[KiefKat]

No i don`t mind second hand in fact that`s the way i`ll go, i was just checking this one out http://www.ebay.co.u...=item33a5258f82 but i`m clueless, i`ll take a butchers at that, even though i don`t know what i`m looking at in tech spec terms except the megapixels and zoom lol

 

That Nikon you're looking at is over priced, my wife picked up a new Nikon L830 for about the same money that guy is looking for. It's another bridge camera, but the picture quality is very good and it has decent zoom and macro features.

 

Review of L830:

 

Let me start off by saying, don't underestimate this beautiful camera. It may be smaller than a larger DSLR or a SLR but this point and shoot is great if you want to learn photography in all its elements.
My first initial reaction to the crisp images was great, you cant go wrong with the images, I’ve used this everyday since it arrived. I've used all the settings and all the filters to see what this camera was capable of, you wont be disappointed if you like making this images stand out. The flash doesn't saturate the images, it keeps the clear and bright. With the filters you can get Easy Auto Mode which gives you a standard crisp images. The Scene mode comes in handy for those special occasions like Firework night, Christmas, birthdays and any other special occasion you really like. The special effects mode is my favourite, my favourite function is Vivid mode because it brings out colours like the sunset and bright flowers without messing up the colours that you really like. Now the smart portrait is a good tool to use whilst taking portraits of yourself or other people, it reduces red eye, gives you skin softening effects and of course brings out your facial features really well. Auto mode is just for your standard shooting, its something you use if you don’t want to get into the technical modes. If your reading this wandering whether this superb camera records good quality videos then you don’t have to look any further because it does at a whopping 1080p, now that I believe is great. You can put the camera on a tripod to take a timer photo for family pictures or to keep a very steady picture of animals. The best thing about this amazing camera is the 34x optical zoom, that’s enough to view the moon with great detail. There is only 1 con and that this truly amazing camera doesn't have a viewfinder, it hasn't bothered me not having one. I 100% recommend this beautiful camera. MUST BUY... A++++++++++++++

 

 

ETA: That camera Missy linked to is a nice little kit too if 5MP  is high enough for you.

[Anonymiss]

ETA: That camera Missy linked to is a nice little kit too if 5MP  is high enough for you.

5 MPix is loads

It's really only when printing large formats (greater than 10" x 8"*) that more are needed, or when the framing/composition is off and heavy cropping is required.

I suppose that when Ultra-HD/4K/8K display panels become commonplace higher counts may be useful, but 5 MPix (3264 x 2448) exceeds the capabilities of most of the current mainstream consumer display devices.



ETA: *You'd probably get away with 15" x 10" for a 'fair' quality print, and even as much as 19" x 13" if you don't mind a bit of a 'grainy' look.

[KiefKat]

5 MPix is loads

It's really only when printing large formats (greater than 10" x 8"*) that more are needed, or when the framing/composition is off and heavy cropping is required.

I suppose that when Ultra-HD/4K/8K display panels become commonplace higher counts may be useful, but 5 MPix (3264 x 2448) exceeds the capabilities of most of the current mainstream consumer display devices.



ETA: *You'd probably get away with 15" x 10" for a 'fair' quality print, and even as much as 19" x 13" if you don't mind a bit of a 'grainy' look.

 

While that is very true (you can also crop photos and keep a high resolution with high MP's), we're blokes and if something has a higher value than a competitor it MUST be better, right

 

Seriously though, if you can get 2 cameras for about the same money would you not be as well off going for the one with the higher resolution?

[2scoops]

I got fuji finepix s5000 but i dropped it and the casing that clicks in to hold the batteries in , the little dinky snapper part that clicks it shut snapped off it`s great camera i`ve had years and kinda a shame as it still takes grand pictures and they are easy to use, i may get another fuji finepix of some sort cus they cheap as owt 2nd hand.

[Anonymiss]

While that is very true (you can also crop photos and keep a high resolution with high MP's), we're blokes and if something has a higher value than a competitor it MUST be better, right

Hee hee...
 

Seriously though, if you can get 2 cameras for about the same money would you not be as well off going for the one with the higher resolution?

More dots doesn't always mean better pictures

I'd probably be more interested in the lens and sensor quality than raw pixel count.

If the sensors are of similar size, for instance, then the one with the lower pixel count might well have less noise, better colour accuracy, and greater dynamic range.

Or, if the pixel counts are the same then a larger sensor is likely to be better than a small one.

For instance, the Canon A4000 'entry-level' $165 compact camera has 16 MPix, whilst their G1, a $550 compact, has only 14.3.

[Up2nogood]

Well I have just bought one of those Raynox DCR-250 Macro Attachments for my 67mm lens. I still don't think it will get my macro pics sharper if I don't have good glass. I will await with intrepidation

[Ken Erbis]

I think you will be impressed up2nogood.  The 250 focus is at about 6 inches away from the subject regardless of the zoom, lens  or extension tube you put it on. It helps if the subject is well lit, natural light is good. Also if you really want to get really sharp macros I would use the raynox but shoot about 20 images off quick and use helicon focus to focus stack the images. 

 

 

 

Edited by Ken Erbis, 03 July 2015 - 07:39 PM.

[Up2nogood]

I don't think my cam does 20 in one hit..I use raw so can only do about 5 in  quick succession..I will have to change to jpeg to get that many before the buffering starts..I think 5 should be enough..I don't want to focus on 20 different focus points on the subject..I may give this a try though

[Anonymiss]

Seriously though, if you can get 2 cameras for about the same money would you not be as well off going for the one with the higher resolution?

So, I looked some stuff up (I do a lot of that) and did some calculations...

Lumix FZ20: 5 MPix, sensor area = 24.745 mm², which is 202,059 pixels/mm²
Nikon L830: 16 MPix, sensor area = 28.0735 mm², which is 569,932 pixels/mm²

I suspect, therefore, that the FZ20 might produce better/more-accurate images overall than the L830, and that they would be less noisy as well, because, despite the fact that the sensor is physically smaller, the area-per-pixel is about double that of the L830, giving them twice as much light to work with.

Also, the L830 has a CMOS sensor which although newer and cheaper might well be inherently noisier than the CCD found in the FZ20

It may also affect the shutter type — 'global' or 'rolling' — with CCD generally (at least historically) using 'global' where the image is captured 'all at once' vs. 'rolling' for CMOS, which captures the image line-by-line.



ETA: The FZ20 was considerably more expensive than the L830, though, at around £400 new (I think).

[Anonymiss]

@jimmi2scoops,

You could probably do worse than something like this Lumix FZ30 on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271904728671

It has a 50% larger CCD than the FZ20, with 8 MPix resolution (so it has about the same area per pixel), and a faster startup time due to the non-extending lens.

The widest aperture isn't as good at longer zooms, but at f3.7 it's still better than a lot of compact/bridge cameras.

I have one of these, and I think it's pretty good overall, but they're quite old now and it's entirely possible that you may find something newer that suits you better.