[susanj]

Sounds like I'm on a non-stop shopping trip.     I'm not BUT my camera weighs a ton and is complex, am now thinking of buying a digital (easy to use/lightweight/cheap) camera,

Shop in the UK? Airport (Heathrow) or India (MacLeod Ghanj) probably won't have time in Delhi Over to all of you so far I have really valued your advice and thoughts.  Havent got much to spend tops £150-200

Only 35days to go WOW good but scary, been reading "Holy Cow" by Sarah MacDonald, some of its a bit of a worry. Susanj

[Seventies'Neil]

susanj, on Jun 27 2006, 07:14 PM, said:

Sounds like I'm on a non-stop shopping trip.     I'm not BUT my camera weighs a ton and is complex, am now thinking of buying a digital (easy to use/lightweight/cheap) camera,

Shop in the UK? Airport (Heathrow) or India (MacLeod Ghanj) probably won't have time in Delhi Over to all of you so far I have really valued your advice and thoughts.  Havent got much to spend tops £150-200

Only 35days to go WOW good but scary, been reading "Holy Cow" by Sarah MacDonald, some of its a bit of a worry. Susanj

The choice for DC's is endless,,,,,,,,,, even at £150-200, Though I would suggest getting one before you leave p'haps from one of the high street stores, Jessops, PC world etc, check the weekend papers theres usually one good deal or another. Things to bear in mind are, top pocket size is useful, the more millions of pixels the better,I would aim for at least 5million, batteries, it's best to go for something thats rechargable, get a spare so you've always got one ready.
Get hold of some literature & read up on whats available, all models have fors & againsts.

[HowieUK]

I bought a Samsung Digimax A7 from Argos that was on offer at about £220

Included in this price were extras including a 512 memory card, a camera case and rechargeable A2 batteries and a charger!
It has 7 Mega pixels. The screen is a decent size and it also has a viewfinder.  (I've only used auto settings up until now, but manual settings are fully catered for!)
It was billed at half price which probably means it was last years technology, but it works well!

Howie

[Poiple Shadow]

I'm a Sony man myself, Currently got DSC-H1 but I'd spend a little more and get one with a Carl Zeiss lens, it does make a lot of difference. (My last one had - I miss it so...   ) - It died after a good 5 years and 1000's of photos, far too many beaches etc.  Not quite as convienant as these small things, but for quality (in my opinion) was so much better, they produce very good colours, again (in my opinion).  If you want some samples please have a look here www.ChildrenWalkingTall.com/Pictures.htm  These were all taken on the DSC-H1, they've also been shrunk down to 800x600 (It's a 5.1MegaPixel Camera with a 12 times optical zoom).  The Beach photos and rain coat photos have come out well.

[malkers]

I'm a Sony man too, just gone past the 10,000 mark with mine and its still going strong.  Dead easy to use too.  Mine is maybe a little over budget and also won't fit in your pocket so easily but Sony already have a model out to equal it that is thinner than a cigarette packet and half the price.

All my pics in the gallery are from this cam and despite some of the great effects I have achieved, it's not an SLR, just plain digital.

Canon as PD says are also damn good cams but I don't personally find them quite as easy to use!

Cheers
Malc

[Seventies'Neil]

Paagla Dashu, on Jun 27 2006, 08:30 PM, said:

Canon Ixus 800 IS will be a good choice.

Yes, I recently got this camera, the digtal macro & image stabiliser are amazing,,,,,,,,

but it's double the OP's budget.

Edited by Seventies'Neil, 28 June 2006 - 11:34 AM.

[Mercurie]

I have a Nikon Coolpix P1, 8.1 MP, Wi-Fi connectivity.  Its a good camera, with great resolution and functions like day light conversion.  I paid £250 with 1 GB SD card.

[jafid]

The Canon Ixus range is great choice for point and shoot cameras. The retail prices of most cameras are about 25-30% higher in India, it might be worth getting the camera from the UK.

[adam]

I read a head to head test in which digital camera and few months ago, the olympus mu won in your price range. canon and pentax are good options too, sony cameras tend to oversaturated the colous i've noticed, i'm not a big fan. it would seem cheaper to buy before going, and cheaper still online. whenever I look pixmania is usually among the cheapest, this link will take you to all they're digital compacts between £100-200

http://www.pixmania..../criteresn.html

Canon A620 looks good

Edited by adam, 10 July 2006 - 03:36 PM.

[H.Nick]

BIG advantage of the Olympus Mu is that you can take it out in the rain. Why, oh why don't camerra manufacturers realise that weather is far from perfect. The reason I didn't buy it is no viewfinder; if you need glasses for reading, chances are you'll find a small LCD screen hard to see, especially in blinding tropical sunshine.

I wanted a long optical zoom for the birds, beasts and insects, and Image Stabilisation makes it possible for me to hand-hold that. I chose the Canon S2 IS (there's an S3 ISnow, maybe some good offers on the obselete model?). Can't slip in the pocket, but that's the price for  a 12x zoom lens.

Interesting to know that Canon are offerring IS on the IXUS range. It really is (to those of less-than-steady grip) BRILLIANT.  I was taking quite decent shots from the window of a moving car on a potholed mountain road last week.

Here's some review sites that helped me...

Steve's Digicams

Digital Camera Resource Page

DPReview

Edited by H.Nick, 10 July 2006 - 03:49 PM.

[john.sw]

Having been a keen photographer (own darkroom, several SLR bodies and a mountain of lenses, flashes with slaves, tripod, etc.) I bought my first megapixel digital camera in 1998.

It was a huge chunk of camera made by Kodak, and it was remarkably good.  At that stage, digital cameras had many similarities with their film cousins – including size.

Last year I was forced to replace my Fuji Finepix 50i, and because I was in the small town of Ooty, the choice was fairly small.

I opted for the Sony Cybershot DSC-T33 because of its size.

Whatever people tell you, size IS important, and when it comes to cameras, if it is big and cumbersome there will be times when you miss taking a fantastic photograph because you didn’t take it with you.

Small is beautiful, and a digital camera that fits neatly into your shirt pocket will go everywhere with you and you will not miss those photo opportunities that you see every day in India.

The DSC-T33 doesn’t have a viewfinder, but this is not a problem because it includes some clever technology that allows you to see your subject in the dark and in very bright sunlight.

Battery life is amazingly long, and the full frame videos are as good as any digital video camera (although it eats into your memory card).

People are obsessed with how many megapixels a camera can record, but this is irrelevant unless you want to print out on paper.  3 million pixels gives you a 10” X 8” print with fine detail, so unless you want to print a huge poster, why bother using 8 million pixels?  A computer screen only shows 96dpi anyway!

What is important is the colour engine inside the camera – some 3 million pixel cameras make other 8 million pixel cameras look like inferior toys!

Flash coverage is also a consideration, and I found, for instance, that the Minolta DiMAGE cameras leave a dark spot in the centre of the photograph!

You won’t beat a chunky digital SLR for quality and versatility, but you won’t always lug it around with you.

With a good quality digital camera that fits neatly in your shirt pocket you will have nearly the same quality, most of the versatility, and above all you will have the camera with you when you want it!