Camera Peeps

A friend on another forum just bought the A300, so can offer u feedback when she starts using!

Plows, howzabout a "bridge" cam? Basically an SLR Like body digital with an option to use the auto features but also a chance to explore the more manual side of photography which you would get with an SLR.

I have the Panasonic FZ-7 and theyre now selling the FZ18. Its got incredible 18x zoom, 8.1 megapixel and can be picked up on the net for £200. Believe me, i think these little cams have got everything you need for the casual photographer. For £200 you could use it for a couple of years and if you eventually want to step up to digital, you could sell the camera for about £100 and its only cost you £100 which doesnt get that much these days. Fuji also do something very similar and theyre also highly recommended.

Rob I think I have gone with your advice mate with this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=018

?175.00 in all which is better than I wanted to pay. Hopefully it'll be okay, looked on other sites and they confirmed to me that it is nott actually an SLR which is fine as I thought you were right

[tigersaw]

Originally Posted by timwilky

I have been seriously contemplating the Lumix DMC- TZ5, it seems to push all the buttons I want for a compact point/shoot camera

I looked into that, looks just my cuppa too, but then bought the TZ3 on saturday, (the one it is replacing), for £149, a lot lot cheaper.
So far so good, brilliant pictures and the 28mm wide is a lot more use than I would have thought.

Originally Posted by plowsie

Rob I think I have gone with your advice mate with this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=018

?175.00 in all which is better than I wanted to pay. Hopefully it'll be okay, looked on other sites and they confirmed to me that it is nott actually an SLR which is fine as I thought you were right

Right for once!?!?? No, think you're onto a good thing there. Like you say, if you're dipping into the water, you need something which gives you options but without breaking the bank. I have considered getting a DSLR lately but think that I havent learnt to use all the features on the bridge cam yet so will carry on..

[Mark_h]

Originally Posted by plowsie

Rob I think I have gone with your advice mate with this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWN:IT&ih=018

?175.00 in all which is better than I wanted to pay. Hopefully it'll be okay, looked on other sites and they confirmed to me that it is nott actually an SLR which is fine as I thought you were right

I've got the S5000 which I guess is a similar device to the S9000. Lots of manual override and the promise of SLR performance in a much lighter, cheaper box.

However.........

The viewfinder (EVF) takes a low-res image off of the CCD so nothing like a SLR where you actually look through the lens. Often pretty hard to see any detail so you end up using the screen instead.

The lens has massive optical zoom but quite small so again not as good in quality as real SLR lenses which will typically have optics at least twice as large.

Start-up time is a lot longer than a modern SLR. So if you see something quick, by the time the camera has shoved the lens out, done it's diagnostics and decided to let you press some buttons the subject has cleared off.

Best bit about a real SLR is the clunk noise when you takle a picture, again the S5000 doesn't do that.

BUT

It does take much better pictures than most point and shoots.
It does have a huge optical zoom
You can override everything so can get as creative as you want.
You can get XD cards for no money at all from 7dayshop.com
It looks like a real camera (unless you know what you're looking at)

More importantly if you buy it and realise it's too big to lug around you've wasted less than £200 rather than wasting best part of £400 to come to the same conclusion.

If I were to start again I'd have a decent small point and shoot (bit like my canon Ixus) and a digital SLR. Then keep small one with me each time I went out and use the fancy one if I was going out specifically to take pictures.

Now I think about it, if you fancy a used S5000 I could now possibly justify my 450D or nice used 30D that I've been putting off for ages.

Originally Posted by Mark_h

I've got the S5000 which I guess is a similar device to the S9000. Lots of manual override and the promise of SLR performance in a much lighter, cheaper box.

However.........

The viewfinder (EVF) takes a low-res image off of the CCD so nothing like a SLR where you actually look through the lens. Often pretty hard to see any detail so you end up using the screen instead.

The lens has massive optical zoom but quite small so again not as good in quality as real SLR lenses which will typically have optics at least twice as large.

Start-up time is a lot longer than a modern SLR. So if you see something quick, by the time the camera has shoved the lens out, done it's diagnostics and decided to let you press some buttons the subject has cleared off.

Best bit about a real SLR is the clunk noise when you takle a picture, again the S5000 doesn't do that.

BUT

It does take much better pictures than most point and shoots.
It does have a huge optical zoom
You can override everything so can get as creative as you want.
You can get XD cards for no money at all from 7dayshop.com
It looks like a real camera (unless you know what you're looking at)

More importantly if you buy it and realise it's too big to lug around you've wasted less than £200 rather than wasting best part of £400 to come to the same conclusion.

If I were to start again I'd have a decent small point and shoot (bit like my canon Ixus) and a digital SLR. Then keep small one with me each time I went out and use the fancy one if I was going out specifically to take pictures.

Now I think about it, if you fancy a used S5000 I could now possibly justify my 450D or nice used 30D that I've been putting off for ages.

Thanks Mark interesting read Gives me some pointers on what to look out for.

Originally Posted by robchester

Right for once!?!?? No, think you're onto a good thing there. Like you say, if you're dipping into the water, you need something which gives you options but without breaking the bank. I have considered getting a DSLR lately but think that I havent learnt to use all the features on the bridge cam yet so will carry on..

Thats why I got this mate, thought it would be a good place to start and doesn't break the bank Then when I understand things a bit more, sell this on and get an SLR

Originally Posted by plowsie

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2, is it a good camera?

I'm on a budget of around £250ish on one, the cheaper the better, obviously. I wanted a D60 but I'm not good enough to use one And it wouldn't get used too regularly. Seen this looks pretty good and has got some good reviews, what do people think to it?

Also, recommendations of other cameras are good too I use them pretty much when I go and do something good, like go away, go to events, out on the bike, so its used for pictures of various things if that matters. Landscape pics are something i like to take pics of. The LX2 has a widescreen feature which is what caught my eye.

Cheers for help guys

is it as good as fizz's though >!>!>!>!??

[Viney]

Originally Posted by plowsie

Thats where I got the review for the LX2.

Fizz I didn't realise there was a 40 Thanks mate

EDIT: Problem with the 40 is that its 6.1 Mega Pixies, I'm already using 7.1 on my A550, If things are zoomed on it, it looks cr@p on mine, is the D40 going to be better?

The Cannon 400D was the D40's competitor and has 10.1Mp and iirc, its come down in price as well.

Remember, its all about the lens. The compact will have a small lens and will not let huge amounts of light in. The Mp rating will only come into effect when you start enlageing stuff, or wanting to zoom in etc. The 6.1mp Nikon will be better than a 7.1Mp compact, thats for sure.

So, after a little play with my new toy today, come across something thats a little weird, I take a picture in landscape mode and i'm not able to adjust exposure at all with the camera...so with the sun out the sky is more white than the blue it is...Is this to make you use the camera with its more manual settings (as you are able to adjustt exposure)?

All very cool atm Very pleased otherwise, this is the only prob I have with it atm.