Looking for a new point and shoot camera

[Wayfall]

Hi community

Could you lot give some advice and recommendations on a camera I could use in a city environment that does good sharp photos priced around £100-300.

Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

Hi community

Could you lot give some advice and recommendations on a camera I could use in a city environment that does good sharp photos priced around £100-300.

Thanks!

Within a certain price range, picture quality is generally similar. It is hard to find a camera that takes 'bad' pics.
The main difference would be features.

Good places to start:
http/www.dpreview.com/
http/www.imaging-resource.com/

 

[Wayfall]

Still a lot of cameras to choose from, little help?

 

[USAFRet]

Still a lot of cameras to choose from, little help?

Hard to go wrong with Canon or Nikon.

A budget of £100-300 could lead from a small pocket size camera, to a refurb DSLR.

Do you need a long zoom?
Battery type?
RAW or JPG, or both?
Dozens of other 'features'.

As said...within a certain price range, image quality is pretty similar.

 

[Wayfall]

I would rather shoot in RAW if I could as with JPEG I would loose image quality from the compression.

Also no I don't need a high zoom, just a camera that can keep stable when I shoot.

Would like a sharp picture quality.

 

[bjornl]

The larger the sensor the better the image quality. How large a camera body are you willing to deal with?

 

[Wayfall]

A decent sized one that I can get good grip with.

 

[bjornl]

A decent sized one that I can get good grip with.

That makes things a little easier. Given that you want a larger camera have you considered a used DSLR? They can be used in full-auto. They also have easy access to semi-auto modes which can be useful. For example, if it is a kids sports game you know you will need a faster shutter speed to avoid blurry photos. You can put it in [S] mode (Shutter priority) which is a automatic mode where you set the shutter speed, in this case to something fast enough to freeze the movement like 1/500 and the camera sets everything else. [A] mode (aperture priority) is a similar mostly automatic mode where you can set the aperture. If you want a portrait with the most blurry background your lens allows, you set this to the smallest number your lens supports and the camera does the rest. Or if it is a landscape and you want lots of details in both the near and distant items you can set it to a larger number like f/8 or f/11 and get much more detail in focus than just plain automatic mode.
A used DSLR like a Nikon d3200 can be had for around £300 new and less than £200 used this is with a basic kit lens.
https/www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=d3200
And if you ever want to get fancy, you can buy a new lens for it. This is an APS-C camera which has about as large a sensor as you're going to find without going to a semi-pro level. It doesn't come with a "make art" button, so you'll still have to practice to get the best out of it. Learning composition and lighting (where the light should come from, how much is needed to get the look you want, etc) takes some time and these two are more important than knowing what all the dials and buttons do (which can all be ignored if you want).

If you want to compare other options, DPR has a feature based search engine. Camera size compare lets you look at different cameras side by side.
http/www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#!
http/camerasize.com/compare/

 

[Wayfall]

Well a DSLR isn't really point and shoot, i won't be fiddling with all this stuff. I would be using the auto modes at the very least.

 

[bjornl]

Well a DSLR isn't really point and shoot, i won't be fiddling with all this stuff. I would be using the auto modes at the very least.

It has controls which you can use if you want to or leave them alone if you don't. Would you ignore a superior stereo just because it has separate controls for treble, bass and mid? (So long as the stereo worked just as well if you set it to auto)
I suggested it because you said you preferred a meatier grip and were very concerned with image quality. There is no "point and shoot" which will get close to a DSLRs quality even if that DSLR is used as a P&S on steroids. The larger sensor simply is too huge an advantage.

There is nothing in your price range for a larger sensor P&S with good ergonomics. If you want a P&S which will almost match a DSLR (in auto) from 2008 you're going to have to spend double that.
However if you don't mind a tiny camera, this one has a 1" sensor (which is very large for a P&S). It is an older model (version 1, current version it 4) But it remains quite capable. Worth consideration if something like the DSLR is out.
https/www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-DSCRX100-Advanced-Digital-Compact/dp/B008CNMZDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466675812&sr=8-1&keywords=sony+rx100