Best Compact Digital Camera?

[potsy]

+1 for the Lumix.

Another fan of the Lumix here, had a big chunky Kodak thing before which was too big and not user friendly enough for me. The Lumix is very small and light, takes up hardly any space in my frame bag, and best of all goes from off to taking a pic in less than 2 seconds

I will admit I'm no photographer so the simplicity of it appeals to me, but there are some features to have a play with if you want to.

Mine was only just over £100, has an 8X zoom and 14mega pixels, comes with it's own rechargeable Li-on(?) battery which lasts ages too.

 

[ColinJ]

I've been a bit disappointed with my Fujifilm Finepix F50fd.

The size is great - that was one of the reasons I bought it. I had a rather nice Olympus digital camera with a 10x optical zoom on it but it was just too big to cart about on the bike or long walks. It took good pictures but I rarely carried it.

The Fuji is nice and small. It sits in a little bag hanging off the side of my handlebar stem.

Some of the pictures I have taken with it have been quite good, but I find that the exposure in Auto mode is often really poor. Either the bright parts of the picture are washed out or the dark parts are all black. The pictures lack dynamic range. I end up post-processing them to lighten or darken them. Basically I can't see detail in shadows and the brightly lit areas at the same time. (Actually, the picture of the camera bag above isn't too bad in that respect but it seems very hit and miss as to what I end up with.)

I'm not a photographer. I usually end up using A/S mode and fiddling with the aperture setting until I get the best compromise but I don't really get great results.

Other people seem to do better with their compact cameras.

 

[MontyVeda]

the thing with compact cameras is they're always a compromise... the sensor is minute in comparrison to proper DSLR and in many cases the greater number of megapixels doesn't mean better quality photos. I can't big cameras.co.uk up enough... he doesn't sell cameras, just reviews them and the test photos for each model are all of the same subjects, so it's great for comparing model vs model. Even if a model you're considering isn't reviewed there, send him a review request. He even sells the cameras he's bought for reviews on ebay, so there''s a chance of a nearly new bargain too.

I ended up getting the panasonic lumix TZ6, not the smallest compact out there but with a 25mm wide angle lens and 12x optical zoom, it's very versatile... and the battery lasts for yonks.

 

[potsy]

Well I bought mine with very little research and have just checked the above site for his review-

I like the picture quality offered by Panasonic digital cameras in general. The pictures have a vibrant look to them and sharpness is impressive. All in all this camera is hard to beat in its class.

Happy with that

 

[ColinJ]

Damn - I went on a camera review site for a review of my camera and there is a monitor calibration graphic on the first page of the review. I think my monitor could be 50% of my problem! I can't make out all of the greyscale blocks ...

 

[Norm]

Damn - I went on a camera review site for a review of my camera and there is a monitor calibration graphic on the first page of the review. I think my monitor could be 50% of my problem! I can't make out all of the greyscale blocks ...

Good graphic, Colin, I like that. I can see them all except the last 2 on my phone.

 

[ColinJ]

Good graphic, Colin, I like that. I can see them all except the last 2 on my phone.

The last 4 dark ones all look black on my monitor as it is currently set up and the first two light ones look white. I'll see if I can tweak it to differentiate between more of them.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Nikon Coolpix for me but i am a Nikon fan through and through and totally biased

Which one you got? I have the S220 and I find it average as best. The pictures that it took in full auto were terrible in low light. I have to set the ISO in manual right down to reduce the noise. I have an old Konica Revio KD-410Z which is 4 MP compared to the 10 MP S220 and it takes better pictures. I am not that sure that I buy this large mega-pixel count on cheap camera's as the small sensor seems to make them susceptible to noise compared to a good quality DSLR with a larger sensor. I guess it is no big deal to put the ISO in manual and reduce it, but I reckon that a lot of the customer's that these camera's are aimed at would maybe not understand what the ISO setting is for and just suffer sh1t pictures.

 

[asterix]

Another vote for the Lumix. I own a TZ8 and it is my 5th digital camera and easily the best I've owned since moving from some very good film cameras.

 

[Munchkin100]

Thanks everyone for your input, will bear all in mind and take a trip down to Jessops and have a play.... wonder if they are opening tomorrow?

 

[Clandy]

Thanks everyone for your input, will bear all in mind and take a trip down to Jessops and have a play.... wonder if they are opening tomorrow?

A tip: Look at the cameras in Jessops, when you've found one you like, go home and buy it online. You'll save a packet.

 

[Norm]

A tip: Look at the cameras in Jessops, when you've found one you like, go home and buy it online. You'll save a packet....

... in the short term but you could be scuppered if anything goes wrong and you'll be hosed next time you want to get hands-on experience of something before buying it.

 

[Clandy]

... in the short term but you could be scuppered if anything goes wrong and you'll be hosed next time you want to get hands-on experience of something before buying it.

I have never had any problems returning faulty goods bought online.

 

[on the road]

There is an advantage and a dis-advantage to buying online. On the one hand you can get a bargain, on the other, if it developes a fault you have have to post it back to them, usually at your own expense. Although having said that, top brands very rarely develop faults, it's usually the lesser brands that develop faults.

 

[psmiffy]

I walked past a shop the other day and in the window there was a Lumix - Pros- shockproof to 1.5m drop - waterproof to 3m - lots of Mp, Cons - limited zoom 4.6x - Only works on lithium battery - £160

But half the price and size of the rugged Ricoh Compact I carry