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[par47]

Hey guys, I need a new point and shoot camera for my next trip. I just want a simple tourist camera which has good battery life and reasonable picture quaility in the challenging lighting conditions of bars and hotel bedrooms Good close-ups would be a bonus

 

I'm looking in the £100-150 price range. At this price point is it worth shopping around or are they all pretty much the same? Is there a stand-out cam in this range?

 

If no other advice I'll probably go for http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DMC-SZ1EB-K-Compact-Digital-Camera/dp/B006U98IDQ . seems to fit the bill.

 

Cheers.

[Spanky99]

Unless you want to go into the £300+ range any camera at that price range is decent. They are more or less the same sensor inside and the image results will have almost zero difference between them.

 

My criteria for a point and shoot is size, I like small and thin so it fits in my pocket and doesn't take up much space. That Panasonic looks like it would fit that criteria.

 

Enjoy!

[par47]

Thanks for the reply, it's pretty much what I expected. Looks like the only tough decision at this price is what colour body to get!!!!

[squared]

If you want to put the camera on a tripod, and plug it in a TV or computer to monitor whether or not the sins you do are in the frame, you need one that doesn't have the socket for the video (or any other connection) on the bottom, but elsewhere. Had exactly this problem with Sony, and Sony are also crap because the distance sensor zooms in and out especially when you do close-ups. The videos were useless. I would advise to buy a Canon in Thailand, for well below £100 you get one with 1080p video, 4k x 3k pics, and 2cm Makro. The distance sensors work perfectly. The videos are in MOV format. With a cheap Canon you need to choose 'artificial light' manually if you vdo indoors, automatic doesn't deliver good colours, and shifts all over the place from pinkish to greenish. Note that you can't copy videos larger than 1.45 GB from a camera to the PC on many computers, and you hit this file size in about 10 min in 1080p mode.

[par47]

Thanks squared, the TV out is a good tip I overlooked, the panasonic has it.

 

Why cant one copy files bigger than 1.45gb? I already have files bigger than that on my PC. usb limitation? I have an SD card slot on my laptop, would that bypass the limitations?

[Spanky99]

Thanks squared, the TV out is a good tip I overlooked, the panasonic has it.

 

Why cant one copy files bigger than 1.45gb? I already have files bigger than that on my PC. usb limitation? I have an SD card slot on my laptop, would that bypass the limitations?

 

There may be a recording time limit set on the camera. Like you can record only 15 min clips which basically works out to file size limits. The manual will tell you or you can look it up before buying. All cameras have this limitation.

[neo1011]

There may be a recording time limit set on the camera. Like you can record only 15 min clips which basically works out to file size limits. The manual will tell you or you can look it up before buying. All cameras have this limitation.

 

Correct. i think it's due to a taxation difference between a camera and a camcorder

[Spanky99]

Correct. i think it's due to a taxation difference between a camera and a camcorder

 

The line is slowly blurring and this years batch of DSLRs are able to record even longer. Still, I would not want to push that much video into a single file. Would take forever to bring it in for editing then converting it. The new Sony video camera now doubles as a still camera. The world of photography is increasingly going towards video and if you make a living doing stills you better learn how to shoot and edit video as well.

[Mr Blank]

Im no expert but I think you will be very happy with that camera for the money. I have owned a couple of Panasonic lumix & been pleased with them. In fact the one i have now is similar to the one you are looking at but maybe a year or so older & not quite as good but certainly suits me fine. On the whole I tend to like the colours on them for neon (walking st etc) & think its decent enough in low light .

Only downside but no real biggie is the limited video recording time which wasnt an issue on the older one i had but i think is common on a lot of cameras now & perhaps the fact that you cant alter the zoom once a video has started/scrap that apparently you can on the model you are looking at!

Decent review of the camera here http://www.ephotozin...om-review-18529

Hope this helps

Edited October 15, 2012 by Mr Blank

[par47]

Thanks all, I have ordered the Panasonic now