Digital Cameras - Help!

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Hello,

My girlfriend has offered to buy me a Digital Camera for my birthday. I know absolutely zip about them.

My main priorities are:

A short shutter lag (the time between pushing the button and the photo being taken

must be under £200

I'm not all that bothered about how many megapixels it is, but ideally I'd like the best I can get for the money and with a fast reaction time. Also I would like it to be small, but this isn't essential. I have also noticed that some cameras now are LCD display only... I'd like it to have a viewfinder, but I guess this is related to the reaction time. If the reaction time is fast enough then I don't mind.

Can anyone suggest a camera or two that might fit the bill?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

biker-dj · Spanner Monkey Joined: 10 Apr 2005 Karma :

Just one of many there are on the market, but I bought my wife a Fuji finepix E550 it cost 150 quid and IMO a very competant, average priced camera. It's got about 6.1 megapixels which is credible, a zoom lens although offhand I cant think of exact specs, fully automatic with settings for landscape, sports, portrait and night time and aperture and shutter speed settings to give you more control with integral flash. If you do a search under random banter - topic about cameras I have attached a photo taken with this camera file name Zante. Hope this helps Thumbs Up

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Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

Failing on the 'small', whatever the best Minolta Dimage you can get for £200 is these days.

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AXSNQK/qid=1141586199/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_3_1/203-7404956-2868736 Very Happy

Small,

Less than £200...

it just needs low shutter lag (which all the Dimage range seem to have).

Anyone any objections to this one?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Well a review of the X1 I read said it had a really bad shutter time lag... Sad

This one has a short lag in reviews...
https://www.ajelectronics.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?Prod_code=DMCFX1Silver

Anyway Sarah probably won't want to buy online, so I'll probably pop into Jessops tomorrow and ask them.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

divuk83 · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Nov 2003 Karma :

If shutter lag is going to be a problem I'm guessing you maybe want to use it for motorsport photography? I had a fuji S5000 and other than shutter lag problems you can't pan with the camera while using continuous shooting. A digital SLR would be ideal for what you want if you had a bit more cash. D50 bodies can be had for 350 squid new, so I bet if you looked arround you could maybe find a second hand budget digital SLR for not much more than 200 squid?

Dave

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

Naah,

I'd have to buy a lenses etc.

I don't need an SLR, I just need a compact with a very short shutter lag. As I said, I don't need a bazillion pixels I just need a quick camera.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

A small camera won't be so great for (moving) bike pics - a half decent size can make quite a bit of difference.

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AOFVZK/qid=1141591942/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/203-7404956-2868736
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000AOFVZK/qid=1141591942/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/203-7404956-2868736

That looks good. Reviews look promising.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

Shutter lag on the digital SLRs is pretty much non existant. But they are bulky and inconvenient for much of the time.

How big do you want the pictures? Even a 1.3mp camera will produce an image bigger than the screen resolution I am using now. 3mp will give you a reasonable A4 print, so after that you are after a decent lense on it. Higher pixel count is more to do with marketing than actual picture quality.

Seperate optical viewfinders are better in some ways, but then you land up having a difference between what you are seeing and what the camera is seeing.

My little old Canon A10 is fine for snaps and has an optical viewfinder. Might be worth checking the newer equivalents (about 5 generations newer) which are around £200.

All the best

Keith
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

I want something greater than 4 mega pixels, and yes I want an optical viewfinder if possible...
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

https://www.cameras.co.uk/html/shutter-lag-comparisons.cfm?sort=ShutterLag

Here is a list of cameras and their measured shutter lag times.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

McJamweasel · BCF Junkie Joined: 22 Mar 2002 Karma :

I've been looking at this sort of thing as well and the Canon Powershot S1 IS and S2 have caught my eye. Similar to the Z6 you linked to, the S1 is a 3mp, 10x zoom and can be had for £160 or so, and the S2 is a 5mp, 12x zoom and is around £100 more.

They both have good reviews, the one I read for the Z6 wasn't all that special.
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

I think I've settled on a Casio model, one newer than the one that wins the lag test on the link above.

https://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/176609/art/casio/exilim-zoom-ex-z120-secur.html#
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

Irezumi aka Reuben · Carrot Top Joined: 28 Sep 2004 Karma :

Look at the Konica Minolta as you mentioned, and along those lines see these camera's. Almost SLR sized but with nowehere near the features, or the cost.

Fujifilm Finepix S5600.

Olympus SP-500.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5.

Panasonic seem's to have gotten the best review out of those but it is automatic focus only. The fujifilm is very close and come's with a manual focus.
All of those can be had for between £200-250.
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