Cameras

kathy

Thanks, Noel, for starting this thread - I was just about to Very Happy

The TZ series are the ones with the long zoom aren't they? I'm not really bothered about that. A friend of a friend, who is a serious semi-professional photographer, has a TZ7, I think, amongst his many other cameras, and is very enthusiastic about the panasonics.

Maillot Jaune, one of my original 'must-haves' was a viewfinder, but I also want a wide-angle lens, because I take a lot of photos of architecture and old buildings, often in narrow streets. Very few manufacturers seem to include viewfinders on the compacts (Canon being the exception - but they don't seem to go in for wide-angle). The only camera I have found with both is a Ricoh (my existing camera is a Ricoh wide-angle, with viewfinder, and I've been generally very pleased with it, but it is only 3 megapixels, and several years old). The Ricoh is expensive for a compact, about the same price as the LX3, which has a lot more features, a lot of which I probably wouldn't use nowadays. The days when I would happily fiddle about choosing focal lengths and shutter speeds are long gone!

The other important element for me is the weight of the camera. My Ricoh feels rather heavy and bulky, so I certainly don't carry it around with me all the time. This means I miss some good photo opportunities, red squirrels climbing trees, the local goatherd with his large flock of sheep and goats, lovely sunsets etc. I also like doing close-up flower photography so I need a macro mode. Not too bothered about taking photos in poor light etc, or indoors. I also like taking photos of the cycling, of course, but I realise I won't get brilliant results with the sort of camera I'm talking about.

If I could justify spending over 300GBP on a camera at present, I would possibly buy the Ricoh, because I know the brand and I'm happy with it. My alternatives are to persevere with the old Ricoh until my finances are sorted out properly (hopefully in a few months), and then buy what I want, or buy a cheaper model now and upgrade later. But I can't seem to find what I want.

As far as the viewfinder is concerned, the GE camera I was trying out a couple of weeks ago didn't have one, but the LCD screen was far superior to that on my old Ricoh. However, it still wasn't entirely satisfactory in bright sunlight, even after adjusting the brightness. I have to wear sunglasses all the time out of doors now - that is non-negotiable, and I had to tip up my sunglasses to view the LCD screen.

That's about it really.

Biosphere

Kathy

You seem to be falling between market segments and being failed by the manufacturers. Small and pocketable means entry level and the optical viewfinder has been sacrificed to make way for a bigger LCD screen. Optical viewfinder and wide angle is for the more discerning customer and the manufacturers seem to think they can charge you extra for being discerning Rolling Eyes

Using DPRs search database

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

with these parameters as the only thing you care about

Format: Compact
Release Status: Not discontinued (current or upcoming)
Zoom wide (W): 30 mm or less
Viewfinder: Optical

Gives you very few choices and fewer when budget is a constraint Sad

kathy

Bio, I have done this comparison, and was very disappointed with the resutls. The Canons, G10 and G11 are far too heavy. I hate the idea of Sony's memory stick. I can put an SD card straight into the slot on my PC, or compact flash and various others come to that.

I already have my old Ricoh which has a 28mm wide angle, and takes very adequate photos, so I think this may be what I will sacrifice, and go for a lightweight compact with a viewfinder that I won't find it a hassle to always carry about with me. If I decide to go and take some 'architectural' shots, I will take the Ricoh.

I don't think these camera designers who've done away with the viewfinder have ever taken photos in really bright sunlight.

Has anyone ever dealt with this company?

http://www.simplyelectronics.net/

They have the lowest price for the camera I'm looking at now, and also offer free delivery - yes, even to Spain!

I'm looking at Canon PowerShot A1100

Biosphere

NRT

I usually buy from warehouse express or for more expensive items Jessops.

Jessops online are reasonable prices and most importantly it is somewhere to go to get stuff exchanged or repaired on warranty (important when the lens cost over £500).

kathy

Noel, I had looked at Warehouse Express previously, and although they deliver to some European countries, they don't deliver to Spain.

Bio, I have now ordered from SimplyElectronics. They are a Hong Kong based company, with an address in Scotland as well - they are also one of the advertisers on the Amazon site, which is where I got their details.

I buy quite a lot of stuff online, particularly electronics, because they tend to be expensive in Spain, although I've bought one or two things online from Spanish companies. The only big 'electronics' type shops that I know of that are accessible to me are Media Markt and PCWorld, neither of which fill me with enthusiasm. Most of the big Spanish places seem to be up near Barcelona for some reason. The only time I've had problems with online shopping is with the only two items I've ever bought from Germany - I won't buy from there any more!

I'll let you know when the camera arrives (hopefully before I go to the Vuelta stages), and what I think of it.

Thank you for your help.

berck

kathy

Slapshot 3

Every compact to me is a compromise hence the reason I always buy SLR, shooting a fair bit of bike sport you can't compromise.

I started with a Praktica to learn the basics, it wasn't bad but it was a totally manual camera, I moved onto Minolta X700's with motordrives lots of auto settings which make things easy for people. compared to now though they were big heavy beasts. I also started messing with Canon at this stage with a T-90 stunning camera, really started pushing me towards Canon.

A Minolta Xi7000 was my first dabble with AF then went straight to an Canon EOS 1, it was and still is a pretty special piece of kit and I'll still throw the odd roll into it when I feel like being creative. Unfortunately my time at the cutting edge of cameras came to a shuddering halt, "I do" has an amazing effect on your buying power!!

Decided I had to get into digital about 4 years ago so tried everything, Minolta just before they sold to Sony, Pentax?/Olympus never iked them that hasn't changed.

Got a Nikon DX100 to try, had it for 3 months to play with before I spent anything but then got handed an EOS 1D mk2 and it was like finding a long lost child. Couldn't afford what I wanted cos I always have 2 so ended up with the EOS 30Ds got a great deal on a pair of bodies Grip/HS power packs. Some of my old L series glass works as well, bonus.

This passion with cameras has left me with three big problems that really irritates mrs slapshot.....I still have every single one of them along with a stack of lenses and assorted Flashguns. Problem 2 Three big boxes full of photographs, 3 she knows my mate has TWO EOS 1d Mk3's that have my name on them..........

grrr

kathy

My Canon arrived today. I've been going mad with it - unfortunately the SD card I ordered off Ebay hasn't arrived, so I'm pratting about with a couple of 128Mb cards. The village fiesta is on, so I've taken movies of dancers and fireworks, photos of the sunset, and the church just after sunset, as well as 'ordinary' photos.

Macro works well, zoomed photos are in focus, colours are brilliant, so I'm very pleased at present. Just need a decent sized SD card before I go to the Vuelta on Wednesday!

berck