Choosing a camera for the trip.

We will be visiting some of the most stunning places in the world and I want to ensure that I have a camera to capture as much as possible.  Currently I don’t have a camera and have never been particularly snap happy with one.  I need to work on changing that if I’m to capture some of the memories from the trip.  To remedy the lack of a camera I decided to do some research into decent compact cameras.

The original plan was to invest in a Digital SLR camera, separate lenses and do a photography course, but I’ve gone off that idea,  mainly because of the size of Digital SLRs.  I wasn’t liking the thought of lugging a large camera around everywhere and messing with different lens and setups.

I didn’t want to spend too much on a camera, but at the same time, I didn’t want a cheapy camera that took crap pictures.  I set a budget of £200 thinking that that should be more that sufficient to get a good quality compact camera.  After carrying out more research 2 cameras caught my eye:

  1. Canon IXUS 100IS
  2. Panasonic Lumix TZ7

Both cameras came highly recommended in the reviews that I’d seen for them but both had their own set of advantages and disadvantages.  The Canon looked incredibly stylish and extremely compact but as a result only had a 3x optical zoom.  The size of the camera was a huge plus point though.  On the other hand the Lumix TZ7 had and 12x “superzoom” in a relatively compact (albeit not as compact as the Canon) form.  The disadvantage of this was that it was considerably over budget at around the £300 mark.  Another attractive feature that both cameras had was the ability to record High Definition video.

My camera of choice for the trip, Lumix TZ7
My camera of choice for the trip, Lumix TZ7

I wasn’t prepared to pay the £300 price tag on the Lumix TZ7 and I still wasn’t too sure about the Canon due to its somewhat limited zoom.  I decided to hold off purchasing for a while to see if any other options popped up.

In the meantime the Lumix TZ7 had popped up on HotUkDeals at a much more attractive price of £250.  I was beginning to be swayed towards it the more I read about it.  After a couple of days of deliberation I decided to make the plunge and buy the TZ7.  It’s currently waiting to be dispatched from Amazon (I tried to say a few £s by choosing the supersaver delivery option).

I’m looking forward to trying it out when it arrives.  Now that I’m the proud owner of a decent compact camera, I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to make good use of it.

2 thoughts on “Choosing a camera for the trip.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *