# Is this camera any good?



## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Hi guys, been on the lookout for a cheap DSLR but they're all breaking the bank at the minute unfortunately... 

So I was thinking bridge camera, are these any good?
I work in Argos so I get a discount and this camera is on sale.
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/part ... 695350.htm 

Let me know what you guys think because I don't know the first thing about photography. 


Cheers


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## Aqua sobriquet (21 Aug 2012)

The best thing to do Kris is look at a few online reviews like this one:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon ... erformance

Seems pretty good but I'd have a look at a couple more reviews to be sure.


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> The best thing to do Kris is look at a few online reviews like this one:
> 
> http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon ... erformance
> 
> Seems pretty good but I'd have a look at a couple more reviews to be sure.




Thanks very much mate  Very helpful, I'll look at a few more then !


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## Antipofish (21 Aug 2012)

Ive owned a similar camera... it was a Fuji finepix range.  They are all much of a muchness but at that price its a perfectly decent camera.  Online reviews can be useful, but they often tend to be based on pixel peaking performance measurement and the differences in any camera at that price point will be negligible and more like as not undetectable on all but the largest of printed images.  Have you ever had any photos enlarged to the size of an oil painting ?  Cos unless you want to it doesn't really matter.  That in mind, read the reviews and base your decision on what sounds like it will be easiest to use and has features that you are LIKELY to use.


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Thanks Chris, the largest size I'll ever need a picture to be is an A4 page. 

Just wondering if it will be good for macro shots etc, don't know if the lenses can be changed.


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## Antipofish (21 Aug 2012)

KrisHumphreys1991 said:
			
		

> Thanks Chris, the largest size I'll ever need a picture to be is an A4 page.
> 
> Just wondering if it will be good for macro shots etc, don't know if the lenses can be changed.



I dont think the lenses can be changed... the camera would be a fair bit more for that.  Macro should be fine... I took some great macros of plants with my finepix.  See if you can download the camera's instructions and have a read


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

I have only used Fuji Finepix models for the last few years for most stuff mainly because they are cheap and cheerful, they do exactly what you need and the same as a camera 10x the price. It is only "purists" that say they are no good as they are cheap and Canon are the only "proper camera" blah blah blah but I have many pictures that have matched almost identical ones taken with £1000+ Canon kits.

IMO a finepix will be perfect for you as easy to use also and once you start to play with the manual settings a great introduction to more techy stuff, but buy the best you can afford as you will always want to step up to something better.


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Thanks for the info guys, Chris and Danny, can you guys put up a few photos of what you've taken with the finepix?


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

Give me 5 mins


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Danny said:
			
		

> Give me 5 mins




Nice one mate!


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

Cameras used are my old s6500fd which you can get for under £100 used if you look around and HS20EXR which is about £230ish used I think. No proper macro shots as not my thing but can get some tomorrow if need be as the hs20 is built just for that but I got it for the zoom lol

All shots are "as is"  nothing done to them totally original and hand held ( no tripod ), when using a tripod and once run through Photoshop you can make the magic really happen.

Tried to get a decent mix of pics for you, can sort out better ones tomorrow as they are on my external hard drive, these are from the general pics folder   

S6500fd--------------------------------------------------




( cropped to size )














HS20EXR-------------------------------------------------


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

s6500fd £100 will win it I am sure ebay item number 130751022456
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fujifilm-Fine ... 480wt_1160

Another great model
http://www.ukcamerastore.co.uk/acatalog ... S4500.html


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Wow they are some pictures mate... Really great  Well done. 

Thanks for the links. 

How about this ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePi ... 357&sr=8-1 

£97.. This the same one mate?


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

Cheers, that is not the FD ( face detection ) but to be honest as long as you are not blind you can get a face in a picture anyway lol

Great model and at that price I say well worth it but I am a Fuji fan so may be bias lol Nikon are a good camera also but for me I have always gone with Fuji as it is what I started with. 

Think about what you want out of the camera and compare models, focal length/MP/zoom etc Personally IMO more than 8mp is a waste unless some serious cropping is needed or the picture will be the size of a car lol


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

I've just seen this, near me in Ireland for sale for €70.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePi ... 860&sr=8-1 

Whats this like ? 

I don't really know anything about focal length/MP/zoom, how do feel about explaining to me ?


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

Focal length is the distance at which you can get a clear focus for a picture, the hs20 for example is about 1cm - 130m I think with full zoom used. I have clear face pictures taken at 100m that when zoomed into post photo the face can be seen clearly as if 20m away so I say you can get a clear photo at 130m then zoom in and crop in photoshop etc.

The macro I am sure is at 1cm basically touching the lens when taking the shot, I am not so up on the macro abilities as that is not my kind of thing, most of my shots are wildlife ( birds etc ) apart from daily things like the kids etc

Mega pixels basically determine the clarity of an image at a certain size due to the amount of pixels per cm same as a tv, for blown up a4,a3,etc ideally you want 6+ for anything under you will be fine with any 4mp camera. You can get around the mp issue with software such as gunuine fractals which increases the mp to blow up an image while keeping original quality.

the zoom speaks for it self really, teh more zoom the further away you can be from the subject and the further away to more pixels needed which is why I favour the hs20exr as it is 16mp with 30x zoom which for birds etc is great but general stuff a few meters away etc I use 8mp as it processes faster as allows faster shooting.

Shooting in raw mode is also a bonus but only really needed if you intend on using lightroom or photoshop for some post processing as raw saves far more image data than jpeg and allows you to edit/enhance the image far more and more accurately than a jpeg image.

Think that covers the basics lol


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

and for 70 euros I would say it is worth it but the more you get into taking photos the more you realise you need more functions such as longer zoom/ better macro/higher-lower iso/faster-slower shutter speed etc etc etc etc lol

It is worth sitting back for a few weeks and getting some more funds together and getting a mid range camera than buying a starter in haste only to realise in a few weeks you would of been better waiting lol


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Thanks for all that mate, really helpful. People like you are why forums are great  

I think I will wait. I get a 10% discount in Argos so I might wait for a sale again and top it off with the discount. 

So you think FujiFilm ?


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## Danny (21 Aug 2012)

IMO yes but that is what I think mate, have a look about. loads of review sites etc but remember the "pro" pictures you see out there are all tweaked and it is very rare you actually shoot the "perfect" shot.

Bit of a hobby of mine check out some of the stuff if you like, ( all tweaked with PS ) 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daniel-Is ... 6160974707


HS20exr ( with some tweaks in photoshop )


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## Kristoph91 (21 Aug 2012)

Very very nice mate. Just had a look and liked your page on facebook, some great shots there!


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