3times

I am currently researching the purchase of a digital camera. Do not really want to spend any more than £300 if poss. Have looked at the Fuji 2800 as it has 6x optical zoom, has anyone used one of these or have a better idea for the same sort of money (ie. Nikon 775/885).

thanx in advance chaps & chapesses!

Tony

pslewis

There is ONLY one in the running at this price and its the:-

MINOLTA S304 - absolute steal nowadays - best pictures this side of £300 by miles - get one if you can find one, dont think, DO!!

Pete

RB5-Black

I just bought a sony dsc-p71 3.3 mega pix and I can't fault it just down to your taste at the end of the day.

Black

pslewis

SONY tie you into 'Memory Stiks' and their 'own' batteries - NOT good news!!

The Minolta runs on AA batteries (buy them ANYWHERE - Cheap!) and uses Compact Flash memory - dead cheap at the moment, what is it now? 512Mb for 99p????

Pete

Hoppy

There's too much emphasis on mega-pixels and x27 zooms these days.

If you never print larger than 6x4in (and who does, honestly?) then 2 mega-pixels is enough. Saves on price, memory, speed, battery power, size/weight etc.

A big optical zoom range will compromise image quality and long focal lengths promote camera-shake which is the most common cause of naff pictures. If you want big close ups, then use your legs

Richard.

MikesWagon

Pete,

you sure about the Sony batteries? We were looking at a P31 and I thought the guy just used a couple of AAs.

If it's their own rechargable pack type thingy then that puts me off a bit.

Mike.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Have to disagree with you there, Richard

I do print larger than 6x4 most of the time - in fact it's one of the things I like about having a digital camera, being able to make decent size prints of the few good photos without having to pay to have the whole roll printed large, or having to make a second trip to the lab for enlargements. I print my good photos at 8x5.3 and the really good ones at full A4 size. At that size, 3.3MP is just about OK but a few more wouldn't do any harm.

Obviously, as the number of MP goes up, the optics need to get correspondingly better too, or there's no point. This is what bugs me about the marketing of consumer products - when was the last time you saw a lens MTF curve shown in Dixons?

I'm also a fan of long optical zooms - there are plenty of things that I want to photograph where getting closer just isn't an option: wildlife and motorsports particularly spring to mind. On a sunny day I have no problem at all getting sharp pictures with a 300mm lens on my D30.

I agree with Pete on Sony cameras, though - there's absolutely no need to buy into the ONLY proprietary memory format, when every single other manufacturer uses an open standard like Compact Flash (my favourite - love that Microdrive!), Smart Media or MMC cards.

Andy.

Hoppy

Andy, can't argue with that But the original question asked about a £300 camera, not a Canon D30 at £1,500

Best regards,

Richard.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Tony

The Fuji 2800 is a fantastic camera, we have one! It's the second digital camera we have owned and so far we cannot fault it. We bought it on the recommendation of my Dad who spent ages researching digital cameras and he bought it as a result of his researching. (Bit garbled but you get my meaning!)

The software is also very good and easy to use, far better than the Canon software we had with our old camera.

We spent the day taking piccies at Brands Hatch on Sunday and I have to say we are extremely pleased with the results, they have come out far better than motorsport pics ever did with our old digital zoom camera.

The batteries also last much, much longer with the Fuji as the viewfinder is very easy to use unlike the one on our old Canon - you couldn't see anything through it so had to resort to using the screen which killed the batteries.

For £300 I think it's fantastic value - buy one and you won't be disappointed. IMHO for that money it's pretty much unbeatable

Sal

RichB

I love my Canon IXUS V, must be around £300 now, pictures are great BUT it only has a 2x zoom.
The camera is very small though which is why I got it.
The IXUS300 has 3x zoom but is a bit bigger all round, both do movie clips (not brilliantly) and both use Compact Flash and their own size of battery.
If you want a dinky camera that takes good picies then give it a look.

3times

I have just been having a surf and seem to have less of an idea than i previously had.

Canon A40 - £199 (reduced from £259)
Fufi Finepix 2800 - £272
Minolta S304 - £338
Nikon 775 - £274

Canon on price and review, Fuji & Minolta on reviews and recommendations, Nikon as they make good cameras.

ooooooh, I don't really know!

P1Fanatic

My mate has the Ixus V and its a great little camera. Very compact but the pictures are excellent even in dark areas. Slips in your pocket easily for those nights on the town. Takes video clips, which won't win you a directing award at the next oscars, but more than suffice for recording the odd .

Newer model is Ixus V2 and the 330 replaces the 300 if you want 1x more zoom. I wouldnt buy this if you want to take long range shots but I think youd be hard pushed to beat it in terms of quality and practicality.

Allan

iTrader: (1)

The Sony Cybershot range (I have DSC-P50) can use either standard AA or Sony infoLITHIUM rechargeable cell.

InfoLITHIUM will give about 85 mins use with the display on, it also calculates accurately the remaining battery time, which is very useful.

Oh... and it takes excellent pictures too.
Allan

Big Col

I've just got a Nikon 775. I don't have anything to compare it against thought as its my first digi camera. Very pleased with it. Also got a 64meg card. Small enough to fit in your pocket on a night out. Managed over 70 pics at the biggest size\best quality and there was still space left. Also battery lasted all night no probs, even with my drunken mates wanting to view the pics on the monitor every hour.

My only problem was finding a shop that stocked it. They seemed to be in short supply. This made haggling impossible.

PG

I have used all of these at one point or another and by far recommend the Minolta !! the quality of this camera is tops!
http://www.internetcamerasdirect.co....s304-deals.htm
Go for the one at £349 'cos the rechargers will save you a fortune.

Paul

RB5-Black

Did I miss something when I bought my Sony camera ?
you can use ANY batteries in it (AA size) or sony's rechargable pack. Memory sticks are the same price as compact flash and others and third party companies now make them ? can't see what the problem is.

Black

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I'm not saying that there's definitely a problem with using Memory Sticks - just that it's only products made by Sony, or a handful of other companies, that use them. The chances that any other devices you ever buy (like a PDA, for example) will use them are very small, unless you keep buying Sony of course.

I don't like proprietary formats on principle, especially when there's no good technical reason to use them. Sony are, of course, very keen to promote their format and get it used more widely, because they receive license fees from each company and each device that uses them.

My preferred format is Compact Flash, for three reasons:

1) There will always be intense price competition between manufacturers, which is good for consumers;

2) I can plug one straight into my laptop's PCMCIA slot with a £3 adaptor for VERY fast downloads;

3) The IBM microdrive, which is a great piece of technology - 1GB lasts a whole holiday's worth of photos - and will never fit in any other format.

Just my 2p,

Andy.

Chris L

As Sal said earlier - so far very impressed with the Fuji 2800. It is the only camera at this price to have a decent (6x) optical (as opposed to digital (which will effect the quality more)) zoom lens. Smart media seems to be better than compact flash and as an all round package it is very hard to beat. Unless you are buying at the very top end, your choice will always be a compromise. I don't think you will be disappointed with the Fuji.

Chris

mike16v

I got a Fuji Pix 2800 with 64MB memory card for £295 from [link]www.camerasdirect.co.uk[/link]

V fast service from them too!!

No problems so far... apart from the manual recommending a power lead for when the camera is connected to a PC - so add another £25 or so to the cost of the camera!)

GaryCat

My Father-in-law has just bought anOlympus C700 http://www.internetcamerasdirect.co.uk/olympus-c700-deals.htm at £378. Bit over your price range but it is an excellent camera.

GC

ChristianR

iTrader: (1)

fuji finepix 6800Zoom - highly recommended

Chris L

Agreed Christian, but at £450 in the UK, I reckon it is little outside Tony's £300 budget.

Incidently, if anyone is looking for SmartMedia memory cards, look at Jungle. I picked up a 128Meg card today for £42 incl VAT and delivery.

Chris

3times

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Just showed comparison details to a guy in work whose is into SLR cameras and he feels that the features offered on the Minolta S304 are superior to the Fuji 2800 (with the exeption of the 6x zoom as opposed to 4x zoom).

As the best price I can find for the minolta is £338 then I may stretch to £350 so as to include more cameras or buy extra memory.

Still looking!

Tony

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

www.dabs.com have the Minolta for £328.

Another place well worth trying is www.ny-camera.com in Germany - very cheap and prompt delivery to the UK.

A.