I want to upgrade camera

[Dayve74]

I am an amateur photographer and having enjoyed last years Christmas present, this year I have the urge to upgrade my camera.

Last year I got a Kodak AZ526 bridge camera and I was mostly impressed with the 52X optical zoom. I want to sell off my camera and pay the difference for a new better camera this year. My budget is £150-£200(plus what I get for the camera). Is there anything out there with a good zoom that can sort of be compared to the Kodak? Also, I want to move away from bridge cameras. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[JHFoto]

Hello and welcome........................

[Black Pearl]

For the price you're looking at you're not going to get a decent zoom range on anything other than a bridge and to be honest your Kodak is worthless - or very nearly so that won't help.

 

You could look into used deals but you'll need to be very careful and have a very good idea exactly what you're buying g before you hit the button.

 

You could get an entry level DSLR with a short zoom and add another later - that will give you the quality jump you're after but they start at about £250 so will depend how tight your budget is.

 

 

Or get a good bridge camera as opposed to your Kodak which to be fair is awful - that option will give you more features a sharper lens and a better sensor while keeping a good zoom.

[Dayve74]

Thanks JHFoto and thanks Black Pearl.

So realistically I am looking at another bridge camera. I have googled plenty for all sorts of cameras. Didn't realise that there are thousands out there.

Thanks guys

[JHFoto]

There is a huge amount of choice, best tip I can give is buy the best one you can afford.  Good luck.....

[Dayve74]

Thanks :)

[Dayve74]

Going for the Nikon Coolpix L830 16MP Bridge Camera

[Black Pearl]

Look for less pixels

[Dayve74]

What do you mean by look for less pixels?

[Black Pearl]

Bridge cameras have tiny sensors so the more pixels the worse the image quality - check out the Canon SX range as their 12mp HS sensors are far better.

[Dayve74]

Wow thanks buddy

[colinb]

To get the best deal within your price take a good look around the net listing suitable cameras, Fuji for example have a range of lower priced reconditioned cameras on their web site that can offer good value

 

http://shop.fujifilm.co.uk/refurbished-digital-cameras

 

I would also use price comparison sites for Canon / Nikon 

[ChrisLumix]

There are some very good superzooms around, but BP's advice on sensor size should be heeded: I have a Panasonic superzoom, the FZ38, which has 18x optical zoom (up to 36x if you switch its Extended Zoom on), but the sensor is very small. Ok, it's only 12MP so it's not overcrowded with pixels, but even so it performs pretty badly in low light.

 

 

You need to decide what your shooting priorities are, and then decide what camera to buy. The choices are:

1. •  1. superzoom (bridge) cameras : long zoom but small sensors (except FZ1000 which is a BIG camera!) so quality suffers
2. •  2. enthusiast fixed lens compacts : bigger sensors, higher quality, limited zoom range
3. •  3. mirrorless system cameras : take different lenses so you can build a system as funds permit; some are quite small but not within your budget
4. •  4. DSLRs : large sensors but again, not within your budget unless you buy second hand and then build by adding lenses over time

 

And don't forget that phone cameras are getting better all the time.

 

(The list functions are totally ineffective grrrrr - despite seeing a numbered list I had to add my own bullet points then numbers!)

Edited December 16, 2014 by ChrisLumix

[Jon]

bear in mind that a fair amount of second hand stuff has been well looked after too - MPB Photographic seem good

[Leon]

personally ifI were you I would do what I did, buy 2nd hand.

 

I picked up a canon 1000d for £100 then bought a couple of lenses...

 

if you cannot live without the zoom range why not looh for a good bridge as people say above, stick with the better brand like Sony, Fuji, Panasonic, Canon ect...  if you want to progress in photography, maybe look for one that will take a flash and filters? (a thread on the front of the lens)  my friend has a Nikon Bridge but she can't use filters so she never uses it..

[Caz]

Jon is selling a Canon 500D outfit for £250 under "Canon 500D and extras" he lists what it includes have a look.

 

Ron

I agree the 500d is a bargain