Not too expensive but quality compact camera needed

Dave

Been some interesting new Canon compact cameras shown at CES. Canon 110 HS and 520 HS arrive in February and March respectively. Cost for 520 HS is 300.00 US. The 110 HS is less. Go to kenrockwell.com and look under his show report. If you can spend more there are some really nice cameras coming out from Canon and Fuji.

My standard answer.......Panasonic Lumix, reliable, robust, Leica designed lenses and my 78 year old mother can take great pictures with one.

Not sure cost of current range but try Clifton Cameras web site for pricing and range.

Jono

Consider Canon S95. Brilliant camera, excellent imagery, fun to use. Terrific product and in many respects more useful than brand new S100. Still available and in your budget.

Lots of reviews online will confirm how fab it is. I've had one for about a year and a half and shan't bother changing to S100. Amazon quotes £230 and there's 70 owners giving you their opinions there.

I recommend both the Panny TZ20 and the Nikon S9100. You won't go far wrong with either.

J

Anyone seen the Fuji X-Pro1 ?

Hah, a little outside his price range perhaps..?

I have recently taken delivery of an X-100 though. Which is nice.

I'll give another vote for the Panasonic Lumix range.  I've got one which I carry in my "manbag" all the time.  Takes excellent photos, has zoom equivalent to 28-280, but no optical viewfinder, alas.  SWMBO commandeered my Nikon digital SLR, hence my purchase of the Panasonic

When it eventually dies I WILL try very hard to find something similar, but with an optical viewfinder (much better than an LCD in bright light)

Another Panny Lumix fan here. I've now got two - a DMC-TZ5 and a few months ago I bought a DMC-FT2 (nice snappy names...). The latter's waterproof and shock-resistant so I can just pop it in my pocket when I'm fellwalking. Great picture quality from both, Leica lens, super construction.

I love my Canon 5D MkII but it's a bit of a beast to lug about, so I confess most of my photos are taken with the Lumix.

The best camera's the one you happen to have with you at the time, as they say.

My youngest daughter had difficulty understanding why I carry my Lumix around all the time.  She thinks I should just use my iphone to take photos.  She sort of got it when I said "zoom" and "flash".

Thanks for the recommendations so far. I'm tempted by the Canon S95 but I fancy a longer lens, maybe with a small drop in quality. Lumix I'm not sure about but will investigate further. The new Canon 520HS looks nice but is basically an Ixus, all point and shoot. Samsung WB850 possibly...

Don't have a problem with reach of S95 personally, if I want target image bigger I just crop! Quality is easily good enough to allow it.

Of course if you want proper bigger then 'there is no substitute for cubes' and you need to get the big guns out...And that's not going to be a low price camera I'm afraid...

Another thumbs up for Lumix, I use an LX5 when I don't want to lug an SLR with me. Good trade off between quality and size/weight. Fits a coat pocket or a man-bag too.