What compact camera would you recommend?

Hi all,

Recently killed my Panasonic TZ7, so in the market for a “new” camera (looking second hand), but no clue really what to look for.

I’d ideally like something similar, but with a manual mode, and maybe a little more sand-resistant.

So want;
Compact-ish sizing (fit in pocket)
HD video
Wide angle lense
Decent amount of zoom
Good for travelling/biking/snowboarding etc

Budget is somewhere between £100 and £200.

Any recommendations would be great (or if anyone has anything for sale, please let me know 🙂 )

Ta, Duane.

Anyone?

nikon p7000, amazing camera, maybe a little bigger than you want but pretty much a full manula slr in compact ish sizing

For truly compact, the canon S95 is hard to beat.

And if you want it to last in less that favourable environments then some form of protective water jacket (posh lunch bag), or pelicase for when ur boarding etc.

I’ve always been impressed with the Ixus range, they’re not always the best outright but they’ve always been durable. My 800 proved immune to volcanic vapor, duststorms, typhoons, being dropped off motorbikes, and being left lying on the west highland way for a week in constant rain, frinstance. Replaced it with a 130 which seems just as solid. By contrast I was always terrified of breaking my TZ7 in half so barely used it.

And on that subject- if you liked the TZ, I’ve not used mine for ages so you could make me an offer for it 😉

There’s a Sony Cybershot DS-TX5 on ebay for £180 – waterproof, shockproof, dustproof etc. Fits all your criteria and looks good, but you might want more than 4x zoom.

There are a lot of cameras with manual control, but they seem to lose the long zoom that the TZ series are very good at.

Agree with above

Having sacked off all my digital SLR’s a few months ago I bought myself a Canon SX230.

I am really enjoying it to be honest. The 230 comes with built in GPS which is nice but its brother the cheaper SX220 does without the novelty.
I think they are IRO £200.

I am quite impressed with the overall speed of the little camera by the way and the quality is more than acceptable for family type snaps. Zoom is huge too 28 to 392 or something crazy.

Thanks for all the replies.

Northwind, YGM Re: TZ7 🙂

Quite tempted to get a Canon SX220 now, kinda above my budget (especially if I get the £50 Jessops 3 year coverage), but we’ll see.

There’s the new TZ20, which has a degree of manual control, IIRC, plus a huge zoom range.