Need a point and click camera

[Stan_Lite]

How did you get on with this Jamie?

I'm looking at the possibility of getting one and would appreciate an assessment from someone I can trust.

I would wait until I come down next week and have a look at it myself but if I do buy it, I'll want to have it before the Cottaging meet so would need to order it soonish.

I've found it online from dixons for £237.98 delivered - do you know if anyone's doing it any cheaper?

[Piggymon]

Not a techy view but I really like it.

It's a nice size, screen is really big and clear and the zoom is awesome !

Got a couple of neat features as well like the widescreen option.

Not sure about the price, I think that's what we paid.

[Stan_Lite]

Bloody hell, that was quick.

Are the pics good quality? Any graininess? Is it fairly simple to operate?

Sorry about all the questions but you're my guinea pigs

[Piggymon]

Pics seem nice and clear from what I have seen - lovely and simple to operate, even my Dad managed to work it this weekend

[Mark]

The one consistently reported problem with Panasonic cameras is excessive noise reduction (softening) of images at high ISO, but then virtually all compacts suffer either this or lots of noise at high ISO, so just bear it in mind and you'll do fine. I completely agree there's very little if anything on the market at that size that'll get close for features. Seems like a good buy to me.

[Stan_Lite]

Pretty much settles it really. I read some customer reviews and no-one had anything bad to say about it, I just wanted confirmation from people I could trust (or blame ).

/Heads off to order one.

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by Mark

The one consistently reported problem with Panasonic cameras is excessive noise reduction (softening) of images at high ISO, but then virtually all compacts suffer either this or lots of noise at high ISO, so just bear it in mind and you'll do fine. I completely agree there's very little if anything on the market at that size that'll get close for features. Seems like a good buy to me.

The reviews I've seen said it was a bit dodgy at 400 but that at 100 or 200, it was perfectly fine - shouldn't cause any serious hardship.

[Piggymon]

Jamie is just uploading some pics taken at the weekend

[Piggymon]

Originally Posted by Mark

The one consistently reported problem with Panasonic cameras is excessive noise reduction (softening) of images at high ISO, but then virtually all compacts suffer either this or lots of noise at high ISO, so just bear it in mind and you'll do fine. I completely agree there's very little if anything on the market at that size that'll get close for features. Seems like a good buy to me.

*whooosh*

[Mark]

Basically means if you use it in low light without flash you might get a bit of smearing in the pictures (tends to show up in fine detail - e.g. hair, grass, etc.)

As Stan correctly says, keep below ISO 400 and you'll never have that problem. If it's just going to end up on the web then it doesn't really matter at all as you'll lose all the detail anyway when resizing the picture.