What compact to get?

[andy664]

I'm after a good point and shoot camera for the wife for around £100 ish. Whats the best camera to get. Its for family hols and stuff with alot of indoor photo's also. was thinking about the Nikon coolpix S3000 but heard a few bad reports. Any sugestions?

[JeanC]

Hi,

you might want to look into the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20, I just got one a couple months ago and I am loving it. I've seen it listed online for as low as $150 US.

[andy664]

Thanks for the reply. Wouldn't have thought of panasonic but after reading your reply looked into it and sounds spot on for me. Cheers

[JeanC]

You're welcome

[chris-p]

Hi Andy

You're going to find it relatively difficult to get everything you want for your money but there are always options. Depends on where you might be prepared to compromise though...

As mentioned above, the Panasonic FH-20 which is known as the FS30 in this country. It's relatively expensive over here though and is probably out of your budget. I would ignore the Fuji Z70 as it's not really going to be as good as the Nikon S3000 and I would add the Sony W310, Casio EX-Z550 and Canon Powershot A3100 to your list.

I've just run a quick comparison and I think the Sony and the Nikon offer the best lens, but the Nikon is the only one without any form of image stabilisation. The Casio has the widest aperture, closely followed by the Canon which would help in the low light situations (along withe the stabilisers). However, the Nikon is the only one capable of shooting more than 1 frame every second (it can do 3 which is actually very impressive for such a cheap compact).

It's actually a very tough decision. The Nikon wins for speed and lens flexibility but suffers from a lack of image stabilisation. The Casio could be the better in low light conditions (none will be great though). The Sony gives you a good lens range (like the Nikon) and with the advantage of image stabilisation but isn't as fast as the Canon or Casio in low light.

Tough call but I think, on balance I'd go for the Sony as an all rounder, the Nikon if speed is the most important and the Casio if low light is the most important feature.

Does that help?!?!

[andy664]

Thanks for your info. If the budget could be extended a bit what one would you recoment for an all rounder. I know i'm after a lot for my money but if i'm going to get a good point and shoot family cam then it'll be worth getting a good one. A fast one is great if taking photos of the kids but with the winter nights and party's the low light could be a problem. Is there any all rounder? Once again thanks for your reply