Hi again,

Dunno if this is in the right place, if not plz can it be moved

I am looking for a new digital camera as my birthday was yesterday and I now have some money for one.

To shed some light on what it will be used for, here is some info:

1) I have a decent cam phone so all my outdoor shots will be taken with that as I will prob never take the digi cam out of the house unless it is for a special occasion etc.
So this in mind it doesn't have to be a stylish compact cam as it will only be used in the house and in the room.

2) Want to try taking some nice macro shots so a good macro cam would be good.

3) I really only have 150 quid to spend on the cam, mem card, case and batteries/charger if needed.

4) Don't have any mem cards so doesn't matter who I go with but SD would probably be preferable.

I had a look at the Sony W55 today and was impressed with it's macro in good light but this offer no manual controls over white balance I think, anyway I am being pulled towards Canon.

The only Canon within the price range is the A540, this offers a macro of 5cm, 6MP and 4X zoom, the reviews for this are looking pretty good.

The only other one I can find is the Canon A630 but this is closer to 200 quid with everything, offers 1cm Macro, 8mp, 4X zoom but also offer totally manual controls, won't use these yet but might in the future.

I know the A630 is better but is it 50 quid better? Does any one here own these cameras or suggest another? I will be going to a shop to try out these cams today hopefully but might wait until April to see if the price drops a bit...

I might be persuaded to pay the bit more if someone can convice me...

Any help would be most welcome.

Cheers very much, 3PH

Canon IXUS
I'd say you'd be good with one of these, I have always used canons nice and easy am not photographic minded so the auto point and shoot function is perfect for me, maybe a bit more style than your looking for but not downside. I don't quite understand the 10x magnification but I'm sure some here will.
Read reviews make up your own mind if not this one I'm sure ebuyer will have one for you somewhere.

Normally i'd agree with Robin, i've had an Ixus for a year or so now & love it, have recommended them before on here...but my mate just got a new Fuji...as recommended by The Gadget Show, & i have to say it is better than the Ixus in a lot of ways, not least of which is the speed you can take a shot, the ixus has a really annoying lag after you press the shutter, this is while it works the auto-focus etc, but the Fuji is way quicker, perfect for action shots or moving shots, crisper more colourful shots too.

So when i go for an upgrade its going to be Fuji i reckon, have a look on the gadget show website, it should show you the models they tested etc

I've got a canon powershot S2 , it's a couple of years old now but it's still a bloody brilliant camera , the macro modes are something else you can photograph something actually sitting on the lens .


like I said it's an oldish camera so you may have a job to hunt one down but last time I checked you could get them ridiculously cheap and the newer updates (S3, S4 ) don't add anything special just more megapixels - so if you can find an older one cheap it's well worth it ( I picked up mine about a year ago for around £250 and last time I checked you could get one for just under £200, but that was a few months ago) .

1cm macro & manual controls would be well worth the extra £50 IMO
Canon A630 @ £158 > pixmania

if u can squeeze a lil extra cash together places like karrisons do secondhand S2s for

£165.00 , dixons do refurbished for 175 think......for the extra 25 quid ya be gettin a lot more for ya cash

0cm supermacro mode and 12x optical zoom 5mp

i have the S3 there only an exta mb between the 2 models and i paid 240 fer mine so

Canon Powershot S2 incase ya do a search

Thanks you all very much for your input!

I have made my decision finally though...

I did do a search for the Canon Powershot S2 but it was too much money really, I needed to get the whole package for around 150 quid...ended spending around 200 anyway.

I ended up going for the Canon Powershot A630 as I used one in the store and exceeded my expectations!

The macro was amazing and auto-focus was quick. The feel of it was nice, it is a bit on the big side but it did still manage to fit in my pocket if needs be...all be it an ultra compact would fit nicer.

I did notice in the shop that when the iso is cranked up noise was a problem (On the LCD zoomed in) and on lower ISO's it was a bit blurry but this is only playing with it in a shop for about 30 mins.

So total price was:

£155 = Powershot A630
£12.90 = Canon carry bag
£17.99 = 90 min charger + 4 2500Ni-MH batteries
£17.99 = 2GB High speed SD card

£8 =Delivery

Total = £211.88


Don't think that's too bad for the setup im gonna have.

Will post back in here with some sample pics and to say how it is.

L8rz, 3PH

P.S. How much does every one round here rate a small tripod...? Would it help in me macro shots?

I've got an excellent little tripod, I've got no idea how much it cost as it was given to me, I must say that for some things it's pretty invaluable especially when using the extreme zoom even with image stabilisation it's hard to keep the camera steady enough to get a lock on some things without the tripod, also good in low light conditions where you need to slow the shutter speed right down, but for normal every day use a tripod really isn't that essential I've never really needed one for taking my budshots or anything like that.

Hey Lizard,

My cam came today and I found also that a tripod wasn't really nessacary as long as I can get close to the plants....which I can.

Just a quick say on the cam, amazing. It really is, the only gripe I got is the low LCD resolution. It's rather noticeable when im trying to get really clear macro shots and the screen just isn't sharp enough, means I need to zoom into the pic I took to make sure it's not blurry...

[attachmentid=136436] I just really like this pic

Took that photo today, still got a lot reading to do but I think quite good for a first shot

Anywho, takes really good pics from what I can see so won't be sending it back

If anyone wants any more info etc just ask

Bye for now, 3PH