still uses my old Olympus C2000 (only 2Mp) but the images are stunning for such a small resolution.
Steve
Yep Olympus = great lens
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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t.j.
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 07:38 AM |
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I got the Canon A710 IS
Great camera
6x optical zoom and some digital if you want
normal battery 2x AAA
SD-memory
Big LCD
medium size ( optical zoom= the more the bigger the camera)
7.1 mega pixxies
video modus
easy menu
only disavantage is the flash-reload-time
grzt
[Edited on 14/8/07 by t.j.]
Please feel free to correct my bad English, i'm still learning. Your Dutch is awfull! :-)
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 08:51 AM |
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Fuji make good cameras, my old S602Z has seen lots of use, and my dad and brother has S5600's which they have been very pleased with.
Fuji have their own refurb store with some excellent prices
You mentioned pocket cameras, but it sounds like you are considering the larger prosumer type cameras. If you can stretch to it, the Fuji S6500fd has
one of the best 6MP sensors on the market (for a consumer camera), and a very good 10x zoom lens. Lots of good reviews for this camera around.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 10:20 AM |
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Thanks for the link to the Fuji refurb store - I ended up getting a quote for fixing my existing camera (around £45). I probably won't do that
as it's uneconomic, even though the repair comes with a further 12 months guarantee.
The good bit is that they offered an alternative of £40 trade-in off their new stock, making their prices even lower than most of the cheap
suppliers.
Their refurb prices are reasonably cheap (but no trade-in).
I'm taking a fancy to that S6500fd... or the S5700, maybe... decisions...
cheers,
David
[Edited on 14/8/07 by David Jenkins]
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 02:32 PM |
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Final decision!
Made my mind up - took the trade-in option and bought a Fuji S6500fd. Main reasons were (a) it lets the user take full manual control if required -
aperture, speed and focus; (b) focus and zoom on lens rings (like old-fashioned cameras); and (c) RAW recording format, if desired.
Big downside was having to fork out for yet another format of memory card - currently I have Compact Flash, SmartMedia and SD cards. Only the SD cards
are any use, in my wife's camera. Still, memory cards are really cheap these days.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice - very helpful.
David
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damien
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| posted on 14/8/07 at 10:15 PM |
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i was going to comment on the S5600, its a great little camera, ive had mine for afew months now and it does everything i want (take photos when i
press the button) and more like aperture, speed, focus focus, zoom etc.
mine cost £99 with fuji bag, spare rechargable batterys and a 2 gb mmc
Topaz gti6-tb 205 Gti (ph1.5)
Sigma 2.0 8v 306 XSI (ph1)
Provence 1.9 8v dturbo (ph2)
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 18/8/07 at 07:32 AM |
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Now I am confused!
As I said above - camera went faulty, took up Fuji's offer of a trade-in, got my new camera - Lovely.
Sent my old camera off to Fuji, as requested...
...today I got it back, repaired!
No request for money, no enclosed letter (apart from a delivery slip), nothing.
UPDATE: I looked a bit closer at the delivery note - it seems that they've replaced the CCD chip, free of charge!
Of course I'm not complaining - but I am confused!
[Edited on 18/8/07 by David Jenkins]
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