Cameras??

[Moodyman]

Wanting a camera for taking holiday pics and maybe making short videos of growing kids and all that.

I've only ever had one camera - a mid-90s Nikon that used film - nowt special - paid about £120 for it back then. It recently gave up the ghost so looking to replace.

What should an average bloke be looking for in a good camera - megapixels, resolution specifications, SD car slot?

Also, are film cameras still in vogue or have they been superseded by digital cameras.

PS - how easy is it to print with digital ones? I guess there's no film as such to take to the developers?

As I said, I just want a good (mid-range) camera that I can keep a similar time as the last one (15+ years).

I've a laptop too that I'd like to back up all pics on - is this possible with digital cameras?

Thanks in advance.

 

[2PedalsTez]

Your budget will dictate what you will get.

Most digital cameras will run at around the 10 million pixel level with higher spec ones going higher. The resolution won't really make huge differences to the quality unless you plan to print large sized photos or play around with your photos (photoshop etc)
Moving through the range will give you better lens quality, more functionality etc.
Try and get as good an optical zoom as possible (digital zoom quality is always poor).
Certain cameras will allow for HD video recording too.
Memory card wise, I would suggest SD as this will give you the biggest choice and best prices.
Get as big a card as you can afford to allow for lots of stills and video footage (and you will always regret buying that small capacity card!)
You will be able to upload your photos from your camera to you pc and then print, or use a printing booth (boots or jessops have them). If you really value your pics then make sure you have a back up storage of them. I use an online backup that automatically uploads any new photos and allows family to log in and view the albums. (I did this after my laptop died and I lost all the photos )

Brand wise.. I like Panasonic, but each to their own of course.

 

[MontyVeda]

have a look at www.cameras.co.uk for great, and impartial reviews



edited to make the link work


edited again... +1 for panasonic

edited yet again... +1 for everything else Tez said.

 

[LosingFocus]

Get another film camera. Keep film alive.

 

[Moodyman]

Thanks guys/gals. Given me some good directions to explore.

 

[ian turner]

A 15 year old digital camera ? The way technology is running you won't be able to buy small enough
memory cards after 10 years.
Most cameras run at the 14 mp level at the moment with a few at 12mp going cheap and 16mp is now coming in.
You will find lower resolutions on the higher end kit as they are concentrating on the quality of
picture capture.
If taking short videos then check the class of the sdcard and aim for class 6 or higher.
Buying cameras is a bit of a mine field if you start reading the reviews as they invariably highlight the weaknesses
and in the case of the more expensive ones claim the previous model was better (see FZ45 vs FZ38 or HS20 vs HS10 though these are high end compacts). Plus the prices keep changing so I could have bought a nikon p500 for the price I paid last week for the Fujifilm HS20

 

[twowheelsgood]

Ignore megapixels over 8-10 (which means practically everything these days has "enough") as you'll need higher-end optics to do anything useful with them (say serious prosumer level/DSLR), they'll just record more blurring and noise than anything and fill your memory card for no real reason. In fact most pocket or compact cameras can't do anything with much with over 5 megapixels.

I'd look for the following for a general purpose camera:

Enough zoom as you need - be aware than the huge zoom cameras can only do this in a compact body by focusing on a tiny, tiny sensor and are generally really poor for more normal family snaps etc. - remember the sizes of those paparazzi lenses from the 1980s to take 35mm pictures...

Look in the technical spec and find one with the physically largest sensor in a body as big as you'll find acceptable. This is a good indication of the noise level you'll get in your pictures and how well it'll handle low-light. Add to this a larger, quality lens. There is only so much electronic trickery can do. The fundamental truth since the beginning of photography still applies, you need as much well focused light as you can get.

Optical image stabilisation is a huge plus. Worth an f-stop or ISO setting or two in old money.