Budget £350-£450.
Cheap DSLR, Compact System, or Prosumer/Bridge? Can't decide.
Would like to have a hotshoe for a flash gun. Not too excited by having lots of accesories/lenses, would rather have a one stop shop so to speak. Don't need a monster zoom, x4-x10 perfectly acceptable.
Don't want 2nd hand.
Any camera boffins willing to steer me right???
Matt
Sounds like you're in Lumix TZ30 / Canon SX210 territory maybe, or the S100 even.
Not overly sure what you mean by 'serious' camera when your OP says you don't want most of the features which would define a serious camera. What are you looking for? Manual controls? Or just 'good' point and shoot pictures?
Lumix G3. Done. DSLR at this level not worth it. Image quality and handling streets ahead of compacts. Flexibility with some great lenses available when you have a few more quid to spend.
Edit. See you don't want lenses. Fair nuff but there if you want it. I wouldn't get excited about zoom - longer 10x zooms all but useless without tripod/monopod etc which sounds like the opposite of where you want to go.
Lots of options! I'd probably be looking at the Nikon p7100 on my shortlist.
Fuji x10
+ p7000. got 1 here and its amazing!
[b]To Cougar[/b] - When I say serious what I mean is something that goes beyond the point and shoot territory. Something which gives me more creative controls, and better options for improving the image quality.
I've posted elsewhere, photography sites, and I think I will go for something like the Fuji X10, Canon G12, Lumix FZ150, that realm. Possibly an Olympus PEN???
Although I can see that getting very serious means a DSLR for sure, I don't think I want the extra bulk. If things go well, maybe that will be the next thing...
Of the options mentioned above, I really like ability to twiddle a knob and push a button to make change to settings. Rather than scrolling through menu after menu, which seems to be the way for the Compact System style.
At the moment the X10 is hot favourite.
M
Panasonic Lumix G3.
End of search.
I love my Panasonic Lumix G1. It's small, mirror less, has great image quality, a zoom that you twist to zoom, like on a proper camera, it handles like a very compact SLR. It's quick to focus and has no shutter lag I am ever are of.
Since owning the G1, I've sold my Nikon D300. It simply wasn't worth the extra size, weight etc over the slight image quality gain.
Go to any shop which stocks the G12 and the X10, pick them both up,hold them to your eye, put them down side by side and i challenge you to choose the G12. It is impossible.
Yes I know what you mean about holding the x10, feels great in the hand. I'm seriously thinking of getting one but the orbing issue is a bit off putting. Any one experienced this without deliberately testing the camera?
I've got a DSLR, but frankly, my Lumix TZ30's far more practical, and I prefer it to the G-series cameras, as it's the phaffing of carrying extra lenses around that annoys me. A 20x zoom is very handy, and it's perfect for sticking in a pocket for gigs and the like. Security won't look twice at it, but they'll take a bridge camera off you, and likely a G-series if you've got a longer lens on. I was stopped from taking photos on a number of occasions with my old Coolpix 5200, just because it looked like a DSLR, and hence a 'professional camera', and I've seen door staff take similar Lumix cameras away at the entrance of a number of gigs.
It's the perfect size to go in a small Timbuktu case that attaches to a rucksack shoulder strap, too.
Canon G series. And dont fuss over not getting the latest, theres not a lot between them in real terms. They really are in a different league compared to the rest. I traded up from an S2IS to an EOS350D, then swapped the EOS for my G9. A DSLR with some decent lenses is a serious outlay, but to be fair is a serious peice of kit & I dont mind admitting I found it a bit perplexing at times. My G9 has enough manual control for what I can do. Pick up a good deal on a G series then sell it on when (or if) you outgrow it.
I've seen door staff take similar Lumix cameras away at the entrance of a number of gigs.
Last gig I went to, their criteria was 'removable lenses'.
Nontheless; presumably they get them back again?!
Nikon V1?
I've been impressed with mine, and the mini tilt flash is good. I was at the bottom of a 15m shaft 30m below ground level about a month ago and got pictures good enough to read chalk marks on the underside of the slab unlike everyone else there with compact cameras.