hey all, I am looking at getting into photography but like most things I jump into stuff quick, so before I spend 300+ on a dslr and maybe put it in the cupboard after a few months what are your thoughts on bridge cameras? Im looking at the likes of the fujifilm finepix s3380, nikon coolpix l310 or similar. price around the 150 mark and 14 megapix, but what about the other stuff on them are they good enough to start me in the right direction or a waste of money? pictures i will be taking are from anything from cars... obviously to my dog and just nice views and basic nature.

cheers for any advice, joe.

Something like this:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/fujifilm-bridge-cameras/748_7845_70915_94227_xx/xx-criteria.html

I think they are a good inexpensive start. The Fuji ones take good pictures, have a good range of optical zoom and still have some manual settings available. They are more than enough to show you if you want to go further with photography IMO. If you don't, you've still got a good camera for general use anyway.

Thanks for the link. I like the one for 119 and with 720p video is a good thing to have from time to time. The fuji is definatly my top choice i think. Cheers again.