Need a new camera...

[Paddy]

My trusty Minolta DiMage F300 has just been flung down the stairs! It now rattles and fails to zoom The joys of parenthood!

I have a Sony HDR-SR8E camcorder which takes reasonable shots outside, but the flash is too garish for indoor shots and tends to over brighten subjects unless you move ~3m away. I have thought about buying an external flash, with this one being the only option from Sony.

I dont want to spend too much but, I do need to be able to take decent 'family' photos, predominantly indoors. I'd want to spend not much more than £200.

Should i persist with the camcorder, or would you recommend a compact alternative?

[Fat Tone]

Firstly tell Andrea to be more careful in future

Second, if you want 'good' stills then get a still camera. There's been a couple of threads on here lately. The Fuji F50fd looks good. My Dad just got the Fuji 5700 which is a nice size and has 10x optical zoom, 7MP and IS, but I'm not really impressed with the image quality. Check the reviews as I think it is just his. And it is only ~£110.

[Paddy]

Thanks mate.

I've looked at the F50FD. Great looking camera, but I am concerned that the high resolution will create lots of noise in low light indoor shots - which is when i will be using it. Perhaps this is overcome by the flash?

[az]

Check this recent thread