angrynorth

OK then all you photography experts. What's the best camera I can get for £350, I don't care about size or looks, all I want is an excellent picture quality with a good macro facility. Must have optical zoom too.

I'm prepared to spend a little more if there is something thats only 50 quid more but miles better.

Ta in advance

andypugh2000

I have the Fuji finepix 6900 which has just about every gadget possible on it, great macro shooting mode too

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...category=30018

dba

take a look at the new Sony DSC-T1,its a 5mp camera the size of a nats ****,it looks stunning tbh (great lense),never used it,but I think i might get one via Ebay,Hong Kong import for £265

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have a Canon A8 and am very pleased with it.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Well, asked to name a model off the top of my head, I'd personally get a Canon S50.

However, you really need to go to a decent specialist camera store and play with a few. Find one that feels comfortable in your hands, on which you can find all the controls easily and which has a system of menus and buttons that you find intuitive and straightforward to use. You'll get much better pictures on any camera if you take the time to set it up correctly!

Let me know where you're based, I'll try to suggest somewhere that should be able to let you try a few models out and give good advice.

angrynorth

I'm based in the Manchester area, I've been told equipment express may be a good place to try. Any views on these?

They have the Canon Powershot G5 for £400, which I've heard is a very good camera, and it has Raw output support which is another important thing I forgot to add.

i like the look of that Finepix 6900. I had looked at a S5000 but I'm not too sure whether 3 MP is too little for what I want.

angrynorth

Then again I just looked at the sample pics for the S50 on Steve's digicams and they are quite impressive.

Too many cameras. Too little ability to make a choice

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The G5 is good - take a look at the reviews of this (and other cameras) at DPReview.

Sorry, I don't know any good independent suppliers local to you - there's always Jessops, though.

It's easy to get hung up on megapixels - here are some example 3MP images from my old Canon D30. Print them out as big as you like if you're worried about a low pixel count being a problem. Far more important is lens quality and photographer's technique. Do you have some special purpose in mind that might need more pixels?

angrynorth

I seem to be doing more and more brochure design work lately and I am tired of either

a} paying for a substandard stock image

b}never finding the EXACT image I want for the brochure

So I am looking for something that will print well in glossy booklets etc. I have genuine fractals, plus years of image editing experience, but I want something that I might not have to fiddle with that much.

Nick100

I've had the Canon S50 for a year. Very pleased - it has several full auto modes, plus all the aperture and shutter priority modes, through to full manual if you want it. Some fantastic night shots at 15 second exposure, with no digital noise appearing.

I think it's the same inards as the G5, with 5M pixels but compact and reduced optical zoom - only 3x.

Uses proprietary batteries, so you can't use AA's if you run out, but a second battery was about £20. Uses compact flash, which is probably the cheapest media format around.

The only down sides are the slightly fiddly multi way switch, but you get used to it, and I get some purple fringing on dark subjects with bright background. This is only noticeable when full zoomed in to the picture and although I was initially a bit disappointed I've found similar on most other cameras I've looked at.

Kevin Groat

Pentax Optio 550 - only compact with 5X optical zoom. Had it 7 months now, very happy with it.

alistair

I'd go with the Canon G5 every time.

angrynorth

I think off the advice so far I'm looking for a Canon S50 or G5. I really like the look of the Pentax Optio 550 but there is no Raw file support so its a no no
I think that if the S50 is basically the same camera as the G5 inside, then it has to be a good deal, I've not read a bad thing about the G5 anywhere.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like it's time to go and have a play with them, then.

I notice that only the G5 has a hotshoe for external flashes - something which may prove invaluable if you're looking to produce publication-quality photos. That would make the choice for me. The S50 has no external connectivity at all.

angrynorth

Andy, I think I will be taking your advice. I'm off to have play with some at lunch. The thing about the external flash was something I didn't even think about till you just mentioned it That will be important.

Cheers for all the replies people

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Glad to help

It's worth checking up on exactly what features the G5's hotshoe supports - I know there are limitations compared to the full E-TTL feature set that recent SLR and DSLR cameras offer. There's a web site about it somewhere...

Diesel

Consider the Sony DSC V1 too. Fab reviews (best of the bunch) and I'm very pleased with mine...

angrynorth

OK I got one

I went to Wildings in Manchester and had a play around. I ended up falling for the Fuji S7000.

Here is my very first pic with it. All on standard settings, not had a proper chance to play yet but can't wait to get home See the texture of the works Mac G5 in the background.

Diesel

It focused on the background!!! You may have been too close!

Lovely looking thing - remember holiding one at Dixons (and the look of horror on the salesman when I asked 'what media does it use' ) Enjoy

angrynorth

I know, I was a bit too excited and was just desperate to see what the pic would look like in PotatoShop I thought I got the focus on Hulk right but nooo. I will do some proper ones tonight

Lol thats kind of the same look I got when I had a look at it in Dixons before Wildings and asked about Mac OS X Panther Compatibility