I am looking to buy a digital camera in the next 2 weeks, and so far i am not sure what to buy.

I would like the following:

>3.2 Mpixels (preferably > 4)

Optical zoom of >3

Digital zoom - any

Rechargeable battery pack

+ a larger memory card of >256Mb

I have a budget of

i have the a85 and its not bad at all but i want something a bit more so im off for the 350d soon

AA battery cameras are great for when they go flat and you're away from a power point.

The A85 is a good camera but i find it a bit heavy/bulky (because of the AA battery chamber). You can pick up a 512mb memory card for the A85 at www.7dayshop.com for aout

I'm on my second Fuji camera and rate them very highly. I have the 602z which is old hat now, but does the job and I picked up a charger and some 1700mAH rechargeables at a greatly discounted price as part of the deal. If you're interested, I'll see if I can track down where I bought it from

Chris

Olympus Mju 410 - fits the spec, just fits your budget

Has a metal case and is weatherproof !

i have the a85 and its not bad at all but i want something a bit more so im off for the 350d soon

Glad to hear that you think it's ok. For my purpose i think 4Mp is loads of quality, but the only thing that is holding me back is the Battery issue. The fuji has a rechargeable pack, but i would be happier with the Canon, as i have had one (APS) for a few years now.

What are the best batteries for a digital camera? and how much for 2 sets plus charger?

Goochie,

Double post

Chris

I just ordered a reconditioned Fuji S5500 for

i will find out what rating batteries i have in mine for you they last ages for me

NiMh rechangables are the best for cameras that take AA's

Something I would like to ask if I may? I went to a zoo on monday and found my Fuji A202 a bit lacking in the zoom area. It has a digital zoom on it but the amount it zooms in is small. Therefore I found that taking pictures from any distance really not worthwhile and as I'm sure you know, in a zoo the animals rarely come to the boundaries of their enclosure whe you are there.

My question is, would an optical zoom allow me to capture far off points well? And if so, would they still retain their sharpness?

I may be looking to get one soon, say in a few months time, but what kind of things should I look for? In terms of megapixels and zooms? The memory cards isn't a huge problem as they are fairly cheap but mine currently runs on XD.

I have a few sets of NiMH batteries - you want at least 2000mAh ones ideally.

Lidl are doing a good price on them at the moment:

Have a look at 7dayshop.com

Something I would like to ask if I may? I went to a zoo on monday and found my Fuji A202 a bit lacking in the zoom area. It has a digital zoom on it but the amount it zooms in is small. Therefore I found that taking pictures from any distance really not worthwhile and as I'm sure you know' date=' in a zoo the animals rarely come to the boundaries of their enclosure whe you are there.

My question is, would an optical zoom allow me to capture far off points well? And if so, would they still retain their sharpness?

I may be looking to get one soon, say in a few months time, but what kind of things should I look for? In terms of megapixels and zooms? The memory cards isn't a huge problem as they are fairly cheap but mine currently runs on XD.[/quote']

I'd say at least 3 megapixels and 5x or 6x optical zoom, but that's based on what I'd like.

I'm on my second Fuji camera and rate them very highly. I have the 602z which is old hat now' date=' but does the job and I picked up a charger and some 1700mAH rechargeables at a greatly discounted price as part of the deal. If you're interested, I'll see if I can track down where I bought it from

Chris[/quote']

have had three Fuji cameras and highly recommend them ...batteries last for ages and the pictures are always bright and clear

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5302

Something I would like to ask if I may? I went to a zoo on monday and found my Fuji A202 a bit lacking in the zoom area. It has a digital zoom on it but the amount it zooms in is small. Therefore I found that taking pictures from any distance really not worthwhile and as I'm sure you know' date=' in a zoo the animals rarely come to the boundaries of their enclosure whe you are there.

My question is, would an optical zoom allow me to capture far off points well? And if so, would they still retain their sharpness?

I may be looking to get one soon, say in a few months time, but what kind of things should I look for? In terms of megapixels and zooms? The memory cards isn't a huge problem as they are fairly cheap but mine currently runs on XD.[/quote']

Optical zoom is adjusting the focus with the lens, whereas digital zoom is "enhancing" an existing picture. Digital zoom results in blockiness whereas optical zoom doesn't. My camera is 3MP and 6x optical zoom which is more than adequate for taking pics of animals at the zoo. It's also nice to have a manual focus adjustment too so that you can soft (?) focus things like wire cages and move the focus onto distant objects ... most autofocuses will try and focus on the closest object ... but you may end up paying a little more for it

Megapixel is a bit like dpi on printers .... higher doesn't necessarily make it better, but as a minimum these days, I'd look at 3MP Your best bet is to go on some review sites and make a shortlist of candidates and then pop into your local Jessops to try them out. Jessops may also price match web prices so you can buy it there and then cheaper, but my camera was end-of-line so they didn't stock it.

Chris

I second the Olympus MJU range. Metal bodies, robust, easy to use and takes bloody good pictures. I have the MJU 300 as backup for my EOS350. If I wanted another digi camera for my daughters or wife, the MJU would get the vote straight away (whether it be 300/310/400/410/500 all damned good, and for the numbers read meg pixel per first digit)

Optical zoom is adjusting the focus with the lens' date=' whereas digital zoom is "enhancing" an existing picture.

[/quote']

Not quite. Optical zoom is adjusting the focal length of the lens (it still needs to be focussed for distance), and is the preferred way of getting closer to the subject. Digital zooming simply replicates pixels in the centre of the picture so the middle portion of it fills the frame. Despite fancy image processing, digital zooming is a poor substitute for optical zooming.

If you go for a camera with a high optical zoom (8X or more) you can fill the frame with the subject more often, so you don't need to store as many pixels (hence more pictures to a memory card)

if you can stretch for the p&p this might fit the bill cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=30019&item=7533049222&rd=1

I like the look of the Fuji S5500 that Cheeky has suggested. Good zoom and decent megapixels. I'll have to see the damage the car does to my wallet on Monday first, but I may well get one.

I like the look of the Fuji S5500 that Cheeky has suggested. Good zoom and decent megapixels. I'll have to see the damage the car does to my wallet on Monday first, but I may well get one.

Well, it's been put in the post today so hopefully will have it ahead of the weekend. If I get a chance between work, I'll try it out and report back.

I like the look of the Fuji S5500 that Cheeky has suggested. Good zoom and decent megapixels. I'll have to see the damage the car does to my wallet on Monday first, but I may well get one.

I have got the Fuji S7000 and found it to excellent....four aa batteries so they last for ages and easy to use as well, good zoom and up to 12 Mp.....but have never tried it!! 3 or 6 Mp is more than good enough ...the zoom can added to by getting an adapter from ebay or even made into wide angle.

I have got the Fuji S7000 and found it to excellent....four aa batteries so they last for ages and easy to use as well, good zoom and up to 12 Mp.....but have never tried it!! 3 or 6 Mp is more than good enough ...the zoom can added to by getting an adapter from ebay or even made into wide angle.

12MP! :eek:

Graham, don't worry if you don't get a chance, I can wait, I'm not going anywhere for a while.

12MP! :eek:

Graham' date=' don't worry if you don't get a chance, I can wait, I'm not going anywhere for a while. [/quote']

I will try it one day but the 12 mp option is in raw data not compressed so you dont get many pics on a card......have been told 6Mp is good enough for flawless A3 picture size so what do you do with a 12Mp picture?

Recently got a Nikon Coolpix 7900..

7.1 mpxls and got it for