I wanted to buy a new digital camera, particularly focused on taking good cycling pictures.
My criteria were:
- Compact – easy to put in back pocket whilst cycling
- Ability to take moving shots without blur. Many of the cheaper compact digital cameras don’t have a ‘sports’ option because it requires a fast shutter speed. However, without this ability to take moving shots you will only be able to take static cyclists or cyclists less than 5 mph.
- Easy to Use. I’m not great at reading manual and learning the right choices of light exposure e.t.c.
- Reasonable zoom -greater than 5*
- When taking pics I usually choose 3 million. 10 million is more than you need if you are just publishing to a blog.
In the end I found the best choice was this Panasonic DMCFX500 – £210 from Amazon.co.uk
It is quite a lot for a compact digital camera. You can definitely pick up good ones for less than £100.
But, these cheaper models didn’t have the ability to take fast moving pictures, essential for cycling.
Early results are good. It has Intelligent Exposure IE – meaning that it automatically picks out best settings. However, you do need to select sports option for taking moving cyclists.
It is very light and slips into your pocket easily.
You will be able to judge the photos for yourself as I’m sure some will be making it onto this blog!
Thanks for your help.