Camera - I need a new one... suggestions?

[summerdays]

For the last few years I have been a sony person and currently have both a Sony Cybershot P200 and a Sony V3. Can't remember what the previous Sony was before that.

The V3 is dying... button's don't always work (review button being the most annoying mal-function) and seems to be getting slower if that is possible.

Now if I could have the impossible designed into a camera I would want:

7MP +
Wide angle 28 or more
Reasonable zoom
Takes photos with good detail when zoomed in.

I mostly take a combination between photos of kids usually on the move not posed, landscapes, flowers (so a macro feature). I take quite a few of my photos in B+W and a lot in portrait rather than landscape.

I have loved my V3, and use the focus feature occasionally, exposure compensation a reasonable amount, changing the white balance, controlling the ISO etc. I'm not really into night time photography apart from the odd fireworks shot. Not really a high tech person when it comes to photography but more than just literally point and shoot. I tend to have a camera with me most days - though usually the P200 as the pocket camera, but frequently carry both.

Has anyone got any suggestions for camera's that I should have a look at on dpreview, I'm getting lost in the potential numbers of camera's there are.

 

[GordyFaeEdinburgh]

Budget? Oh, and define "reasonable zoom" please.

The DMC-TZ4 might be a cheap option for you, or the Ricoh R7. LX3 does everything but the zoom - Richoh GXs same problem. DMC-FZ28 too big maybe? Canon SX200 perhaps.

Hope that helps you get started.

 

[summerdays]

Reasonable zoom - as much as I can get without comprising quality or other features - not talking the mega zoom camera's though. Zoom on the V3 is 34-136mm (4x), I would prefer a slightly wider lens than that. Budget probably around the £300 but probably more if I thought it was wonderful. I've just been reading up about the new Sony WX1 but no reviews yet.

If I was to go for a different make I would probably be tempted by a Canon, don't like sharpness of photos of Olympus camera's I've seen in comparision tests.

One question for anyone knowledgeable I always steer away from those camera's with a really small lens on the front - assuming that they can't produce quality from such a small lens - is that a correct assumption to make?

 

[GordyFaeEdinburgh]

Hmmm - I see things have moved on a bit since last I looked. Take a look at the DMC-TZ6 or TZ7 instead of the TZ4 or TZ5. The LX3 is, by all accounts, nothing less than awesome but the lack of zoom might rule it out for you.

A bigger lens would be better if it has a sensor to match, I suppose. Big lens, small sensor is presumably extra size and weight for no gain. I'm no expert though.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I have recently brought one of these Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Blue
from here
http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product1.asp?ProductID=4464
and have been very impressed with it

I took this a few days ago

View attachment 3920

 

[peanut]

How about the Fuji F200 ?
won a 2009 award.
I have a Fuji J120 and a J150 and they produce awesome quality images. The video quality is incredable too.
check out the images in this review
http://www.dpnotes.com/fuji-f200-review/
compare all Fuji cameras
http://fujifilm.co.uk/consumer/digital/digital-cameras/view-all

 

[Melvil]

DPreview has done a great group review of budget compacts that is well worth reading:

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

They go into an awful amount of detail so if you don't want to read that just skip to the conclusions part.

 

[summerdays]

I'm probably wanting to spend above that budget - though they would probably be good replacements for the second camera. (Even looking at those I'm drawn by that brand loyalty to the Sony!!!) At some point I probably want to make the jump to DSLR - but not yet.

I must admit looking into it I am warming to some of the Panasonic cameras too. I suppose even if I stay with the Sony I still may have to invest in new batteries, cards etc. At the moment its good that 3 of the family camera's share the same batteries and charger, and similar controls so its easy to swap between them all.

 

[Speck]

I have had a Panasonic TZ3 for a couple of years, anti-shake, 10-1 Zoom, Leica lens 7 MP, brilliant

 

[peanut]

I'm probably wanting to spend above that budget -.

shouldn't judge the quality of the image by the cost of the camera necessarily. A lot of recently issued compacts have started to ship with little used gizmos that push the cost up whilst giving no improvement in image quality.

I defy anybody to show me any difference in the image quality of my £75.00 J120 and the latest £300+ F200

Compacts are just that ,a compromise compact, carry -anywhere snap machine. If you want really good images you'll need another DSLR.

 

[summerdays]

I definitely have noticed the difference between the P200 and the V3, both in terms of image quality (when zooming in on the computer), and the ability to adjust the camera before taking the photo. Although I usually carry the P200 every day, if I have both camera's on me I will inevitably use the V3 in preference. I'm not into gizmo's such as the ability to highlight one colour and take the rest of the photo in monochrome - I can do that afterwards using Photoshop if I wanted to.

 

[peanut]

they were both excellent cameras in their day but they are now 5 year old technology.
You'll be blown away by the current range of compacts.
The 10Mb 5x zoom Fuji J120 at just £75.00 has a 3" LCD which is massive. Its a real joy to review and edit your stills and video on such a large screen.
anti shake, face recognition , anti red eye, anti camera shake, continuous shooting ,.13 different shooting modes , even an internal 24Mb int memory.
For £75 you'll have all you want in a simple robust point and shoot compact camera and put the spare £225 towards a nice new DSLR
compare specs here
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscv3/
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08081203fujifilmj100j110wj120j150w.asp

 

[dan_bo]

Got one of these cheap from Comet:


http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/2019604/index.html

And it's pretty good.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

i must admit i am not a fan of the modern fashion for large LCD screens and no viewfinder. My new panasonic is an excellent camera and a big step up from my old Finepic 5000, which had a viewfinder, but trying to take pictures using the full zoom capabilities of the panasonic holding the camera in front of my face with extended arms is noticeably more difficult than doing the same thing with the the camera held to my face using a viewfinder, I might have to invest in a tripod.

 

[summerdays]

Yes I went holding camera's in the shops yesterday and suddenly realized that a large number of camera's don't have view finders and that that was another feature I wanted. I do use it on my current camera's. However the people in the some of the shops were hopeless - ask about some of the features and they start guessing!!!