The champdogs 2006 funshow... Has finally galvanised me into action,there are so many stunning photo's and mine all look like theyve been taken with 'My first camera' from Fisher Price!! :rolleyes:

Sooo.. (with Birthday money burning a hole in my pockets) Im on the look out for a camera, it needs to be:

a)fool proof! (we're talking real village idiot level here!!)
b)able to capture a Husky and a Eurasier who travel at 4 times the speed of sound (I have a vast array of photo's of scenery with a little whisp of blurred tail in the edge of the shot...and no dog!!)

And Im quite sure (;) ) its going to snow soon...so need to get ready for some nice photo shoots :D

Suggestions please.. Gratefully received!! (Im secretly hoping Roz or Melly's OH will be offered for hire!! they do great photo's!!) :P

I bought a lovely digital camera in the summer :)  It's a Fuji - FinePix A345  - I got it half price in Tesco's cos they were updating their stock   It's a lovely camera and I've taken some really good photos of my dogs on it :) :)

And easy to use for a numpty like me :D :D   I was a BIG disappointment to my father (professional photographer )  in that I never got to grips with the technical aspects of cameras :rolleyes:  I need a picture of lightning for flash, a flower for close ups and a piccy of a mountain for further away ;p - and this is what I've got :D :D  but this camera will also do continuous photos for dogs that never stay still :D :D  and you can use it with the viewer and always see the photos your taking :) :)  there are other settings for different light situations etc and it has a good zoom lense (better than digital zoom - gives clearer piccys ;) ) but if I can use it ANYONE can :D

OH! and the programme is easy to use on the computer too :) :)

Edited to add    http://search.ebay.co.uk/finepix-A345_W0QQfkrZ1QQfltZ9QQfromZR8  
and the FinePixA350 is almost identical :)   
http://search.ebay.co.uk/finepix-a350_W0QQfkrZ1QQfltZ9QQfromZR8 :D

I use a kodak one, its easy to use and takes good pics, mine is fairly old now (lets face it in technology terms 6 months is old ) but we bought our daughter the Kodak Z650 for Xmas which was quite expensive but takes great photos, its sort of one step from a digital SLR (too dear! she is only 12) .When I was looking i asked for some advice from the photography lecturers at work and they said to go for one with good Optical zoom, not Digital zoom to get the best pics. So if you see two around the same price go for the one with the better optical zoom. They thought Fuji or Kodak were best but we went for Kodak cause my daughter could already use the software. Argos have a good range so look there to get ideas then have a look on line for the best price. Good Luck. :-)

You could try this one?
http://www.elc.co.uk/toy-41400

Mine isa Kodak CX7330 and I can work it all by myself and I am a registered Numpty :D

It has little pictures on the dial for complete numpties, includes a sport mode  for capturing at least half a tail not just the wispy bits at the end and you can take videos with it .

You plug it in to the computer and it does it all for you ( but this numpty has a bit of trouble finding them again once they have been saved but not the fault of the camera)

I did buy an extra card thingy ( numpty technical term) and it holds over 400 photos so you can make lots of mistakes but still come home with some good piccies. :)

I have gotton on well with the Kodak ones.  For me especially the clear menus help a lot.

Me again. I take it the link I sent wasn't to your liking ;) :P

Seriously, I use the olympus C-120 digital camera (I'll show you tomorrow, and I may even let you have a go ;) ) The software is easy to load - it must be if I can do it - it has a lcd screen and apparently you can use it as a video, though I've never tried that yet :)

If you really want to capture dogs at the speed of sound a digital SLR is the best thing to get depending on how much birthday money you have. There are some coming out now that are much cheaper than before. I finally broke down and bought a Nikon D70 this summer because all my dog pictures were blurry or of bums leaving the frame. I really like the D50 and only bought the next model up because I'm a photo geek. If you know any trade costco members they had it there for around 350. It is more than the point and shoots but you can operate it in fully automatic mode now and still have the option to control more settings as you get comfortable. You can get some nice ones used on ebay as well. Canons are also popular and they have a store on ebay that sells refurbs that come with standard warranties. You can get some good deals on them.

I love my SLR. :-D

As a self-confessed numpty, don't suppose Liv will want a digi SLR, but PM me if you do Liv as a friend has a very nice one for sale ...

M.

Admittedly digi SLRs can be complicated but the newer prosumer models are geared toward the average user instead of professionals and if you can just set it to auto everything and treat it like a compact. Mine is as point and shoot in that mode as my compact camera was. I just couldn't find a compact that was fast enough to take decent action shots.

plus I like mee toys, toys, lovely toys

We have got the sony cybershot, must admit we got it quite a while ago so there are probably much newer versions, but that is 100% fool proof.
When we were were looking we saw the one we wanted in dixons then we went on to Kelkoo and typed in the exact same model and did a price comparison and we ended up saving £150, it's well worth doing that. Good luck.

It depends what you want HG and how much time you are prepared to put in ;) We have a Canon EOS 350d and an Olympus E-400 .. and we are learning how to use them ..they take 8 megapixels  pictures ...and are both DSLR's

My old camera took some very nice pics, I had a Sony Cybershot from about 5 years ago ...and you can get good cameras on Ebay ..with photography I am learning fast that the sky is the limit when it comes to cost LOL

Email me if you want , I can get the OH to write back :D

i'm crap at taking pictures, but i find this camera really easy to use. Numpty proof too.

Do a search for Steve's Digicams.  Great site where you will learn all sorts of things about what to look for.  It is an American site but still good for learning.  If you want to capture moving dogs maybe a camcorder would be better than a camera?  Beware the movie feature on digital cameras, it won't have enough resolution for you to view it on your televison, unless your TV has a tiny screen.  My camera has a movie resolution of 320 x 240 (might not have that quite right but its close) and the still I can take off that is only wallet sized.  You can get twice that now though.

I am a total camera numpty and i dont think you can go wrong with a kodak i have a kodak easyshare then 9months ago thought i could master a new camera ( i couldnt lol and bought another kodak easyshare) they are as simple as simple is. :D

A photographer confesses....

...even with my Beautiful Beast of a Nikon digital SLR many action shots are taken in programmed auto mode because the best pictures are often missed while you tinker with aperture and shutter settings! It's not that I couldn't bore for Britain on the technical aspects of photography but today's cameras can make the calculations more quickly and more accurately than the human eye.

The market for point and shoot digital cameras is so competitive that there's little to choose between any of the models in any given price range. Be aware though that while Fuji make excellent cameras (I've got 3!) they are notorious for shutter lag which, if taking dog pics isn't a help! Also, whatever camera you buy, don't be tempted to try and cram onto the memory card the maximum number of pictures it'll take. Instead, set the camera to take at highest quality and buy more memory cards if necessary since they are as cheap as chips nowadays.

Given the choice and similarity of spec, the most important thing (IMHO) is the feel of the camera and the placement of the controls and I always advise people to go somewhere like Jessops and get your hands on the various models in your price range. Once you've found one that feels right for you, don't actually BUY the camera in the shop but go away and find the best price on the internet.

>Given the choice and similarity of spec, the most important thing (IMHO) is the feel of the camera and the placement of the controls and I always advise people to go somewhere like Jessops and get your hands on the various models in your price range. Once you've found one that feels right for you, don't actually BUY the camera in the shop but go away and find the best price on the internet. <

I'm with roz on this one. I really need to feel if a camera fits my hands. Of course I always come armed with internet prices and ask for a deal. I usually get one. :-D it took my reaching 40 to be bolshy enough to try this

Yeah someone who agrees with me :D

My 'normal' camera is a Canon EOS300, my digital is a Fujifilm finepix 2200, I can work both of them, and I'm a complete numpty!! :D HTH.