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I want to buy a digital camera, to take pictures in my garden - not just plants and crops, but also wildlife, ranging in size and distance from close-ups of insects to shots of birds and so on. Can anyone recommend a suitable camera, from their own experience?

Are you after an classic SLR or a PDH?

Hi Mat

Not sure what kind of digitgal you're after but OH recently bought this one

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s36159/...index=1&comp=n

I'm normally pants at taking photo's but even I can get a good shot with this one!

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

For the best quality photos, you need an SLR (expensive)
For snapshots, reportage etc, you can make do with a compact. We have a Vivitar cheapie from Asda which is great, and a Canon which is more expensive but just the same for print quality, and its slightly more technical (ie harder) to use.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

The Fugi S5 series are good. 10x optical zoom, don't go for digital zoom, the picture will br grainy.

That said I can't use it, my hards are too small! I have a little Olympus which is great, which TOH can't use 'cause it only has the screen on the back not a classic view finder!

Horses for courses, basically. Go to a good camera shop and handle a few, find a make that is intuitive for you and if you want a good camera, that performs well over time, be prepared to pay a bit for it.

Just don't let your parents stuff it any which way into a box 'cause they 'think' they are 'helping' when you move.......

I've got a cracker of a camera- PENTAX optio 750 i really would recommend it. I got it as a Birthday present 2 years ago so not sure of cost but i think it was a little over £200, probably a lot cheaper now.
Great zoom manages super close ups - an ant filling the frame - has manual settings and some very functional auto settings. I came from a SLR manual background and previously had used a cannon digital but this is far superior - adapted to this one very easily in fact the manual settings are so good that's all i use now. Image quality is good at 7.0 megapixels.
Its not as small as some digitals BUT the back flips out and turns so that you can see what you are shooting from awkward angles very handy when shooting macro on when in the garden.

Hope that helps
P.S My mate just chipped in and said the Cannon IXUS had the best reviews for colour reproduction.

I agree with TPeers about zoom. What digital zoom does is just the equivalent of a selective enlargement - it only uses part of the image and blows it up.

I use a digital SLR with a range of lenses for serious stuff, but for general use, I find the Fuji 9600 [link] to be pretty good. Its maximum zoom is OK for a lot of not too distant wildlife (equivalent to 300mm on a 35mm camera) and, for close up in super macro mode, it focuses down to less than one centimetre!

I have heard good things about the Panasonic Lumix FZ range as well.

KK

Many thanks, everyone - plenty of leads there for me to look into. Still can't get used to the idea of staring at the back of the camera, instead of holding it up to my eye!

... and in bright sunlight you can usually forget it. Why they are not including optical viewfinders in the low end consumer cameras I do not know. I have one such that I use for snapshots, but still hate it out of doors.

KK

these digital compacts don't seem to be v.well made ... mine broke after a couple of months (the shutter stopped opening fully before something blew and it refused to take photos of anything outdoors - every photo came out bright white).
My sister just bought a small Vivitar and its doing the same thing (though Mum's Vivitar is fine).

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Good poimt there, I discovered ours (link above) can be switched to use the view finder too

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

HI Mat I use a Nikon D50 SLR it came with a 18-55mm Zoom lenz & I bought a 70-300 zoom extra(with macro) a tad expensive (£600 ish) but worth it.
The camera comes complete program with computer for editing.
If you have a Jessops near you it's worth a visit as there are plenty of good deals available & the staff are always willing to give advice.

http://www.jessops.com/

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There is no such thing as truth. People who really know what happened aren't talking. And the people who don't have a clue, you can't shut them up.
Tom Waits

Further note with a SLR you still use the viewfinder

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There is no such thing as truth. People who really know what happened aren't talking. And the people who don't have a clue, you can't shut them up.
Tom Waits

I use a nikon d80, which does everything i need. It is an slr (single lens reflex) with interchangable lenses. For decent close ups you really need a macro lens - a specific type that specialises in getting the best from close ups. I will be investing in one very soon. A manual zoom is also important as auto zooms on the cheaper cameras tend to hunt, and interupt the focussing.

Also a tripod is essential.

Did i mention a tripod?

Happy snapping!

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Vegmonkey and the Mrs. - vegetable gardening in a small space in Cheltenham at www.vegmonkey.co.uk

Great information, folks - thanks again. A friend has suggested the Fuji FinePix S5700; it's available at just over a hundred quid, which is about my level. Anyone tried it?

I always check what's been said about a product on amazon -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fuji-FinePix...3498666&sr=8-1

and ebuyer.com

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/128231...roduct_reviews

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Not that one but I had a S602Zoom (nicked in SA) and currently have an S9600. I did use a S5700 in SA, and was very pleased with the results - not quite as strong on the macro as the 602 and 9600 but a first class piece of kit nonetheless.

KK

I've got two - one for each greenhouse

I started off this year with a Fuji S9600 9MP bridge camera and I won't part with it. It's really easy to use if you want it to be. Leave it on Auto and away you go. The S5xxxx is just a smaller ( mp wise) version. It focuses from about 1" in super macro up to about 300mm in telephoto which is about the minimum for wildlife photography.

Down side - you can't change the lens for a bigger one or buy an adapter to increase the lens(teleconvertor)

but thats all I've found really. My Daughter loves it and wants to pinch it but I think I'll just get her one of her own! It uses ordinary AA batteries so if you shop around you can get some hi power NiMh rechargables and you fixed up. I've got 3 sets and I bought some plastic cases to keep them in so they dont short out in you pocket (as happened to me once - don't half wake you up having your crutch set on fire

The other one I've just got is a Canon350d DSLR and this is reasonably easy to use but you end up with loads of gear (28-200mm lens, 200-500mm lens, tripod, beanbags extra memory cards, battery grip etc) mainly because you can get them and they are handy to have It came with a Kit lens that is OK but not brilliant so once you start looking at other lenses you are looking around the £100 mark upwards ( Canon 300LIS is £3k !!!) so if I were you and you didn't mind not having everything in a large bag .... Go for the Fuji ... or something similar as it's a good compromise with the convenience of the compact and the extra flexibility of the DSLR.

Have a look at DPreview they give good impartial test results.

Hope this helped

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/