Digital camera recommendation

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a new digital camera, and am looking for recommendations. I'd spend about 300E.

I'm looking for one which is small, slim, with a large screen (min 2.5") and which is quick to take pictures (i.e. small lag between clicking and capturing the image).

A friend has a Sony T9 which I like the look of. It's not being manufactured anymore, so I'm looking at the Sony T20 and T70.
Does anyone have these cameras, and can they give me any feedback?
The T70 in particular has a touch screen, which I'm not sure I'd like - it might be a bit gimmicky.

Any feedback will be most welcome, since I've no idea about cameras!

Thanks,
Ragazza.

A friend of mine bought a Cannon Ixus 75 from Pixmania.ie. Very pleased with it. Small, slim camera with a very large screen. Easy to operate. He is very pleased with it

Fuji F31fd
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilmf31fd/
[broken link removed]

Hi there,

I bought a Canon Digital Ixus 75 in black with a case & a SD 30x 2 GB Memory Card from pixmani.com in April for €330(including delivery)........couldn't recommend it highly enough, fantastic quality shots, very user friendly, light & slim and has a big screen, I've had a kodak and a fuji digital camera in the past but they weren't a patch on this!

Would definately recomend the Canon IXUS range too. Just got one for work and its seems great quality.

The Ixus 75 is decent, the Fuji F31fd is a little better in low light (ISO) and faster shutter speed for single shots. The Ixus 75 seems faster on multiple images. Otherwise they are similar. The Fuji F31fd has decent manual controls if that something of interest. Its not always that useful to generalise on one make over another as theres good and bad cameras in every range. So its more down to the specific camera. Read the reviews and most of all check out the sample images. You might like the colours, light in one camera better than another, regardless of popular opinion. Also go handle one in a shop. You might like the feel of one over the other. I had some great Nikon compacts in the past but not impressed with recent ones. I've just got a Fuji F31fd and I'm not getting good photos first time. Compared to a lot of missed photos you get with slower cameras. Obviously its not anywhere close to a DSLR in speed though. Tried a Panasonic and wasn't impressed with it at all.

[broken link removed]
http://www.dpreview.com/

Can I 2nd (or is that 3rd) the recommendation for the Ixus 75. Just bought it last week and am very happy with it. It takes really good pictures and is easy to use.
I bought from 7dayshop.com as they had the genuine Canon cases. They were almost the same price as pixmania.

AFAIK the Canons generally have only a 3X optical zoom and the rest of the zoom power is digital which is useless.

Panasonic do compacts with 10X optical zoom with wide angle facility .

Otherwise try a "bridge" type camara by Canon or Fuji with a good zoom. (Looks like an SLR but no lens changes)

Unless you need only very basic holiday snaps don't get a camera without a good optical zoom facility. ( 8X minimum)

Hi all,

thanks for the recommendations and review sites. I'll definitely have to check out the Ixus 75.

One other question - if I go with the Sony, I hear that they have a proprietary memory stick instead of the SD carsd used by other cameras. Does anyone know if this has disadvantages (e.g. maybe the memory stick cant be used with other applications like a digital photo frame etc).

Thanks again,
Ragazza.

"...............since I've no idea about cameras!"

SONY CYBERSHOT DSCW55 7.2M

I bought a Sony recently -

It's a Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2M, available in Silver, Pink or Blue. I took it to Alaska recently and was absolutely delighted with the quality of the photos. It's not necessary to buy the Sony Memory Card, mine is a SanDisk 2 GB Ultra II Memory Card and works perfectly. My OH was so impressed with it that he ordered the same model from Pixmania. It has the 2.5" screen. He bought an extra charger which works from the car battery. When ordering you have to buy the battery separately. Pixmania do a nice case also, although I got the Sony one, which has a little pocket for a spare battery and additional memory stick. I have 440+ photos on it at the moment and the battery charge lasts for ages.

Very cool camera - easy to use and great photos - I love it. I used to be a member of a Photo Club and owned various SLR cameras, complete with zoom attachments, filters etc and can honestly say that these photos are comparable to anything I took in the past, with no hassle. You will see professional reviews online which go into the technicalities. I bought mine from amazon.com - the complete package, camera, 2 batteries, charger, card reader, case, 2 Gb memory stick, all came to around $305.00. I had it sent to a family member in the US and collected it on a visit there. However, Pixmania do a great deal also. I have seen some posts on this site complaining about their service but I can't complain. I bought a Sony camcorder from them recently - ordered on Friday lunchtime and it arrived on the following Tuesday.

Highly recommended - have fun!

I have just bought the Panasonic mentioned by Highflier.

It has a 3 inch screen, 10X optical zoom and the wideangle 28mm Leica lens.

The camera got a good write up in What Digital Camera Magazine.
I got mine from www.buyacamera.co.uk for £194.99 aginst £249 in the three camera shops I went into.

I bought the Canon Ixus 75 from Ebay at a decent savings - got the camera plus 2GB memory and spare battery for €220 including delivery - worked out about 2/3s the retail price here (got it from the states). Agree with all the other comments - love it!

Hi,

I just thought I'd post back after having made a purchase!

In the end I got a Canon Ixus 860, and so far am very happy with it - 8Mpix, 3 inch screen, 28mm wide lens, 3.6 optical zoom.

My choice in the end was between this one, a Panasonic FZ55 or a Sony W90 or T70.

I was put off the Sony T70 since the lens doesnt come out from the camera (its all done by mirrors which could reduce the quality of the pic). I didnt go for the Sony W90 or the Panasonic, since from reading many reviews on the web there seemed to be an issue with fuzziness even on low ISOs.

So thanks for the feedback - it was a great help!

Ragazza.