basic digital camera

[pheonix]

hi can anyone recommend a digital camera up to the price region of around £200 for general use, i would like to start photographing some of the great things i see, but at the moment only have my camera phone which is good for intant pics but not great quality. any sugestions would be appreciated

[StuartDH]

I saw the backend of a review on TV last week that put lots of cameras up against each other and the Fuji F10 came out on top. Not sure if it's particularly good for wildlife, but it may be worth taking a look.

[nightshade]

Not sure of the price nowdays but my minolta dimage Z1 is an excellent camera with a v.good lense 10x optical zoom 4x digital good close ups to
worth a look my favourite go anywhere is another minolta the X20 3x optical zoom 4x digital good close ups look in the Gallery for some of my pics
hope this is helpful and not just adding to the cofusion

[Fourwings]

I've got to agree with nightshade, the fuji f10 is a good basic camera & the macro mode is very good on all fujis.

If you could stretch to just a few pounds more check out the fuji S5500, for around £230, it has a really good zoom lens and is excellent value for its price, the perfect camera for starting wildlife photography.

[nightshade]

there is a nice 5m pixel fuji Z1 just out which comes in your price range

[Helen]

I can't really recommend any particular make, but I would advise you to ignore the "digital zoom" talk you will hear from the salesman. It's just a marketing ploy. If you want to see for yourself, take a pic without the digital zoom and with it, you'll soon see the difference in quality. Take note of the "optical" zoom. A 10x or 12x is always good for wildlife.

[Boddie]

I agree with Helen - digital zoom is, in many cases, terrible and you need an extremely steady hand. Also bear in mind that unless you want to blow your pictures up to A3 size you don't need much more than 3 mega. Every photo on here has been 'downsized' as few sites would accomodate that big a file. If I use all my 8 mega and wish to view the photo 1:1 on a monitor I can get about an eighth on the screen at a time. My advice - go low mega and opt for a good lens option.

[nightshade]

phoenix,I went shopping today for a new nikon D70s.
Looking around at various cameras I found myself drawn to a little black 6
(yes six) megapixel camera with the equivalent of 38 to 380mm optical zoom lense, anti shake technology,use easily obtainable aa batteries or rechargables can do movie clips and is very easy to handle under £275.00
my old pal the minolta konica Z6

[pheonix]

now that we are ever closer to christmas my budget seems to be getting smaller and smaller!
i have been looking for cameras around one hundred pounds with ranginging caperbilities but i have found a few with up to 4x optical zoom and up to 4 mega pixals within that sort of price range, what do you think of these as general all round cameras that can take wildlife photos from landscapes down to macro? i definately cant afford some of the suggestions and dont really have a use for a camera with 12x zoom.

[pheonix]

ok i take back the comment on not needing up to 12x zoom, it showed my limited knowledge of cameras. ive been playing with cameras this afternoon and im definatly going to stretch the budget and try to get a decent camera with a high optical zoom and a good macro ability.

thanks for the help every one