Can anybody recommend a good 'first' digital camera?

Money is limited but I wouldn't necessarily go for the cheapest. I guess ease of use and value for money are important but results need to be reasonable quality.

Any tips on what I should be looking out for?

Any special offers on anywhere at the moment?

i love the sony dscw1 go here to look
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/w1.html
i know of 4 people who have got this particular one and all say it`s fantastic. the cheapest i`ve found it at on the web is http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/46144/art/sony/cybershot-dsc-w1.html
if i get the cash soon this is definately what i would get

These threads may help:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14840

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=450

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10772

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4482

Nomme

you have to set a budget really, and decide what features are most important. Then have a looksee and see what matches.

Personally I like Canons, the ixus 500 is top of the range, and they have just revamped ixus i5 which looks good (no optical zoom though). Then the range goes gradually down in price and specs, you get what you pay for afterall.

And that will determine how many pixels you need to buy. As a rough guide 2megapixels will print not much larger than 6x4 inches, 3mp no bigger than 7x5 inches 4mp maybe up to 8-9 inches depending on the camera, 5 mp will be fine for approx 10 inches (or more) and upwards...

If you are after a 'beginner' camera, I would guess that you wouldn't want or need much bigger than 3-4 mp.

Then decide how much zoom you want they range from 3x to 10x - the bigger the zoom, basically the larger and more expensive the model. Avoid any cameras that are described as digital zoom (all they do is use software to expand the image the image quality is generally not satisfactory to anyone remotely concenred about image quality)- - make sure the zoom is optical (i.e uses a lens to zoom).

Canon doa very nice range - the A70 or A80 might be good. Enough presets for the complete beginner, but as you develop you can make your own settings in aperture and priority - they are quite versatile cameras.

Have a look on www.dpreview.com - just about every camera made is reviewed on here and it has useful glossaries and lots of advice - excellent site.

I agree with most of the other posts.Go to dixons or somewhere and get a feel of some cameras,but don't buy from them.Search UK dealers online, if you are not happy buying online Jessops will sometimes price match.I personally would buy a camera that uses AA batteries (easy to recharge,can buy almost anywhere if you get caught out).
The Canon A80 is a terrific camera,but now out of production and very hard to find.
Good Luck.
http://www.Daveyre.MyPictures.photoshare.co.nz

Amazon are selling a 3megapixel Pentax for £99. Think I'll buy one myself.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001VJ86U/qid=1100192555/sr=1-19/ref=sr_1_2_19/026-7409166-3095604

I posted that about 3 months ago. I bought one and am more than happy with it. If you're looking around the £100 mark then look no further.

Originally posted by matsalleh
I The Canon A80 is a terrific camera,but now out of production and very hard to find.
http://www.Daveyre.MyPictures.photoshare.co.nz

I've a Canon A80 - didn't realise it was now out of production. One of the good features is 'Photostitch' - you can take a sequence of shots as a panorama, overlapping the views slightly, and the computer will join them almost invisibly. Looks great. I understand not all digi cameras have this gizmo.

I used jessops website to establish which features I wanted. Was tempted by their second hand range, but they didn't have the one I wanted so used digitalcamera.com. Rapid service. Quite pleased.

Mine's also a cannon. A30 tho, no longer made. I also have the photo stitch software. I chose mine because it's the only one in it's price range which can have attachment lenses. I want to take interior shots so this is very important to me (and probably no use to you). It has a slight 'fish-eye' lens to it so it gets more in in close up.

Look at what digital cameras can do (they all have different knobs and whistles), decide what YOU need YOUR'S to do, then search on jessops website.

Good luck! Happy snapping! :thumbsup:

All Canon digital cameras have Panorama facility.Don't forget it can be used vertically as well, this is only 2 shots but works OK I think.
http://www.PhotoShare.co.nz/PhotoShareGallery1/100193/104485/Waterfall1174_S.jpg
As soon as A80 was announced as end of production it seems every one decided they wanted one and they just vanished.I like the two programmable settings.One is set for speed of use switch camera on and shoot,no focussing etc required just press the shutter.

currys' are offering a kodak digi cam offering 4 mill pix + 3x optical zoom + 4x digi zoom (have read a post from "theflyingfish" that optical zoom is good but digi zoom should be avoided - why offer the 2 then in the 1 package?) WITH a printer dock (worth £150 apparently) and selling the whole package for £199 until 23/11/4

does anyone know of the offer?

is this too good to be true do u guys think?

thx for the advice

QVC's TSV looks good for for around £190.

3x optical zoom + 4x digi zoom (have read a post from "theflyingfish" that optical zoom is good but digi zoom should be avoided - why offer the 2 then in the 1 package?)

It is done so that manufacturers can con people into thinking that that the camera has12x zoom(3x4).Optical zoom is pure zoom,digital zoom is in camera enlargement from the maximum optical zoom any faults in the original will simply be enlarged.
Pure zoom (3x) can be enlarged in Photoshop,PSP etc with more control. That is why it is best not to use it always make and archive the best possible original and work from that.
Clear as mud huh?
Cheers

Originally posted by matsalleh
All Canon digital cameras have Panorama facility.Don't forget it can be used vertically as well, this is only 2 shots but works OK I think.
http://www.PhotoShare.co.nz/PhotoShareGallery1/100193/104485/Waterfall1174_S.jpg
As soon as A80 was announced as end of production it seems every one decided they wanted one and they just vanished.I like the two programmable settings.One is set for speed of use switch camera on and shoot,no focussing etc required just press the shutter.

Nice! Do you have any galleries online anywhere?

Originally posted by theflyingfish
Nice! Do you have any galleries online anywhere?

Thanks, try this :-
http://www.Daveyre.MyPictures.photoshare.co.nz

Comet at Parkgate have the Canon A80 on sale at £229 26/11/2004

Originally posted by matsalleh
All Canon digital cameras have Panorama facility I've used the photostitch software to stitch 5 horizontals together It's a bit wierd being able to look at opposite walls of your livingroom in one pic! and the dog managed to get in twice!

Hi Strix
I once saw an excellent stitch of 4 or 5 photos of a card table and the same guy playing 4 different hands in 4 chairs.I will try to find the link.

Found this 14 photos Hong Kong
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=11232260

Tutorial and more samples
http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/

Originally posted by matsalleh
Found this 14 photos Hong Kong
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=11232260
Thanks for the reply, the pics look really impressive, but they're not actually 'stitched'.

This: http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/SDK/PS-e.html
was what I meant.

This may be useful here too: http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/BeBit-e.html

This is multi exposure. can anyone do better?

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=11238348

Bloody hell, this thread is confusing :(

Mo, I picked up a Nikon Coolpix 3200 digital camera from Jessops at Meadowhall a month or two ago for £150.

It's small, light and takes superb quality photgraphs. We had some 7" x 5" family shots taken and the prints were outstanding.

Here's a link (http://www.jessops.com/search/viewproduct.cfm?PRODUCT=NIKC3200&BRAND=NIK&CONTINUE=false&FEATS=&FIRSTPRICE=&KEYWORD=&LEVEL=&MODELNUMBER=&NEWQUERY=True&NODE=0&ORD=ASC&ORDERBY=&QUANTITY=40&RECENT=0&REFINE=&SEARCH_FOR=nikon%20coolpix&SEARCHNODE=0&SEARCHURL=dointellisearch.cfm&SECONDPRICE=&SHOWCASEID=&STARTROW=41&SUBS=&WORD_SEARCH=N&) to the camera.

3 million pixels (good enough for my babies :) ) and USB connectivity makes it childs play to connect to your PC and download pictures.

Abdul you are absolutely right, if it does the job you want it to do and you are happy with the results,that's all that matters.
Good Shooting

Originally posted by matsalleh
Hi Strix
I once saw an excellent stitch of 4 or 5 photos of a card table and the same guy playing 4 different hands in 4 chairs.I will try to find the link.

Found this 14 photos Hong Kong
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=11232260

Tutorial and more samples
http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/

Nice stuff.

now that photoshop supports image sizes of 300,000 pixels by 300,000 pixels (90 gigapixel images) alll sorts of things are possible.

Two people have been experimenting with gigapixel images - http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/gigapixel.htm - this guy uses 196 separate images of bryce canyon and tiles em into one.

The team at delft university have a neat viewer, a bigger image, but an oh so dull objective - their campus...http://triton.tpd.tno.nl/gigazoom/delft2.htm

[edit]

that tutorial on multi exposure images is superb btw. I will post some results here

What is the best digital camera for a budget under GBP 150/- ?

I'd look for Panasonic Lumix for handheld. Surprised at comments on the low megapixels - I thought most digital cameras these days have a minimum spec of 6 megapixels. Have taken some good panoramic/stitch shots with my 5 megapixel LG Viewty phone! (takes 3 overlapping pictures)

swarfendor43

Don't know how good (or bad) they are but Aldi are selling a 14 Megapixel camera for £69.99 Traveler with 4x Zoom not sure if optical or digital and £10 cheaper than the 12 Megapixel camera! (unless price tags in wrong place!). Comes with 2Gb SD card, USB cable and Photo editing software (don't know what).

swarfendor43