Another digital camera advice thread....zzzzzzzz

I'm in the market for a new digital camera.

I want one that can be operated in auto mode and full manual mode, to allow for maximum flexibility/control when I want it.
I'd prefer quality of lens and picture quality over 'what's the largest number of pixels I can get for my money'. It would be used for everything from holiday pics to portraits to shots of my stonework to put on my website. It doesn't have to be able to fit in my pocket, but it must not require a cumbersome shoulder bag. My budget is around £200, plus a bit.

I'm currently edging towards the Canon S2 IS, which I can get for £235 at Bristol Cameras, but there are just so many candidates it's difficult to know where to put my money....!?

Any advice gratefully received...

 

I've just bought a panny dmc-fz7 which you can buy for just over 250 quid - I know its just out of your budget, but it's some camera...

check out -
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/news/pukweb04-dyn-news-onthemove-lumixfz7.html

the image stabilizer is spot on too as if the optical (12x) and digital zoom...

the only downside is that the dark shots could perhaps be a bit better - but I haven't got my sd card yet so I haven't had time to test it much...

 

Hmm, that one looks nice as well, very similar spec to the Canon I mentioned and also the Olympus SP 500, although the Olympus at £199 doesn't have optical image stabilisation that I understand is a useful feature.

How do you find the menu system? One of my other big concerns is how easy it is to negotiate all the options, as my partner will also be using it, and whilst she's not a complete techophobe she tends to give up pretty quickly when fiddly controls become an issue.

 

yeah, the menu system is very easy to use - there is a section just for the kind of photographic modes you desire (light sunny, indoor lights etc) that is done via the dial on top of the camerea nistead of having to search through a sub menu...

the image stabilizer sold it for me - thats the main reason I sold me last camera - works best in daylight tho, but as an example - you'll see a sign acros the road and you can zoom right up close - when you take the pic you're hand maybe moving a bit but when you take the pic it's crystal clear...

I've just ordered a telephoto lense too!

a review on here -
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz7/

 

Thanks for the link. After reading several reviews there seem to be several cameras all of similar quality and with similar features. The Canon is an older model which is why it's a shade cheaper, and there's the cheaper and older still fz5 which allegedly takes as good pics as the fz7 but has fewer features. I really like the sample pics for the Olympus SP500, but it lacks the all-important image stabilisation. Hmm, I'll head up to Bristol cameras at the weekend and have a play with them, it's probably the only way.
...and then there's the extra memory card as well....ho hum.

 

yeh, if you look at the sample pics on the dp site for the fz7 - you'll notice one of the clock face of big ben - now that is impressive if you consider that'll be taken from the ground!

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz7/page15.asp

you can get 1gb sd cards for about 20 quid delivered to your door...tho, I'm still waiting for mine!

 

Great pics, pretty stunning quality. I gotta say I'm tempted, but with the extra memory it's edging pretty close to £300 when my original original budget was a modest £150, which sneaked up to £200, plus/minus £25 or so.......

I've got a vintage Tannoy Silver on ebay at the moment, it's not doing much at the mo' but if it flies tomorrow then I might just stretch to the FZ7...here's hoping!