Thread: Best Digital Compact

Hey Guys,

Just after a bit of info please.

Im after a Digital Compact pretty quickly, need it to take good pics, but more importantly, I need it to take good quality video as well.

Also what I want to know is, with a camera (not a camcorder) does it only do vids in 10minute bursts, or can you go on as long as you have the memory there.

I was thinking of the Sony DSC W300, any thoughts??

I am in the market for a DSLR, however, I think that will have to wait a while.

Thanks in advance.
Nilz

nilz,

Have a look at the Panasonic Lumix TZ6, great camera, great lens, great shots and decent video for a compact.
It'll video till the memory card full too (my TZ3 does) so you could slap a 4gig card in there and have loads of room.

T

Thanks for that dude, but you know the video shooting, will it record in one full go, so if i was recording something for 30 mins, it would do it in one go yea??

I have read that the Sony one only does it in 10 minute bursts.

The panasonic TZ7 is a much better camera, the TZ6 isn't as good as the TZ5 was. The TZ7 also allows you to record in AVCHD Lite, basically its a cut down blu-ray mode so what you record is in high def, its actually very good footage too. I just find them a bit bulky for a compact camera. But you can record for a min of 30 mins on the TZ7 I think there is a continuos mode too but its doesn't half chew up memory so make sure you get a 16 gb card which are dirt cheap now too and make sure its at least class 4 preferably 6.

Any of the IXUS range now are so compact its un-true and they are perfect if your ok with 3x zoom. If you want the full 10-12 optical then go for the TZ7 which have come down a fair bit online.

Whats your budget Nilz

Not too fussed on budget, obviously dont want to spend mega money, £2-300ish...

Lumix all the way on that budget.

T

bah wish id never read this, I own a casio z1000 which is a ok point and shoot but have been after something better without going for SLR as id never carry it around. Now you have all got me looking again .......... TZ7, TZ5 ??? bother bother ...

TZ7 i just bought one however actually thot i wanted TZ6 but when at the airport they didnt have any in stock so i decided bit extra cost ofr TZ7 and what a camera!!! great!! just shame about battery life but another battery will solve that

So it looks like it may have to be the Lumix then, has anyone seen or used the Sony W300??

how bad is the battery life ???? my casio goes on and on must do 200 flash shots on 1 charge.

I've got a TZ5 and it is superb, battery life is excellent and a spare battery is pennies just in case! Video is pretty good quality and they come with the av leads to hook up direct to view on your tv or copy over to your hdd recorder etc.
Leica lens is quality as well.....got mine off the bay, tz5, spare battery, hard case, 8gb sdhc card delivered for 200 and that was last year so you can get them for well under 180 now or a tz6 for around 220

Do they come with rechargable batteries, or are they the normal AA stylees????

Originally Posted by nilz18t

Do they come with rechargable batteries, or are they the normal AA stylees????

rechargeable li-ion battery pack, last for ages, i reckon at least 200 pics with flash and viewing

No its the special square batterys (name has evaded me) i would say prob about 250-300 shots depends if you view them a lot, i read a lot of reviews and always came back to the panasonic lumix i actually bought the TZ6 from Play think it was 220 but they sent out the wrong camera and as i was due back offshore i just sent it back and thought i would shop around see if i could get it cheaper before coming home however while i was in airport i was in dixons and found it there for 215 but they didnt have in stock so took plunge and spent extra on TZ7 was 289 i think (no memory card) i bought that from play 8gb sdhc for 12 quid.

main reason for this camera is the great zoom for a compact! its a very good camera take great hi def videos as well, which u can zoom during filming.

the only bad points on reviews was always the battery life on TZ6 and TZ7 but i had 2 batterys for my old Fuji anyway so will buy another for this no big deal.

one of my work mates hes a photo buff and did advise me too buy lots of smaller capicty memory cards incase one was to get corrupted you wont lose that many pics i.e by 4 2gb instead of one 8gb
anyone else heard this? he says hes had a courrpted card before.

lithium - ion dammit you beat me

Haha thanks guys.

I bought a Nikon coolpix for £129 does the job very well 10 megapixels and the main reason I bought it it is very compact and goes no problem in my pocket when I'm on the bike.
This pic has been reduced.

bit of a bump but the lumix range with the leica lenses are amazing. i have the fx500 and it is amazing!

OK so i still havent got a camera, but will defo be looking into one in the next couple of weeks.

I think i have decided and am going to go for the Panasonic TZ7, as the reviews and pics and vids that I have seen that it can produce are excellent!!

Now my question is the best price I have seen it for is £235 on Amazon, but can anyone beat this??

Oh and it needs to be from a reputable retailer.

Thanks
Nilz

I have the IXUS 90IS and the pics are brilliant, less than £230 also.
Sample Pic:

Thats a nice pic Chris, clarity for sure.

I have the FX550 & I use eyefi SD cards, brilliant wifi card & cam is not bad to, Samsung however suck my big toes, totally crap.

Chris, thats an awesome pic, nice one for that, have you editted it at all, or is that how it is??

No editing at all, just resized to make it viewable.

Agree Nige, Samsung cameras are awful.

had a lumix DMC-FX37 for a year now, awesome camera and very compact with a super wide 25mm lens

I've got a Panasonic Lumix TZ7 and it' brilliant! Had a Lumix before and then upgraded to this one. Picture quailty for a camera that size is amazing.

Cheers AJ, where did you get yours from and how much was it if you dont mind???

Also what memory card are you using in it? (Class wise and size)

www.Eye.fi nilz, best damn sd card on the planet.

Are those cards available in the UK??

Also why are they so good, any reason??

Cheers

I prefer sandisk SDHC cards, although I have some 8gb Kingston ones that work well for my 50D.
That card don't make your camera wireless by the look of it

Yeap Chris is spot on, I followed these through developement & got mine from the US year or more ago, they are fantastic, just turn camera on & they will login via wifi to your chosen pc/laptop & upload to a predeterminded location by yourself or they have online services to work with aswell.

They are very very handy & saves pissing about with plugging cam in etc, yes I know laziness but hey for what they cost I cant complain, they've just been released in the UK aswell.

Dont you just love technology, lol.

Wow, seriously, thats really cool, so I dont need to connect up with wires etc, can just transfer wirelessly???

Yeap, turn cam on it uploads, now commen sense prevails here so the auto power off mode must be set at a sensible time to allow transfer of all the images & also manual deletion atm is still needed on the camera, but hey its a hell of alot better than fiddling with card readers & cables.

I prefer my card reader, saves my battery!

Oh yea there is the battery issue as well, which ive heard are crap on the Pana's