Best camera on a budget

[TAKTAK]

Seeing as though there is no way i can afford an SLR + Lens i'm after the following:

Decent image quality (well durr )
Decent macro (for closeups ~2cm)
and most importantly... cheap... i.e. over £150 is pushing the boundaries quite alot...

i have no aversion to refurbs/second hand if it helps to get something cheaper etc...

any ideas, seeing as i have no idea about this kind of thing

Cheers,
TT

[kalniel]

Image quality doesn't vary that much, and most compacts will be able to macro very close as well. I suggest having a nosey at this budget compact group review:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/

[TheAnimus]

If you want to keep it all under £150, with spare batteries, memory cards etc.

check out the larger finepix:
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_t...All-Categories

They are not bad at all, you can even play around with filters and the like on them too.

[0iD]

+1 for a Finepix S series, my old S9600 was superb & the S100 is none-too shabby neither.

[TAKTAK]

So between the s1000/1500/2000 which one would you opt for it was your money?

incidentally i was looking at the s2000 and s1500 this morning, but the s2000 seems to be EOL..

PS would it be prudent to get a cheap tripod?

[TheAnimus]

cheap tripods are all too often wobbly, so if your a tall chappy, and its at all windy, they are useless.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FUJIFILM-FineP...0|293:1|294:50

dosen't seam like a bad deal, generally speaking even the most cheaply made minitripods can stand still enough to be useful.

[TAKTAK]

it would be for indoor use only really, just so i don't have visible wobbly-hand-syndrome in pictures

[TheAnimus]

the IS in those was always quite good, f2.8, you should be ok, the downside is you can't put a proper flash on it.
this was taken with a S5500
www.0bytes.net/misc/desktop/DSCF0432.JPG

i doubt you will have any issues

[TAKTAK]

Cheers, looks like /thread time and go for the Fuji S2000 then when i've plucked the money together

[kalniel]

So between the s1000/1500/2000 which one would you opt for it was your money?

How much cheaper is the s1000? It's very nearly as good as the others so if it was a decent saving I'd go for that one. If they're the same price then go for the higher model.

PS would it be prudent to get a cheap tripod?

Compacts don't weight much so it's not such a problem, but I still probably wouldn't get a tall tripod. However I absolutely love my Velbon mini. It only goes up to 60cm or so, but because of that it's a bit more stable, and I have to say it's the single thing that improved my shots the most and being able to chuck it in the rucksack was neat.

[Andy3536]

S1500 £135 refurb. Not a bad option.
https://secure.fujifilm.co.uk/shop/c.../finepix-s1500

[fiish]

You could look at the group review from DPReview, they reviewed a bunch of budget compacts late last year and their findings might interest you. Their reviews are generally quite thorough and fair - personally, I would take their recommendations into consideration if I wanted a cheap compact as a 'sidearm' to my DSLR.

I can't post the URI due to my being relatively new at the forum, you can go to DPReview.com and it is under their Reviews/Previews section.

[kalniel]

Did you read the other replies fiish?

[Akhtar2]

Alternatively, you could go for a canon 350D, which I got for £180 with a 18-55mm lens brand new. Although that may be pushing your budget.

You could go for a panasonic lumix, or the finepix fugifulm range.

[TAKTAK]

Cheers, looks like /thread time and go for the Fuji S2000 then when i've plucked the money together

Which is precisely what i did...

cheers guys

[Flibb]

how much and where from, curretly looking at the S1500 for my parents, any opinions?