cameras

[diberry]

This is slightly off topic but I'm having camera problems and (on topic!!!) I need a good camera for my next Disney trip among other things!! I've got an old-ish camera (not digital) which takes brilliant photos but is bulky and getting on a bit (much like myself!!) and a fairly new digital camera which does not take sharp photos even when I use the best image quality setting and in fact at the moment it's getting lines across the pictures and generally speaking I'm a bit fed up!! I LOVE taking photos and editing and printing them at home but am by no means an expert. What I need is a good reliable camera (analog or digital) which will take sharp photos, be easy to use and preferably not cost a bomb. Can anyone advise me please???

 

[Bonnie]

We have a Canon PowerShot and I love it. Ours is a PowerShot A75 but the newer models are out now. I don't really know how much you want to spend, though!

Here is a link to one of the newer PowerShots:

Canon PowerShot A95

 

[diberry]

Thanks very much Bonnie - that looks ideal. Is it good in artificial light too? My present one needs all sorts of adjustments to get the colour right with flash indoors. I really want something simple to use but with good sharp pictures.

 

[Cyrano]

Diana
it would be helpful if you could give an indication of budget

As a convert to the digital age I would advocate a minimum of 3.1M optical zoom compact. If your bulky camera is a SLR then the price of their digital counterparts have come down significantly. That was how I sold it

Reid

 

[Bonnie]

It does seem to work fairly well in artificial light, yes. Of course daylight is better for photos anyway but I haven't had any problems with using it in artificial light. Here are some examples of photos we've taken with it:

A lantern
Close-up of lantern with Christmas tree in background
Christmas decoration
My girlfriend and me (I'm the blonde!)
My hamster Tom!

It's a good little camera. I just wish I were a better photographer!

 

[dlpSteve]

I bought a Sony Cyber-shot about 6 months and it's superb - has the best battery life I've encountered from a digital camera thanks to Sony's 'Stamina' technology.

 

[diberry]

Thank you Bonnie so much for going to the trouble of uploading your photos for me. That was very kind It does seem to be a very good camera - love the hamster!!!

Cyrano - well I'd say up to £200 (my DH might think otherwise !!! ) but I do love photos and my recent ones have been a catastrophe so I've really got to get a decent camera. I love my old 35mm film-based one but it's developing a recurring fault which cost about £80 to fix last time. I've recently shelled out on a 512MB memory card so I've got to find a camera compatible with that!
I've just done an online Q & A on digital cameras and all the options are making my head whirl round!!!

Thank you also dlpSteve for your suggestion.

 

[diberry]

oops - posted it twice!!! Sorreeeee!!!!!

 

[Cyrano]

Diana
the choice can be bewildering but for the type of money you have suggested you should get a more than decent camera. My short list would include Canon A95, Sony DSC-W12, Canon IXUS 30.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-5309353-5135839
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-5309353-5135839
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...89768/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_3_2/202-5309353-5135839

Reid

 

[diberry]

Reid - thank you so much - that really has helped to narrow it down Looks like it may be the Canon A95 which Bonnie also recommended. Thank you for putting up those links for me too

 

[Frances999]

Two weeks ago I ordered the Sony DSC-W12 from Amazon but I sent it back. I thought the picture quality was pretty average and it took quite a while for pictures to transfer onto the PC (ages compared to my old Kodak CX4230 with docking station). I ordered the Kodak Kodak DX6730 instead and I have found it to be absolutley *perfect*! I would highly recommend it. Six whole mega pixels for under £200! Plus a whole host of great features to enhance pictures. The Kodak EasyShare software is excellent too.

 

[diberry]

You must be a mind reader Frances999!!! I'd just been looking into the Kodak DX7630. I was wondering if you have to have a camera dock or can you just use the USB cable? The dock would obviously bump the price up quite a bit. It's £250 in Argos. Did you get yours from amazon?

 

[Frances999]

LOL Diana! I bought it from Amazon and it came 2 days later (I didn't choose the supersaver shipping, though - I'm far too impatient!). No, you do not have to have the dock, you can use a USB cable and the pictures still download pretty fast (compared to the Sony I got anyway!).

The quality is amazing and the EasyShare software is *so* easy to use!

The dock I have is the official Kodak one and it is just £39.99 from Amazon - it is great. Check it out here . The pictures download so, so fast!

 

[diberry]

That's brilliant Frances999 - thanks ever so much!! I wouldn't be able to use my memory cards in the Canon cameras I was looking at earlier so this one seems perfect!! Now I've just got to get DH in a weak moment and persuade him I couldn't possibly live without a new camera................................

 

[Cyrano]

Diana
tell DH the Dis crew will be round if he doesn't let you buy a new camera, cause we want to see more photographs

Reid

 

[diberry]

What a brilliant idea Reid - I'm sure he'd find that prospect pretty scary!!!

 

[Disney owl]

Diana

Have you looked in comet? we bought a neww camera in March from them as it was such a good deal. ours is a HP. but they were also doing deals on Kodak cameras plus camera docks.

Sorry I haven't any details.

 

[diberry]

Thanks for the suggestion Disney owl. I was going to have a look on kelkoo to see some price comparisons too. I'm amazed at how much difference there is between prices!!!

 

[cowza]

I use the Kodak Easyshare Digital camera which I've found to be great - it is very easy to use! It does have specific settings like 'night', 'daylight', 'landscape' etc but there is an 'auto' setting - so u can just press and go and the camera will adjust to how it needs to be!

There is a link here for you to have a look:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...46440/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/202-0019270-3283816

You'll get everything you need with the camera to get started (it is designed for beginners in digital photography) - it is not essential to invest in a dock printing bay thing (you get USB cable and all the software you will need with the camera) although it might save you a lot of money on the whole because I believe the one you can buy for this camera comes with batteries and a recharger. That is my only complaint about this camera - the batteries run out pretty fast on it! It would be a good idea to buy a memory card though!

Here are some photos from Disney taken with the camera (there are more in my other post too!):
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/cowza/AHyenaKatieAmanda.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/cowza/Aladdin.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">

Hope this helped you out!

Ben

 

[dlpSteve]

Best place I have found for cameras is http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/index.html - very cheap and great service.