Looking for a new digital camera

[elliott_001]

I have only had one digital camera before a sony dsc-p32, its a entry level camera, but since i got it i got quite intersted in photography. Recently it broke on me! So i am after a new one.

I want a decent all round camera, with some manual features, something i can play around with a lot, experiment with and take great pictures of my tank!

I've had a look around the forums, nikon seems to be a good bet. I've seen many nikon coolpix cameras on ebay. Nikon coolpix 4800 looks pretty good.

Any suggestions? Thanks

[RoK]

I like my Fujifilm camera. Takes quality pictures (obviously not all come out great) and you can fiddle a bit with the settings. It can even record short video clips. It's a Fujifilm FinePix E550 6.12 megapixel.

[Todd2]

How much do you want to spend?

[elliott_001]

Probably around £100 - £150

[rubysoho]

Well, if I did my conversions right and prices are similar on your side of the pond, you may not be able to get all that you want, though perhaps you might find a good used camera. Something to keep in mind would be the amount of megapixels and the optical zoom. I wouldn't worry about digital zoom very much because with digital you lose picture quality. You'll want a camera that allows you to manually adjust the different settings like appeture (sp?), shutter speed, etc... A good white balance is a must with digital cameras. If you are buying used (or even new) you'll want to look up consumer opinions on the pieces. Look at multiple websites so that you can get a good collection of reviews.

You could always find an old 35mm camera that would take excellent pictures (mine is from the 80's and I've never found anything that took better pictures) and just send it in to be cleaned before you use it. That way you can learn about settings while digital cameras attempt to catch up with film. Then you have a digi camera for convenience and a film camera that you could take in and get developed and have those pics put in CDs so you can upload them on the internet for critiques (if you want, because there are some good photography forums out there).

Good luck!

[elliott_001]

hmm, yeah, thanks for the advice. An old 35mm would be really cool to have, my grandad has one. At the moment im looking for a digi tho, then i might consider it.
I may spend more on a camera actually, it's not really worth buying one for 150 and then regretting it. Iv'e seen the Canon Ixus 700, my uncle and grandad both have this camera, i know its very good. 7.1 megapixles. On ebay for 260pounds, which i think is about $460. i'll just have to do a bit more saving!

http://www.cameras.co.uk/details/canon-ixus-700.cfm
this page reviews the camera, about 1/3 of the way down under 'features' it says about white balance and stuff.

Thanks for the help

[rubysoho]

also, make sure you find one with a good OPTICAL zoom. Digital zoom really isn't worth much, [acronym:b3e8862930="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:b3e8862930]. Optical zoom is a true zoom that won't pixelate/distort anything and since you are wanting to experiment more with photography this is something important to consider in the camera you are looking at. From what I've seen on the market, there aren't many mid-priced camers above 5 or 6 megapixels with a decent optical zoom, but I also haven't done tons of research so you may still find something. Good brands to look at would be Nikon, Cannon, Kodak and Olympus. I suggest you go to a store and get a hands-on feel of different cameras. I just purchased a 5.0 megapixel camera over a 6.0 because the 6.0 was not made as well and the other. It also helped that the 5.0 had many more options as well.