Camera recommendation

[lorrymac30]

Hi all,
im new here, and some advice would be greatly appreciated

I recently owned a Sony a100 dslr, until cash problems forced me to sell at christmas
i loved my camera,the picture quality was stunning, and it was sooo simple to get great true to life pictures.

I had previously owned a few compacts before that just simply frustrated me,picture quality, shutter speed, flash range etc

Now i cant afford at the moment to buy a decent dslr, so for the time being im looking to buy a compact digital camera, and to be honest i am lost, theres so many to choose from,and im terrified of picking the wrong one, im not good on specs

My budget is small, but i am lost without a camera as i usually take it everywhere with me.

I am looking to spend £150 tops, new or used,not much i know, but hopefully i can find a bargain!

as i mentioned previously im looking for something that gives great picture quality,true to life colour,decent shutter speed, decent flash range, li-ion battery, and min 1200 iso

If someone out there could give me some recommendations, it would be fantastic, as im just completely bamboozled as to what is good value for money and what isnt.

Thankyou so much

Loretta

[chris-p]

Hi Loretta and welcome to the forums

Bizzarely someone was here only yesterday asking almost the same question.

The only thing you're likely to struggle for is a comapct that does ISO 1,200.

For your money, I would consider looking at a Canon Powershot SX120 IS. It has a 36-360mm equivalent zoom and has a top ISO of 1,600 (but compacts aren't great at high ISOs so be warned - this one will be one of the best in your price range though). It doesn't use Li-Ion batteries though, it's AA's but that really shouldn't be an issue. AA's last a lot longer than they used to and if you use a set of 4 rechargeables then you've always got 2 in the camera and 2 spare.

The best deal we found on that camera was £163 including an 8GB SD card (link here) but it's available without the card for £150 (link here). Your alpha 100 would have used CF cards though so it's definately worth considering the bundle.

[lorrymac30]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your quick reply, ive just had a look at the Canon, and im pretty impressed, i actually really like it,compared to some of the tat ive looked at it just the sort of thing ive been looking for, the fact that it takes AA doesnt bother me as much as picture quality does, i have a battery charger so all sorted there, i was mainly looking for something that i wouldnt feel like throwing at the wall when it takes 5 minutes to take a picture and when it finally does its blue and grainy (actually been there done that).

I knew it was a good idea to ask people who knew what they were talking about instead of just guessing

Ive had a browse on Ebay and managed to find a few refurbs with 4gb memory for around £120,(with a yr warranty) so think thats what im going to go for.

Thanks again, much much appreciated, that little guy should hopefully keep me going till i get my sony back lol

Cheers
Loretta

[chris-p]

Glad to be of service!