Best Camera £200

[realm]

Hey,

What would you camera guru's suggest me getting with a £200 limit? I prob get it off ebay to reduce the price so what you think i best off getting? I am after the best picture quality i can get without spending too much. Might go a little over budget if there is a super camera out there for say £230.

Cheers,
RealM

[Agent]

What are you mainly going to use it for ?
The odd snap, long distance, ect...

[0iD]

If you can get a Sony Cybershot DSC-T1 from fleabay you'll be laughing. Fantastic lil camera.

[joshwa]

Ultra small: Pentax Optio S5n around £200. (5mp, mpeg4 video mode)
Image Quality / controls: Canon Powershot A95 (5mp) around £200.
High MP: Sony P150 7mp, around £230 (that's cheap!)

[realm]

Cheers for the input guys. The Sony P150 7mp is £230 from http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...397931-4585455

You think i should take the plung and get this then?

p.s Agent it will be for all sorts of pictures from pics of my daughter, holiday, car etc but want top quality

[realm]

Also there is the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P200: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...397931-4585455

And Fuji FinePix S7000 Digital Camera [6MP 6xOptical]

Now i have seen some sample's from the Fuji and they seem really good. Is the fuji going to be better in say long distance but now short?

[joshwa]

The Fuji should be equally capable at no zoom (wide angle), as well as telephoto (6x zoom) - the 6x optical zoom lets you zoom in to stuff, whereas I guess you could find a 3x optical zoom lens limiting, especially if you're going on holiday and viewing wild animals (whale watching, dolphins, safari etc).

There's quite a few Fuji owners on www.digi-darkroom.com forums - I'm sure they'd be able to tell you more about the Fujis

edit - the fuji refurb shop have the s7000 for quite cheap: http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/technical/refurb/shop.php

[subucni]

Interesting read, could do with getting a stills camera myself, a question thats always bugged me and i've never asked anyone because i've never had the money to buy a nice camera yet "What is the Effective pixels/Recorded pixels all about? why the difference?" for example the s7000 say it has 6million effective pixels (12million recorded)

[poindextermatic]

I have one of these, it is a super camera with 10X optical and 4meg pictures + loads more...

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/Z2/Z2A.HTM

should be able to get one for just over £200 now...

(btw if u need a sample pic just let me know - just got some excellent ones from the zoo...)

[bsodmike]

Got this puppy on sale via eBay...

[nichomach]

Interesting read, could do with getting a stills camera myself, a question thats always bugged me and i've never asked anyone because i've never had the money to buy a nice camera yet "What is the Effective pixels/Recorded pixels all about? why the difference?" for example the s7000 say it has 6million effective pixels (12million recorded)

In the same way that scanners have an actual optical resolution and a much higher interpolated resolution, so do cameras. Basically, the effective pixels are the actual number of pixels that the camera can physically "see"; the physical resolution of the sensor in the camera. It then enhances the image up to (in the example you give) 12 million by "interpolating" - basically, it looks at adjacent pixels and works out what would be a sensible shade for a pixel that would be in between them. Fuji are actually pretty good at this - have a look at their flash demo for how their sensor and enhancement work at http://www.fujifilm.co.uk/digital/ca...eras/range.php.

[Marcos]

I always recommend the Canon A-Series, especially for those who think they might like to tinker with photography after a while, since its one of, if not the best manual control capable compact cameras out there, especially for the bargain price.

[shiato storm]

I can safely say that for the £238 I paid for the Sony P200 I have got one hell of a camera. easy to use, top notch quality. got it at Jessops and it was cheaper than anywhere else, icluding on-line, and its great! GET ONE! need proof? [shameless plug] go here [/shameless plug]
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=42349

[da_ging]

surprised no 1 has mentioned the panasonic fz20 and fz5 cameras which both have very good image quality both 5mp and both 12X stabilised zooms also they have plenty of manual options

[shiato storm]

but battery life not great though...

[da_ging]

Panasonic quotes 240 shots using the LCD (270 with the EVF, using CIPA standard testing). We certainly found it good enough for a whole day's shooting.

plus extra batteries are available for less than a tenner