Camera advice needed...

[lynwlt]

I need a new camera.

I want something fairly idiot proof that will take good pictures of fast moving objects.

One of those objects will be Mungo, my camera-shy dog.
I'm expecting the other object will be the new puppy arriving on Tuesday.

I'd like something with zooming potential simply because Mungo hides as soon as he sees a camera, and I'm suspecting I might get better shots of him and his soon-to-be brother out in the open air.

I'm good at reading instructions and obeying them but I don't necessarily retain too much information in one hit!!

I've been looking at this one... Nikon CoolPix L310 Digital Camera

Don't really want to pay more than £200 ish.

Any advice welcome please.

[beeratz]

I've got a pentax x90, it's a bridge camera and really easy to use. It's got a massive 26x zoom which comes in handy for pics of insects and stuff and I use mine to take pics of my rats who are constantly on the move lol and I manage to get some pretty good shots of them
When I bought it last year it was £219 so I'm not sure how much it is now but it might be a little more than you're looking to spend? I really recommend it though!

[lynwlt]

www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/105380405/jack-russel-cross-pug.html

He's the one on the right hand side.

A ''Jug''. Cross between JRT and a Pug.

I think I'm common enough to call him 'Toby'.

[beeratz]

Aww hes adorable!!!

[lynwlt]

He seems to be!
I might change my mind about that when I'm running about teaching him stuff...lol

What do they mean when they use the term ''bridge'' for cameras?

Is it really easy to use?

Just googled it, price is coming out at £269 new, pre-used at £160....

Not sure that I'd buy second hand unless it came with some sort of warranty.

Food for thought.

Thankyou...

[Chrissie]

Afew months ago, I bought a 2nd hand Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ18 on eBay for just over £70.00. It's superb. There are many settings you can use, but I've mainly used it on Intelligent Auto - as it's far more intelligent than me

[beeratz]

Now don't quote me on this but a bridge camera means that it's not a digital camera, but not a full blown DSLR camera either, it's kind of in between so 'a bridge' between the two. A bridge camera gives you the ease of use of a normal digital camera ie. point and shoot, but you get some of the features that DSLR's have such as extended zoom and the ability to mess around with aperture (I don't really use that on mine)
Hope that makes sense
In terms of ease of use, mine is super easy! You can stick it on auto mode and it pretty much does everything for you, all you need to do is press the button.
Crikey I didn't realise they were that pricey! I got mine from Argos but they don't seem to be selling it anymore ( I think it must have been a sale or something when I bought it )

[Deleted]

bridge being between a compact camera and a dslr go for optical zoom rather than digital zoom if you can digital crops and enlarges where as optical uses the lens to zoom and a better quality
a second hand dslr will do you as you can stick it on auto and a continuous focus to follow moving objects but that will require practise

I want a nikon D3X but wifee wont let me have one (£5049)

[domesticextremist]

took a quick look at the spec - that's a super zoom range, but the
lens is f3.1 - f5.8, so not very fast
I have a Canon G11, with a f2.8 lens and find that it really struggles n lower
light and with things that move.
The downside with bridge cameras is that their sensors are still very small
compared to DSLR, so they don't cope too well in high contrast situations.
I often have the problem of highlights being to bright and shadows too dark.

That being said, I still love it for it's compactrness and ease of use.

[beeratz]

Apr 6, 2012 15:56:33 GMT domesticextremist said:

took a quick look at the spec - that's a super zoom range, but the
lens is f3.1 - f5.8, so not very fast
I have a Canon G11, with a f2.8 lens and find that it really struggles n lower
light and with things that move.
The downside with bridge cameras is that their sensors are still very small
compared to DSLR, so they don't cope too well in high contrast situations.
I often have the problem of highlights being to bright and shadows too dark.

That being said, I still love it for it's compactrness and ease of use.

Are those the Pentax specs? I'm not hugely knowledgable when it comes to cameras in all honesty that was the main reason I didnt go for a DSLR. I suppose I couldn't warrant spending so much money on one that I wasn't going to use to its full potential. The Pentax is perfect for me, it gets good pics of fast moving ratties lol and it's just the right size for me to take out and about. If I'm honest lol the lens f thingy doesn't make much sense to me :-[

[domesticextremist]

No I meant the Nikon one posted by lynwit.

I agonised for forever when I was looking to get mine, would really love a DSLR, but
I know I'll just end up spending a fortune and then lugging around tons of kit wherever
I go.
That's why I went for a bridge - for all it's shortcomings, I've had some great pics out of it
and it is really easy to use.
Canon has a good reputation, nice user interface and good (free) software package.
What swung it for me was the swivelly screen whcih means I can hold it above my
head and still see what I'm taking a picture of

[beeratz]

A swively screen is the one thing I really wish mine had! It can be really irritating not being able to see what your taking a pic of lol

[tafilad]

I would second the bridge camera,Gives me pictures i am proud of.and one hell of a zoom for the money.
I use mine for wildlife that's why i needed the zoom i have an HS10 30X zoom.
Don't believe everything people tell you about Dslr cameras they will cost you a fortune.Why spend if you don't need to

For comic value

[maccafan]

I got a Panasonic Lumix F28 which was supposed to be a bridge camera..

Works well in most situations including close ups and with manual focus: Here's super zoom:



and here's a couple of piccys taken through a cage mesh with manual focus to blur the cage mesh:




I am a great fan of the Lumix.

[Chrissie]

Brilliant pics Macca My Lumix is only the F18, but still produces high quality pics, I'm well pleased with it