Camera Labs

Hi There

I currently own a FujiFilm A303 digital camera, but have decided that the time has come to upgrade to something newer.... I've had the A303 for a few years now and it has served me well in terms of the quality of pictures it has produced for me, but the main draw backs of it now are:

- Slow Start Up time
- Lag between pictures is a bit long for opportunistic shots (particularly when flash reloading)
- Only 3 Mega Pixel, although to be honest I rarely print or edit digital pictures, and if i do print them they are 6*4 or 7*5 and look fine.
- Only 3* Optical Zoom - which I do find a tad restrictive
- Very basic usage/interface - little control allowed


The reason I am looking to upgrade is part "new boy toy" and part wanting to take better pictures. Early next year I am going on a 2 week cruise in the west carribbean, to places like panama, costa rica etc so I want unforgettable pictures for my unforgettable holiday, at the moment the key criteria I am looking for is:

- Wider Zoom range - invariably a lot of my pictures are from a distance, so the closer I can get the better
- Compact factor.... Dont really want the size or complexity of a DSLR
- Megapixels - might as well make a jump - at least 5MB?
- Continuous shooting (for opportunistic/drive by pictures)
- Fast Start Up
- A bit more control over the pictures that are taken, preferably pre-set functions (outdoor, sports, night etc) as I am not very skilled, but want something more than the A303 offers.
- Video with sound would be nice


Thus far I have looked at the Lumix range, and the Canon IXUS look good - looked at one a few months back but it will be out of date now.....

I have read some reviews but they get a bit technical and advanced for me, my budget is probably £100-£200 (given that there are so many, i am of the view you dont have to spend a fortune these days...)

can anygone give me any starters of where to look, and perhaps provide some logic to my wish list of new features to see if i am prioritising the most important things.....

Thanks
Paul

Look here http://www.canon.co.uk/Where_to_Buy/For ... /Index.asp

Click on each e-tailer in turn should give you plenty of scope

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

not exactly the answer i was looking for, i was hoping for more a view of what criteria are most important, and ideally some idea of good cameras fitting the bill at the moment so i can start to look around....

Look for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5. It should be around 200GBP.
It has almost everything you want! Beware though, that it is an older model and may not be available much longer...
And don't forget: You don't get a wide zoom range with an ultra-flat (like e.g. the Sony T50)!
If you want something small, take the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30EG. But that has only 3.6x zoom!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I don't know much about current compacts but I'd suggest that, as with SLR's, go to a shop and try it out in the flesh, so to speak. I think handling is the single most important issue in a camera. If I don't enjoy using it, I won't use it.

Zorro.

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Hi Rabaroo, welcome to the forums!

I rarely test cameras costing sub-£200, so can't personally recommend anything in your specified price range, but if you want a great value superzoom with plenty of control (but still physically small), the Panasonic Lumix FZ8 (approx £250 GBP) is very hard to beat right now. Sure it has some image quality issues at higher ISOs, but then so do all other compacts and superzooms.

Look out for our forthcoming full review, but in the meantime you can see some results for it in our Sony H9 review here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/SonyH ... ults.shtml

If you're after something more pocketable, but still with a big zoom, the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 is pretty darned cool. See our review here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/PanasonicTZ3/

You're certainly doing the right thing by listing what it is you want - and crucially where your existing camera is letting you down... luckily almost all compacts / superzooms now offer some of the things you're after including more than 5 mpixels, continuous shooting and movie modes with sound...

Gordon