Buying my first compact digital camera

[dcnoob]

Hi, I'm completely new to photography, and going to buy my first compact digital camera.

The current budget for it is less than 150 GBP.

I have spotted the following 3 on Argos's website: Nikon Coolpix S570 12MP, Sony DSCW320B 14MP, Sony DSCW350S 14MP.
The first and the third one both has aluminium camera body, I'm not sure if this is a significant factor.
It would also be good to know what is the ideal store for compact digital cameras, so far I can only see Argos offers relatively cheaper price for same products.

Thanks

[matt wilson]

http://www.photoradar.com/list/revie...2=250&filter3=

pop the adress in your browser .It's a series of reviews from this site that may help you narrow things down.

Megapixels are a bit of a myth in a way as it depends on the size of the sensor they are crammed onto.

Personally I would be looking for a good optical zoom range and how the camera feels in my hand.Nothing wrong with Argos but you can't get a feel for the camera .Go to a store where you can pick a camera up and play .(also research price as most places will price match)

You may also consider something that gives a degree of manual control (maybe not in the beginning but as you get more experienced it can be frustrating if a camera is making all the decisons for you and you can't get the shot you want.

Narrow it down and then use something like google just type Nikon coolpix review and you will find loads of info.

Good luck in your search.

[chris-p]

On the Argos website the Sony W320 is £129.99 and and the W350 is £149.99. Both of those are actually very good prices as the cameras aren't even available for sale on a lot of other websites, they're pre-order only.

There isn't a huge amount to choose between these 3 cameras. Matt is right about pixels, it's not simply a case of "more is better". In reality though the Sony S350 is the best all round camera of the 3 you listed, not by much but it is the best.

However, there are literally hundreds of compact cameras on the market and, for a very reasonable budget of £150, you can do better. If you want to consider other options (if not then just stop reading here) then have a look at these cameras:

The Panasonic DMC-FS15, it's around £135 and has a better zoom than the Sony's or the Nikon.

and...

The Ricoh R10 is a tiny fraction over budget at £153 (ish) but it's the one I would buy without a doubt. It's got a 7.1x zoom (28-200mm equiv for those who are interested) and a 3" HVGA screen (the other cameras mentioned here have smaller, lower resolution screens).

[dcnoob]

thank you both for replying

@matt
As someone who is completely new to photography, reading the reviews confused me even more. lol
I did pay attention to manual control when reading camera specifications, but all of the compact DCs I have seen does not come with manual control.
Can you tell me more about the sensor please, since I can't seem to find them on specifications.

@chris
It is very interesting that both of you mentioned zoom, may I ask what role does zoom play for a digital camera? The only thing I know about zoom is taking picture of objects that are far away.
Also, why does the 10MP Ricoh cost more than the 12MP Panasonic?
After reading posts on this forum, I realized most people tends to use warehouseexpress, is this a very good place to buy digital cameras?

Thank you

[chris-p]

I know you asked some questions of Matt but I may as well stick my opinions in as well!

Originally Posted by dcnoob

I did pay attention to manual control when reading camera specifications, but all of the compact DCs I have seen does not come with manual control.

For £150 just about every camera on the market will not have manual controls.

Originally Posted by dcnoob

Can you tell me more about the sensor please, since I can't seem to find them on specifications.

You can find out sensor sizes but not usually through sites like Argos. What Matt is talking about is that pixels aren't the same size.

Imagine you have 2 sensors, which are covered in light sensitive photodiodes (or pixels for simplicity). They both have the same number of pixels (say 1 million). Now imagine that one of the sensors is 10 times bigger than the other. If the "pixels" fill the surface of the sensor, those pixels on the larger sensor will be 10 times bigger than those on the smaller sensor.

When a photodiode captures light it converts it into an electrical signal which is then amplified. The bigger the photodiode, the more light it can capture and so the less amplification you have to apply to the electrical signal. Amplifying the signal causes "noise" or a grainy texture in the picture. Here is an example, you can click on it to view it larger.



It is for this reason that higher pixel counts may not always be a good thing.

As for the actual sensor size, it doesn't matter as all the cameras you are looking at have the same sized sensors, just with more or less pixels on them. They are 1/2.3", or in new money that's 6.16mm wide and 4.62mm high.

Originally Posted by dcnoob

It is very interesting that both of you mentioned zoom, may I ask what role does zoom play for a digital camera? The only thing I know about zoom is taking picture of objects that are far away.

Thats most of all there is to know! Poeple often talk about the "long" end or the "wide" end and they are referring to the zoom range of the lens.
The longer the zoom the closer you can make distant objects appear.
The wider the zoom at the other end the wider or broader the picture (you can fit more in).

To try to illustrate this have a look at these pictures. Both are taken at the same time from the same place. The first one is wide angle (so you get a very broad view)



The second one is zoomed in a long way



Camera manufacturers make life a little harder by referring to their zooms in terms of "times", say a 3x zoom. This simply means that it can make a distant object appear closer or larger by three times where it starts. Sadly. this sort of thing doesn't tell you where it starts from so it's a bit of a con if you ask me.

Originally Posted by dcnoob

Also, why does the 10MP Ricoh cost more than the 12MP Panasonic?

Because it has nothing to do with the number of pixels! The Ricoh is a better specified camera in every respect apart from the total number of pixels. It's got a better lens, a better body, a better screen etc etc.

Originally Posted by dcnoob

After reading posts on this forum, I realized most people tends to use warehouseexpress, is this a very good place to buy digital cameras?

Wex is a very well known and highly reputable site. They are usually quite competitive on price as well. It's certainly a very good place to start looking.

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by dcnoob

I did pay attention to manual control when reading camera specifications, but all of the compact DCs I have seen does not come with manual control.

As a quick addition, with regards to manual controls...

There are 2 cameras on WEx which offer manual control for under £150. The Fuji S1500 and it's replacement (available for pre-order) the S1600.

They're not quite so compact either!

[dcnoob]

wow!! this is a very nice tutorial for a photography beginner like me, now I understand how this thing work and basically what to look for in a digital camera.

You mentioned Richo also has a better body, does this mean it has a metal casing body? I have seen most compact DCs have metal body, not sure why this is.

thank you very much

[ap4a]

Originally Posted by dcnoob

You mentioned Richo also has a better body, does this mean it has a metal casing body? I have seen most compact DCs have metal body, not sure why this is.

The more durable a body is, the less likely you are to break it. Imagine having your camera in a trouser pocket and bumping in to a table, you could easily damage it if it was made out of plastic (and some plastic bodies are less well made than others); whereas with a metal body it's more likely to survive bumps like that.

[dcnoob]

Originally Posted by ap4a

The more durable a body is, the less likely you are to break it. Imagine having your camera in a trouser pocket and bumping in to a table, you could easily damage it if it was made out of plastic (and some plastic bodies are less well made than others); whereas with a metal body it's more likely to survive bumps like that.

ah! ok, but I think the Ricoh is actually has a plastic body
anyway, now I will just go ahead and order that Richo camera

thank you all again

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by dcnoob

wow!! this is a very nice tutorial for a photography beginner like me, now I understand how this thing work and basically what to look for in a digital camera.

You mentioned Richo also has a better body, does this mean it has a metal casing body? I have seen most compact DCs have metal body, not sure why this is.

thank you very much

Most comapct cameras have a metal casing mainly because it looks nicer than a plastic one and gives a feeling of solidity and build quality. They are sturdier than an all plastic camera.

What I mean by a better body (in terms of the Ricoh) is that it's prettier (to me) than the others! The build qaulity isn't going to be much different between all cameras in this price range.

In reality this is actually a very hard decision to make as just about every camera in this price bracket is the same overall. It's really most likely to come down to which one you personally like the most as their specifications and feature sets are very similar.

The Ricoh is something of an oddity because it's very cheap for it's headline specs. When reviewers do group tests it's often compared (because of it's zoom range and better features like a bigger screen and higher ISO capabilities) much more expensive cameras like the Panasonic LX3 (£250), the Panasonic TZ7 (£200), Canon G10 (was £400ish when it was new) and so on.
In this company the Ricoh doesn't fair as well but, thanks to it's price you can compare it to the original cameras you mentioned, where it is better.

The other thing that makes this difficult is budget. You say your buget is £150. For some people thats flexible and to others its not, so it really depends on both how tight your budget is and how much you actually want to spend.

For example, if you stretch the buget to £160 you can suddenly afford the very good Canon Powershot SX120 IS. This camera has manual controls as well as a full range of auto modes, an even bigger zoom (10x) a nice big screen and decent image stabilisation.

This, of course, is never ending (welcome to the world of "kit lsut") - you could always (on paper at least) add a little more and get something "better" and I'm not trying to make you part with more money.