Advice on buying a new camera

M

Mongola

Registered User
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I am looking to buy a new camera and was looking at 2 models in particular:

The Nikon Coolpix
& the Casio Exilim

I was reading a few reviews on both models and while I was able to get some not so great reviews on the Coolpix, I could not find anything on the Exilim. So, I would love to hear about your experiences with any of those cameras, or if you have any recommendations!

The camera will be used for typical leisure purposes but also for work purposes (close up of items) so the quality of the pictures must be IMPECCABLE.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
 
If the camera is to be used for work and needs to be impeccable in terms of quality, perhaps you should be looking at models slightly higher up the performance scale?

Those ones you mentioned are basically built as handy, point and shoot cameras for everyday use, not specialised use.
 
I have a Sony Cybershot 7mp and can't fault it. Easy to use....even for me:D
 
My 2pence worth, had a Nikon Coolpix, while I loved the camera and it was perfect for point and shoot, plus good software with it, it "dropped" a small distance onto carpet and lense then wouldnt close, repair shop told me 4 very fragile springs hold the lense in place and they are prone to breaking, would cost €150 to just look at it and most likely they couldnt repair, so its sitting now in a drawer waiting for the camera fairly to turn up and fix it!
Just to keep in mind!
 
Close up photography is also termed macro photography.
Most cameras also have a macro mode and these will probably do to start, rather than investing €500+ in a DSLR and macro lens.
Maybe a basic tripod as well.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
RMCF I do agree with what you are saying...
Also, thanks Tiger for info: that is very useful.
Hopefully I will be able to make an informed choice!
 
No brainer, nothing to beat Canon. Changed to Nikon from Canon recently and never again. Quality, ease of use everything about it is excellent. Just take a look at professional photographers and you will find the majority use Canon and I figure if that's what they use then it's good enough for a Joe Soap like me.
 
The purists will say there are two makes - Canon and Nikon and never the twain should meet! :)

A lot of professionals and serious photographers use either Canon or Nikon with others Olympus.

The reason most go with the main two/three is that lenses are interchangeable even with upgrades and all are follow on upgrades, ie once used their brand, people stick with them out of loyalty and also similar features/user face etc. But then again I'm no expert.

However it is said once you start with a big brand, you tend to stay with them.

I'm a Nikon girl but then I've not gone into the big camera's - the last two also Nikon were point and shoot type 35mm and I've now just upgraded to Digital with the Coolerpix L20, 10 mb pixels and the quality is superb compared to my old camera even on a normal zoom setting when printed.

That said I do like to take the odd arty pic but not for the main part.

Buy the best for what you can afford and as a suggestion stick if possible to a brand who are renowned for camera's and lenses (Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax or Sony the latter who bought Konica/Minolta) rather than just electronics.

http://www.romow.com/shopping-blog/the-top-five-digital-camera-brands-for-2009/
http://www.camerabrands.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_digital_camera_brands
 
At half-price in Argos, is a very good deal. I certainly wouldn't recommend buying a DSLR for the kind of use you describe. In talking about 'performance' it's easy to confuse quality (clear, sharp, well-balanced photos in a variety of settings) with features (multi-metering, full manual control, huge zoom range, etc.)

A good quality compact camera (like the Canon linked to) will give you far better results than a big DSLR bristling with features you don't need (or perhaps know how to use?) and which you won't carry around with you. It also uses SD cards and recyclable AA batteries. And has macro and manual over-ride.

I've a DSLR myself and I'm tempted to buy it as a 'shirt pocket' camera! :eek:
 
If you can afford something a little bit higher than Dr M's recommendation, try the Fuji S1500, currently on Amazon.co.uk for £120 GBP. This has 12 x optical zoom and 10 MP picture, which seems to be a fairly unbeatable combination in that price range.
 
Complainer said:
If you can afford something a little bit higher than Dr M's recommendation, try the Fuji S1500, currently on Amazon.co.uk for £120 GBP. This has 12 x optical zoom and 10 MP picture, which seems to be a fairly unbeatable combination in that price range.
Click to expand...

Just read that post...anyways. Thanks that, will have a look straight away!! Yes...still did not get one but do need one now as the holidays and the wedding season begin!
Thank you for all your suggestions!
 
Another tip I always give (remember I'm no photo expert though, simply learned from reading about it over the years) is not to get too worked up or fooled by megapixel figures.

You see so many now that have 10mp, 12mp and more.

Lens quality is more important than no. of megapixels. Stick with a decent brand of camera with lesser mp than a cheaper brand with massive numbers.

If you are only ever going to print out photos of 6x4 or 7x5 (like majority of people) then 4mp is plenty usually. It should still suffice up to 10x8.

You really only need 12mp if you are going to blow a photo up to the size of your living room mat !!

If you stick with branded lens like Carl Zeiss, Leica or Nikon then you should be ok.

Avoid likes of Vivitar like the plague (speak from experience here!)
 
RMCF said:
Another tip I always give (remember I'm no photo expert though, simply learned from reading about it over the years) is not to get too worked up or fooled by megapixel figures.

You see so many now that have 10mp, 12mp and more.

Lens quality is more important than no. of megapixels. Stick with a decent brand of camera with lesser mp than a cheaper brand with massive numbers.

If you are only ever going to print out photos of 6x4 or 7x5 (like majority of people) then 4mp is plenty usually. It should still suffice up to 10x8.

You really only need 12mp if you are going to blow a photo up to the size of your living room mat !!

If you stick with branded lens like Carl Zeiss, Leica or Nikon then you should be ok.

Avoid likes of Vivitar like the plague (speak from experience here!)
Click to expand...

Hi,

To piggyback on this thread, I was a Nikon man and enjoyed my finepix 7.0 purchased back in 2004 for around €400 - excellent camera, until it was dropped last year.

Anyway having not used a camera very much in the last while, I have found this on the Internet:



Would it be worth it - what is the specification to check for the "lens quality"

I'm not phased by megapixels either.
 
Nothing at all wrong with it, and great value when you consider all the extras that come with it and the peace of mind of the 3-year guarantee. Particularly appealing is the 5x zoom and image stabilisation. Buy it and try it; if you don't like it you can return it for a quibble-free refund within 28 days.

Fuller specs and user manual here.
 
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