{REQUEST} Digital Camera

chabsey

Looking for a digital camera with about 6-10X zoom (3-4 megapixels), and not poxy digital 'zoom' but real optical zoom. I know the Fuji S5000 - s7000 have good zoom but I'm trying also to decide whenther to buy one in the Duty Free or to wait and get it online.

Anyone know of a good website that will give me a realistic price to compare so I'll know if I'm getting a bargain . I don't mean an American website that doesn't ship to Ireland but has amazing prices, I mean a real viable alternative to buying one in the duty free.

Thanks.

demac

I purchased a Fuji S5000 from a french firm http://www.nomatica.com

They are ok to deal with and prices are very competitive.

V good camera also.

MikeHunt

I bought off http://www.pixmania.com which is based in France too... they have an Irish site now which wasn't around when I bought mine, but I'm sure the prices are the same... they do good package deals (memory cards and case etc.) and were the cheapest at the time. Recommended

chabsey

Hmmm...pixmania is good, I'd never heard of the Olympus c-760 before. Still trying to find a review of it though!

MikeHunt

-> http://www.dpreview.com has great independent reviews

jongore

Bought the Kodak Dx6490 from Pixmania , 4mp, 10xOpt Zoom, excellent battery life, I would highly recommend it.

yop

Bought the Cannon Powershot A80 4megapix for 269 euro delivered. Class camera
Got it from www.7dayshop.com
Retails at above 400 euro here

maherw2

Whats the delivery time like from pixmania?

ApeXaviour

Ebay all the way baby.. just be smart and make sure it says new, not refurbished.

I got my camera that was retailing here for €420 for €180 (including the €35 P&P) off an american ebay seller. Everything included obviously..

ApeXaviour

Oh yeah and it was delivered in 4 days (thats the €35)..

Ponster

10x optical zoom is sweet, no other word to describe it. If you're used to 3x digital and then change to a10x optical you'll never go back!
And it's this factor that limits your choice.

The current 10x optical zoom models are :

Kodak EasyShare DX6490
Kyocera Finecam M410R
Olympus CAMEDIA C 765
Konica Minolta Dimage Z2

Panasonic also have a range of cameras (about 7) that have 12x optical zooms (with Optical Image Stabilizer) but I really don't know a whole lot about them really so can't help you, but they should be considered for the stabilizer alone.

The Kodak is a nice looking model, resembling a dSLR or much more professional camera. It's can take 320x240 video clips, has some manual controls and the largest LCD I've seen on a camera. (2.2 inches as opposed to 1.5 almsot everywhere else).
The image quality isn't the best of the models listed above and the batteries give you about a 10 minute warning before they die, but it's a solid camera all the same.


The Kyocera is a nice camera, that's very fast (3 images per second) and has an electronic viewfinder (when you look through the viewfinder like a 'normal' camera you're looking at an LCD screen).

Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom

I can't say much about the Olympus C 765 as it's the newest on the list and probably the most expensive too. But it has a 1.8 inch LCD, supports TIFF file format, has full manual controls. Best read a few Inet reviews to get a better idea, but it looks like a good all-rounder (but remember that price!) Olympus also have the 750 and the 770 models which are a little older (but with 10x zoom) if you didn't have the $$$.

Finally, the Konica is my camera. It's a very nice camera overall, with most of the features you'd expect for the cash but let's me film at 640 x 480 at 30fps which is pretty much like TV. It also has a SVGA mode (800 x 600) at 15fps but I don't use it much. The camera is fast and takes about 1.2 seconds to take a shot once I press the power button. It's a little hard to use at night as it takes a while to focus perfectly bu in daylight it's damn fast, calculating where the focus point for a moving object will be as you press the button so nothing is blurred. Controls are manual and automatic.

I like it because my memory card is full well before the batteries die out; I can film at 640 x 480 (30fps) until the card is full and it's fast. All it's missing is an image stabilizer as at max optical zoom you really need a tripod but it's the same for most of the other 10x cameras.

Digital zoom, In My Humble Opinion, isn't always that great. As my dad always said, the best zoom is your two feet! Get as close as possible to the subject and don't reply on zooms.
A 3x digital is pretty much standard everywhere on even the cheapest model. You won't find many offering higher digital zooms because when you print a photo taken at 6x digital zoom you can almost count the pixels Maybe it's not that bad but you *know* that it was a digital camera that took the photo.


So there you go....hope you manage to pick the right one, but checking out http://www.dpreview.com is always the best idea as it gives you sample shots of each model.


In France, use www.kelkoo.fr to compare prices.

hshortt

www.getdigitalcameras.com

They'll *help* you with customs documentation.

Cheers

^whitey^

I would also recommend pixmania.com delivery took 4 days from ordering my Kodak CX7330

Draíochta

Nikon Coolpix 3200
Got one from nomatica, good camera, if you do go to nomatica camera is €200 for the european flag €206 for the irish flag and €184 under the German flag, I got one not too long ago under the european flag. Not sure if you can use the German flag but worth looking around as if you pay tax in one european country you don't have to pay it in another. By the way that's why the prices are different 21% Ireland 16% Germany.

decob

Draíochta, am looking to get the 3200 also myself, just tried out what you suggested but if you go through the german version, the delivery option are just for germany, austria, and switzerland.

sirpsycho

Is it worth getting the Canon A85 over the A80?

jongore

maherw2 wrote:

Whats the delivery time like from pixmania?

Ordered on Mon, arrived Wed evening. You can track your order, which is nice.

andrea

I bought the Fujifilm Finepix S5000 in Dublin, was a little more than with pixmania but didn't cost delivery and I was willing to pay a few € more for the safety of carrying it home myself!

It's a great camera, I'm really enjoying it. Maybe not as compact as people might like, but that is about the only flaw I've found with it so far!

Was €400 in the Camera Centre in Dublin, and not much less than that on pixmania, which didn't include delivery or their insurance scheme.

Third_Echelon

sirpsycho wrote:

Is it worth getting the Canon A85 over the A80?

as far as i know the A85 is the replacement for the A75 rather than the A80. Someone please correct me if im wrong.

I got the A80 from amazon.co.uk a few months ago and I have to say its a great camera. I was really surprised by the quality of the pictures. It takes really good quality pics.

The panoramic mode is really good.. I was in New Zealand on my holidays and I got some amazing pics of mountain ranges etc..

I also started messing around with the manual settings on it and extending the shutter speed etc and got some really good results..

The movement of the screen is an excellent feature as well. Good for taking pics at concerts etc where you can put the camera up in the air and tilt the screen down so you can actually see the shot...

Id definitely recommend the Canon A80 without a doubt...

Ponster

Yeah.

The A85 replaces the older A75.

The A80 is still more powerful than the A85 though not by a huge amount.