strange_complex | Entries tagged with digital cameras

Following on from my last post about cameras, I have now made my purchase. :-)

I did go to Jessops in the end, rather than PC World, and although they were very busy, the guy there was really helpful. I had a good look at the Fuji Finepix I'd been interested in previously, but decided that although it is obviously a good camera, it probably was rather larger than I would realistically want to carry around on a regular basis. So I then looked at the Sony Cyber-shot and Canon Ixus, and was almost going to buy the Ixus.

But I also asked the guy whether there was anything else in the shop along similar lines which he thought I should take a look at first, and he pointed me towards the Samsung EX1. I'd already said that part of what I wanted the camera for was to take photos in museums and on archaeological sites, so the reason he thought I'd be interested was that it has a really sensitive lens which performs well in low light. But it also has a flippy-tippy screen (technical term!), which I had on my old camera and loved. So between those two things I was sold. Plus it was £10 cheaper than the Ixus - so it was wins all round, really.

I've charged up the battery now, loaded up an SD card, and had a preliminary go at taking some pictures in my house. The lens really is amazing. It took interior shots in the middle of winter and with voile curtains over the windows without needing a flash, and all the details are clear and crisp and the colours are sharp and well-balanced. Plus the screen is great - it's about twice the size of the one on my old camera, so it feels enormous at the moment.

I'm about to head over to York for the day with the lovely

ms_siobhan, so should hopefully get plenty of opportunities to try it out properly over the course of the day. You can expect the results on an LJ near you before long.

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My digital camera (a Canon PowerShot) broke irreparably in the autumn, and I really need to get on with buying another one. In fact, there are two things I want to do this very week which I'd ideally like to be able to photograph - hence suddenly getting off my arse and paying attention to the issue.

I can easily drop into PC World late this afternoon on my way to a meeting, so I spent yesterday evening looking through their website for some likely candidates. I'm looking for a sort of mid-range camera - not one that will cost the earth and require me to know detailed things about lenses, light levels and so forth, but more the kind that will take decent pictures on some simple pre-set settings, while also allowing me a reasonable degree of manual control for when I am interested in making the effort to do something a little bit snazzy.

On that basis, I've whittled things down to a short-list of five (below), and am currently feeling particularly well-disposed to the Fuji Finepix at the top of the list. When it comes down to it, my choice may well be largely determined by what they have in stock in the store I go to - and that doesn't seem likely to include the Finepix. But I'd be really glad of any input that anyone else can offer, particularly since I know I have some pretty serious camera-geeks on my friends list. Does anyone have any personal experience of these cameras or similar models? Are there any obvious reasons why some of them would be markedly better or worse than others which I might have missed?

My shortlist:

Fuji FinePix HS10. 10.3 MP, 30x optical zoom (large lens), 2x digital. Takes the same batteries as my old one, which is easy. Loads of features, looks really cool, good reviews. At the high end of this range for professional-ish features, but also has 'easy' settings too. £274.99 web price, £309.99 in store - BUT doesn't seem to be available in the branch I can get to easily. :-(

SONY Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V Similar to Canons, below. 10.2MP, 10x optical zoom, 20x digital. GPS geotagging. £289.99

CANON PowerShot S95 Small, light, combines simple point-and-shoot with options for more advanced use. 10MP; 3.8x optical zoom, 4x digital, 3" screen. £359.99

SAMSUNG WB2000 Compact Digital Camera. Similar to Canons and Sony. 10.2MP, 5x optical zoom, 5x digital. £309.99

CANON IXUS 1000 HS. 10MP, 10x optical, 4x digital. Much the same as the rest. £309.99

Do let me know if you have any comments!

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My final Christmas present arrived today. It is a Canon PowerShot A620 Digital Camera.

When my Dad asked me what I wanted this year, I said that I wanted a digital camera, but that I wanted to get quite an upmarket one, so wasn't expecting him to pay for the whole thing. I can handle the money side of these things myself nowadays. No, what I wanted from him was his technical expertise. I told him what I wanted from my camera, and charged him with the task of identifying a suitable model.

He did some online research before I went up to Brum for Xmas, and then we spent a few hours browsing together and talking about what I wanted. The A620 is the result.

I've yet to actually put batteries in it, or anything like that, but depending on progress with the lecture I'm currently writing, I might have a little play later on tonight. I think it's safe to say that you can expect my first stumbling experiments with it to be appearing on this LJ some time soon.