Digital camera purchase

[Paddy]

The Powershot G5 looks a tad big and more importantly out of my price range @ ~£600...

The Minolta Dimage F200 looks like a nice camera, but is ugly as hell

[GNEP]

The F200 looks interesting for me as well... bizarrely Dixons seem to have quite a good price on it (!?!) in the UK...

[Paddy]

yup.. it is cheap at £297.. much better than £323 at Dabs

[Helevitia]

Originally posted by Paddy
The Powershot G5 looks a tad big and more importantly out of my price range @ ~£600...

The Minolta Dimage F200 looks like a nice camera, but is ugly as hell

I bought a G3 a little over a month ago and I am really happy with it. There are so many features on it, it is dizzying. Other than the quality of the pics, the biggest bonus everyone overlooks is the battery life. This camera has a battery life that is unbelievable!

Dave

[mutz]

Paddy, have you played with the cameras physically? Pix don't give you the story. My G5 certainly isn't big, even a little smaller than my G2, but it feels like something to work with, not a toy.

Go in photo shops like a woman shopping for shoes. Drive 'm all nuts 'til you find something that suits you. It's definitely worth the trouble.

[Paddy]

Cheers.. I have been playing with the cameras... The SLR type ones are just too big for my needs. For me one of the main advantages of a digital camera is size.

The G5 looks impressive, but as I stated it is just too expensive at the moment.

From looking around in shops, similar models kept coming up as the 'retailers choice':

• Minolta F200 - nice camera with lots of features. Takes AA batteries, but ugly as sin.
• Sony CyberShot P10 - expensive point and shoot with little manual controls.

So far noone has recommended a Fuji and I havn't managed to play with a cannon.

[Paddy]

My parents are over this weekend. They want to buy me a camera for graduation. I am doing all i can to keep them away from the likes of Dixons and PCWorld.

Now that money is not an issue (as it is not mine ). What camera would you recommend.

As I will be using it for amature snaps I dont need anything to professional, but i do want to be able to print out some of the better ones.

Is the Minolta F200 still the best buy, or hsould i be considering other models????

Can someone recommend an online shop with more of a competative pricing???

[mutz]

Quality camera = quality prints up to A4. My G5 goes up to excellent quality at A3.

As to where to buy on the net, just do a search in some UK search machine for a camera you think might come in question, and then look at what else they have at what prices, then shop around to others.

I have always found the best prices on Internet and often bought there. Sometimes they have a store too. Just make sure they are serious and reputable. It's worth a few pence more not to have trouble.

I saved around 30% on the list price for my G5 and bought a printer from the same site too . Made me very happy!

[az]

Get the F300. It's basically the F200 with 1mp more, and nicer design (quite similar overall, but none of that ugly brown plastic). It looks almost identical to the F100.

AZ

[K6-III]

Well, you could look at the Canon S50 as well...

[Paddy]

Checking... the F300 looks nice...
Looking at the G5 and the S50 now...

[Paddy]

I have read lots of reviews about the s50 having an easy to scrath LCD. It is also not the sexiest camera on the market, although i wont be taking pics of it

[Paddy]

The G5 whilst nice, it too expensive at > £500

[Pace]

Originally posted by VJ
You mean you already have the model for the cover of Vogue ?

http://www.dpreview.com

http://www.steves-digicams.com

Mrs Paddy (aka Ms A.....) would easily make the cover of Vogue, just a shame Paddy would struggle to make Viz

Those two links are very good by the way, look for example pictures of the cameras on review - will give you a rough indication. Just remember that the guy taking them is pretty experienced, so a certain camera might offer sharp, vibrant pictures - but your hand might not be as steady for instance. I saw various pictures of a 'still life', but when I tried taking a moving subject on 'auto' it was quite blurred. Compared to my old 35mm compact the image quality of obviously poorer in situations like that. However, stick it on something other than auto and you can get better results!

If possible, try and get a loan of a reasonable quality camera for a day or so - shoot as varied a range of subjects as possible. Otherwise it's 5 minute plays in a shop...

[smitty]

I have Pentax optio 550 5mp 4x zoom small good glass all auto and manual controls good warranty and service reputation
(have not had to use it personally , this info came from a tech)
check one out at a dealer you are comfortable with( the dealer is important so you can try them out in your hand
smitty