Camera help, pleeeease

[Delboy]

I suppose it was a toss up whether this went in Technology or Consumer.
I have a ten year old Fuji digital camera, that is beginning to show signs of being on its last legs, and I have been looking for a replacement costing £150 or less.
Now here's the crunch - it MUST have an optical viewfinder. Nobody, who is serious about photography, would take pictures by using the LCD screen. In bright sunlight, you don't know what you are photographing and end up with the sky or your own left foot.
Any recommendations would be very welcome, as models with viewfinders are as rare as vegetarians in Macdonald's. (Unless you go for an expensive SLR).

[RockitRon]

Difficult. The question was asked here - http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7593_102-0. ... dID=354147 - but the suggested Canon models appear to have been withdrawn (they dated from 2006/7 anyway). The brightness of LCD screens has improved - I had no problem in the bright sunshine on holiday the other week with my two-year-old Panasonic ZT5 (I did miss the greasy fingermark which had inexplicably got onto the lens, so a lot of photos look as though they're soft focus but an optical viewfinder wouldn't have picked that up either)

[Helen May]

Don't know how small you want to do Del, but we bought a Canon IXUS 95 IS at Christmas and it has a view finder. I think there may be a newer model out now but I think you can still get them.

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/product ... index.aspx

H

[Marros]

Hi Del,
Not many digital cameras with viewfinders available these days, unless you're prepared to spend a 'fortune', which most people obviously don't wish to. (including me!)
Have you considered this one?...

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalo ... tech-specs

Or this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-PowerShot ... 002&sr=1-1

M.

[Helen May]

Del

I forgot to add that we paid well under the price that is on the Canon link I gave, I think I saw one for around £90 on other sites. We bought ours at J Lewis and I think it was about £110.

We were replacing a 5 year old Nikon because the battery flap casing had broken (a design fault I've since discovered) I would have gone for another if theirs had viewfinders, which they don't unless you go up a lot, which we didn't want to do.

H

[Delboy]

Thanks peeps, I will check out your tips.

[Marros]

Sorry to go off-topic, but I've just received a Camera bag for my recently purchased 'Samsung' digital camera...
I ordered one on-line from a Company based in Jersey called 'My Memory' who stated on their website that the item was in stock and that they aim to dispatch orders in 24 hours... After 5 days waiting,(Wednesday) my order status was still 'pending'...
I emailed them and their reply was that they had NO stock after all and they would refund me...
I 'm not impressed with that Company and I told them so!
On Wednesday afternoon around 3.30pm, I phoned another on-line supplier to check their stock of the same item and ordered it. The parcel was delivered to my address at around 10am Thursday...Delivery charge £3.99p (well worth it)
Excellent service...
The Company name?... Warehouse Express...
The product? ...'Lowepro Rezo 110AW'
This bag is a good size without being too big. Plenty of space for 'extras'...
Sorry for hi-jacking your thread.
M.

[Sarky Cut]

My comment on this latest cost cutting exercise by the majors just goes to show either how little notice the management of these companies take of the opinions voiced by their customers or the arrogance of the same companies in the "we know best"

I would imagine that the new point and shoot cameras are just that, not considered to be serious except in the price.

There we have some of the best technical kit available spoilt by the exclusion of a simple view finder.

I despair of humanity at times but then the Japanese were always a strange race of people.

Kinichwa.

[Boy Perkins]

In defence of the point and shoot. The picture definition is so good these days that with a wide angle you can grab it all, and then crop the picture to give what you want, and still have a clear picture. Not professional, I know, but quite good enough for most photography we snappers do.

[Delboy]

I ordered one on-line from a Company based in Jersey called 'My Memory'

Thanks from confirming my good judgement, Marros. I get junk mails from these people, on my work email, and have always thought they sound like a cowboy outfit.

[JanetG]

Del

I asked OH and he came up with these:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare ... 0&show=all
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong11/page2.asp

Not sure how many of them are still available and how they fit in with your budget.

BTW - I've never bought anything from Warehouse Express, but I do know someone who had major problems with them. Maybe their problems were a one-off...maybe not.

[madmedusa]

Not many digital cameras with viewfinders available these days

My ancient digi camera has a view finder, I rarely use the screen to take pics, plus I can turn the screen off so it saves on battery power too.

[Delboy]

Janet, I love you. That first link is a great site, giving so much detail on each camera.

Mads, I knew Irish folk were a lot more intelligent than people make out.

[Boy Perkins]

A final, rather late thought. Looking in camera shop recently I noticed that they are now getting in some excellent second hand digital cameras with all but the latest gizmos. People moving up the ladder and impressed by the fancy stuff!!

[Delboy]

Just to keep all you good folks updated, I found a Canon with viewfinder on the Amazon site. Duly purchased and very happy with it.
Thanks again for your responses, you lovely people.