bobsalot

as the title says, i will soon be purchasing a new camera.

i would like to have a high optical soom, 3x or 5x isn't really appealing to me.
i don't mind it being complicated.

i've looked at the fujifilm s1000fd as its is a 10mp 12x optical soom camera, but it did only get average reviews.
however this camera is in my price range of up to £150, so im guessing this is one of the best i can expect for that price.

any ideas guys? thanks.


(by the way....my sed key does not work, as in soom, sorry)

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Mizzle

Why not just buy a cheap dSLR and a good telezoom lens?

Edit;
Just saw your price range, don't bother reading this

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bobsalot

the fujifilm s1000fd is a small slr style camera, which is why im considering it. although ive read some reviews and they're not all that good.

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Evil Marge

I'd go with a Fuji, I bought a Fuji FinePix A400 a few years ago and it's a very good camera. Dixons are selling the Fujifilm S1000FD for about £112 including postage, shame their a crap company

Just found one on amazon for £107.17 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery

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bobsalot

its in comet for £127...but with my 10% discount i might buy from there.

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Evil Marge

I'd definitely go for it, if mine takes good pics I'm sure that one does As I said my little fuji takes excellent photos, you can take a skeg at my new gallery if you like.

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LeeJend

12X optical zoom is going to be pretty useless except under the birghtest outdoor conditions. At anything over 5x you really need an image stabilized lens (or tripod) or the picture will blur.

Otpics quality at that price range and zoom has got to be pretty low. Clarity should be ok at lower zooms but as you go above 5x it will drop off, especially around the edges.

As the zoom increases the light gathering (spedd) will drop off and autofocus will suffer. Unless the camera uses a laser range finder, which has it's own set of problems.

Find out as much as you can about focus speed, turn on time and battery life. Those are the areas where lower priced cameras get short changed. Turn on time and focus time drive me nuts with digital cameras.

Gut feel says you are asking for an awful lot out of a camera in that price range. As long as you aren't a fanatic about image quality it could be ok.

EDIT

I looked at Marge's pic's. They are all close ups which don't challenge the optics much. Sports or landscape photography require different strengths. The 10 MP sure does hold the detail nicely though, even with extreme blow ups.

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bobsalot

focus speed is good nd turn on time is 2 seconds....from the review. didnt see bttery life.

(my (A) does not work either...it wont let me copy n pste.)

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Mizzle

Erm, sorry, but it's not. It has no mirror.

That kind of camera, my friend, is called a super or mega zoom camera

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technomom

Look at some Sony's. If you want high zoom, you need image stabilization and their is a lifesaver for shaky hands like mine! lol

a00r

check out canon they have good ones

VONU

maybe a panasonic lumix dmc-fz50 if you can get one in the jan sales. i considered this myself but could never find one in stock anywhere and chose instead to switch to dslr for the larger sensor (not that i've bought yet!).

the main problem i find with the bridge type long zoom cameras is that most have power zoom. so you end up hunting around the spot, trying to get the focal length you want. having a manual zoom is MUCH better, but very rare. (konica) minolta used to have this with their dimage a1/a2/a200, so if you don't mind 8Mp and a lens that was never quite up to the job, you might want to look at a second hand a2 or a200.

tdinc

Try looking at the Canon SD1100 IS ELPH. I replaced my Casio and I am very happy with the quality of the pictures. and options.

here is a nice review
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2008_...on_sd1100.html

very good prices right now just google it

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bobsalot

sorry i didnt mean it was one...just in the shape or style of one.

thats a nice looking camera. as i said though, i want something with more than 3x optical.

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Mizzle

Just a quick note - the optical zoom varies a lot, and depends on the widest focal length. Are you looking for a camera for wide-angle pictures as well? In that case, I'd go for a camera with a focal length of 28 - 82.5 mm (35 mm equivalent) or about that.

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bobsalot

got the panasonic tz4 in the end.

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