T i m wrote:
On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:51:02 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
T i m wrote:
I am interested in a 'pocketable' digi-cam with reasonable quality
(for typical indoor / outdoor 'snapshots'), good battery life (ideally
replaceable if not std cells) with expandable memory and not a fortune
(so ~£100 etc) please?
I recently bought a 'refurbished' Olympus 600 from dabs.com for well
under 100 quid. Nice little camera about the size of a packet of fags.
Think they still do similar. Takes the rather pricey XD cards, though.

Thanks again to all who have replied so far and all the links to items
/ sample photos etc (I have looked / checked out all of them).

I think I'm more confused than ever .... I know 'you get's what you
pays for' (in general .. sometimes you don't 'get' even if you 'pay
well') but as mentioned some things (like cameras) can be very
personal re fit / feel etc. ie Our daughter preferred the 'feel' of
the Fuji S7000 (in comparison with later models) because it felt 'more
solid' and seemed to fit her hands nicely. When she uses it now it
looks very 'natural' and she seems to use the controls instinctively
(those that she actually needs anyway) and extension of herself so to
speak.

I'm trying to not get side tracked and the basic requirement was
compactness so that it would be taken out not left behind because it
was too bulky.

Then it was roughly in the order:

b: photographic results (under typical perceived use, so no very dark,
fast moving, very distant or macro close type shots)

c: price (I don't mind spending 'a bit' if I can really tick all of
the boxes).

d: battery life (in use and between uses. Some cameras seem to go flat
'on-their-own' and faster than the self discharge of cell types used
etc (probably onboard clock?).

e: ease of purchase / return (I would prefer not to risk buying
something 'online' if I haven't had the chance to play with it first.
If it went wrong and wasn't a 'chuck away price' I'd like to be able
to return it easily and be dealt with efficiently.[1]

f: Weather / dust proofedness.

The Argos F20 LE seems to be winning at the moment (Argos at the top
of the road), seems to be about the right size, price, quality and
does *most* of the things we would expect of it (and we have xD cards
already).

Still not decided though but where does that 'but what about the next
model up' syndrome stop!

All the best ..

T i m

[1] My first digicam was the Fuji DX5 and in spite of being very cheap
(compared with the alternatives at the time) produced very good
pictures. That got dropped, repaired but was never the same and Fuji
offered us a 'recon' DX7 foc. That worked well for a year or so but
then seemed to develop a weird rom type fault and they then replaced
that with a refurb DX10 (foc). A couple of years later that failed (a
screw worked loose internally) and as they couldn't repair or replace
that they offered me whatever I wanted at half price. The turn round
in every case was very fast and they really seem to care.

There are some makes my local camera shop simply wouldn't sell *me* (I
know them pretty well) because the after sales service they get from
the manufacturer is so dire.





They all take good pictures in ideal conditions. IMO the ability to slip
it in your pocket is the main thing, and that is very different to
slipping it in your handbag. I don't like small, chunky cameras but
rather flat (pocket shaped) ones.
EBay is great for this stuff because most of the cameras have been used
a couple of times and then kept in a drawer. Buying new is a mug's game
in this field.