Camera advice please.

[Kingfisher101]

Does anyone on here know anything about cameras? I'm after a new one a digital compact around 20 m.p that will do black and white photos as well as colour. I'm wanting to take some photos of landscapes/ birds where I'm out walking/ birding etc and my cats.
I'm not after something that costs thousands, but want a better one than a £100 basic. Any pointers would be great. I don't want a digital SLR either I want something easier than that and smaller.

 

[sheddy]

New or used ?
Let us know max spend and we will advise

 

[vickster]

Does anyone on here know anything about cameras? I'm after a new one a digital compact around 20 m.p that will do black and white photos as well as colour. I'm wanting to take some photos of landscapes/ birds where I'm out walking/ birding etc and my cats.
I'm not after something that costs thousands, but want a better one than a £100 basic. Any pointers would be great. I don't want a digital SLR either I want something easier than that and smaller.

I bought one of these for safari, took fab pics. Recommended on here iirc. Doubled in price since I got it from cex but might find elsewhere used like Wex photo
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail...MPACT-CAMERAS&superCatName=ELECTRONICS&title=

 

[Kingfisher101]

New or used ?
Let us know max spend and we will advise

Hi, Either and I was thinking £500-£700ish. Thank you. Has to have a guarantee for a bit though.

 

[MontyVeda]

Can't fault Panasonic Lumix cameras. Mine's 14 years old and still going strong.

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Can't fault Panasonic Lumix cameras. Mine's 14 years old and still going strong.

I’ve gotta agree with that, mines pushing 20 and it does everything I want. I have a friend with a DSLR worth about ten grand and she hates my old Lumix FZ because it’s damn near as good… she calls it lens envy.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Make sure that you get a very fast lense, & decent optical zoom, not the digital crap.

And, unless you are blowing up large prints, 5MP is more than enough.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I've just bought a second hand camera on eBay, Fujifilm Finepix SL1600. Was £13!

As long as it all works I'd imagine something similar would do you to start. I'm actually thinking of just getting another compact design one as well.

Have a look a British Heart Foundations eBay shop, they have lots to choose from.

Hi Thanks for that, I've already got a basic beginner one and want something a step up that does black and white as well. I'm after something really good.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

A few fast compacts:

https://amateurphotographer.com/round-ups/fast-aperture-compacts/

 

[fossyant]

Another vote for a Panasonic Lumix. We've a recent one, and it's great, but we don't use it as our Samsung phones are incredible.

 

[MontyVeda]

Hi Thanks for that, I've already got a basic beginner one and want something a step up that does black and white as well. I'm after something really good.

you can easily convert to B&W (and sepia) with most image editing software (gimp, photoshop, fireworks, etc.).

 

[vickster]

I bought one of these for safari, took fab pics. Recommended on here iirc. Doubled in price since I got it from cex but might find elsewhere used like Wex photo
https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail...MPACT-CAMERAS&superCatName=ELECTRONICS&title=

 

[mistyoptic]

Panasonic TZ series (again). These two from a TZ80

 

[Electric_Andy]

I wanted the same as you, albeit cheaper. I did a lot of shopping around and 3 years ago decided on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ70. It has 30x optical zoom which is amazing for such a small camera, and comes in very handy. There are scene modes where you can choose sepia, monochrome, retro etc. Plus an intelligent auto mode for when you just want point and shoot. If you really want to get into it, you can choose manual modes and change f values, white balance, aperture and shutter priority etc. There are also 2 customisable modes which you can set your own parameters and save (for your b&w for example). The other selling point for me was the wifi transfer. So wherever I am I can send the photos direct from the camera to my phone without cables or a PC. There are more expensive cameras in the range if you want, all fairly similar in look but of course a better lense and/or slightly more features. But as a starting point you might want to check it out. I got a second hand one for £100 but I think new they are around 300

 

[vickster]

My new camera arrived and.... all my rechargeable batteries are too old/weak to power it on (I got a couple of mins from one set lol).

Anyone recommend some AA Ni-Mh rechargeables?

If it’s new doesn’t it come with a battery?