Steve'sDigicams

cyclingspongecake · Nov 1, 2006, 1:02 PM

I need some impartial advice. I'm looking at getting a new camera (at least new to me, I don't care if its 2 or 3 years old so long as it does what I want).These are the criteria it needs to have :-

I do a lot of walking and mountain biking so I want something that I can somehow clip to a rucksack, without being too large (or too small).

Quality - I want it to produce very good quality photos (last camera was a fuji S304, which used to produce fantastic pics some of which have been blown up to about 2ftx1ft prints and they look great). Mainly I take outdoor, scenery shots and I'm not anywhere near a Pro, just pretty fussy! as I want to be able to print the photos out at home & be very happy with the quality.

Speed - must be fast, and possibly have a burst mode - for taking pictures of mountain bikers, wildlife moving at reasonable speed, sometimes in woodland where light may not be so good. Fuji S304 was lovely camera but too sloooowww!
XD or SD card compatibility
Preferably a lithium ion battery/charger for best battery life.
I'd quite like the option of putting filters on it as per my old fuji could.

Good layout of controls etc and not too many complicated pointless features that mean you fart about for hours selecting things before taking a pic.
Very good zoooooommm lense (200mm +)
Must have Viewfinder (large screens are useless in the sun!)
USB port
Fairly robust design - most probably are, but just in case.

I was considering one of the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ series - even an older one (5MP plus), but then had second thoughts as the newer ones are getting on the large size & was dubious about the comfort of having a large case clipped onto a rucksack and hanging around. Also there seemed to be some criticism of them in terms of background noise - but this might not be something I'd ever notice.

Problem I am finding is that there's hundreds of cameras about and all of them have their good and bad points and of course every review is different, some are critical of details the average user wouldn't even notice.

I made the mistake of buying an Olympus mju 500 used it briefly and hated it, mainly due to the lack of viewfinder, the fact that it was apalling at picking up the correct brightness, and its pics weren't that good.

Help, thanks!

KALEL33 · Nov 1, 2006, 10:12 PM

Whats your price range, and what size are you looking for? Canon S3IS could fit your criteria. It's very fast (high speed mode=1 shot every .4 of a sec.), 12x zoom with image stabalization (equivalent to 432mm), sd memory, has a viewfinder, and can take adapter to add filters. Steve's review says it took great outdoor shots and when using 2500mah nickel rechargables, that he was able to take 200 shots before the battery was going low.

cyclingspongecake · Nov 2, 2006, 3:57 AM

budget is £250 max.sorry don't know what that is in dollars. I'll have a look at the canon specs. I'd had the Panasonic Lumix fz5 recommended and I was looking initially at an fz20 - I'm not entirely sure what the difference is between Panasonics ranges that have a single digit and a double digitin the name.

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Nov 1, 2006, 1:02 PM	#1
cyclingspongecake Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2	I need some impartial advice. I'm looking at getting a new camera (at least new to me, I don't care if its 2 or 3 years old so long as it does what I want).These are the criteria it needs to have :- I do a lot of walking and mountain biking so I want something that I can somehow clip to a rucksack, without being too large (or too small). Quality - I want it to produce very good quality photos (last camera was a fuji S304, which used to produce fantastic pics some of which have been blown up to about 2ftx1ft prints and they look great). Mainly I take outdoor, scenery shots and I'm not anywhere near a Pro, just pretty fussy! as I want to be able to print the photos out at home & be very happy with the quality. Speed - must be fast, and possibly have a burst mode - for taking pictures of mountain bikers, wildlife moving at reasonable speed, sometimes in woodland where light may not be so good. Fuji S304 was lovely camera but too sloooowww! XD or SD card compatibility Preferably a lithium ion battery/charger for best battery life. I'd quite like the option of putting filters on it as per my old fuji could. Good layout of controls etc and not too many complicated pointless features that mean you fart about for hours selecting things before taking a pic. Very good zoooooommm lense (200mm +) Must have Viewfinder (large screens are useless in the sun!) USB port Fairly robust design - most probably are, but just in case. I was considering one of the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ series - even an older one (5MP plus), but then had second thoughts as the newer ones are getting on the large size & was dubious about the comfort of having a large case clipped onto a rucksack and hanging around. Also there seemed to be some criticism of them in terms of background noise - but this might not be something I'd ever notice. Problem I am finding is that there's hundreds of cameras about and all of them have their good and bad points and of course every review is different, some are critical of details the average user wouldn't even notice. I made the mistake of buying an Olympus mju 500 used it briefly and hated it, mainly due to the lack of viewfinder, the fact that it was apalling at picking up the correct brightness, and its pics weren't that good. Help, thanks!

Nov 1, 2006, 10:12 PM	#2
KALEL33 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 260	Whats your price range, and what size are you looking for? Canon S3IS could fit your criteria. It's very fast (high speed mode=1 shot every .4 of a sec.), 12x zoom with image stabalization (equivalent to 432mm), sd memory, has a viewfinder, and can take adapter to add filters. Steve's review says it took great outdoor shots and when using 2500mah nickel rechargables, that he was able to take 200 shots before the battery was going low.

Nov 2, 2006, 3:57 AM	#3
cyclingspongecake Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2	budget is £250 max.sorry don't know what that is in dollars. I'll have a look at the canon specs. I'd had the Panasonic Lumix fz5 recommended and I was looking initially at an fz20 - I'm not entirely sure what the difference is between Panasonics ranges that have a single digit and a double digitin the name.