Completely new and a very tight budget..

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Gambling

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I'm completely new to photography, found my self taking a lot of photos with my mobile phone and I now feel like I should get a camera and see how I find photography.

Money is very tight at the moment and I've been looking on eBay and was hoping to pick something up for nothing more than the £70 mark which I know isn't much but I'm hoping it'll get me out there and started.

I've been looking at a number of cameras at the moment, mainly cameras from the FujiFilm FinePix range. Also being looking at the Lumix Z range.

Any recommendations, advice and pointers are hugely appreicated. :)
 
Welcome to TP!
That's a pretty tight budget and it's going to severely limit your expectations.

I suggest you check out anything you find that fits the price; if it looks good then get it!
For reviews, DPReview is a good start point.
Remember that the reviews were created when the camera was released. So probably a good idea to read some more recent reviews for comparison such as the Canon S100 which is pretty much a benchmark for size, image quality and price at this point in time.
If the camera you are reading up on looks pants compared to the S100, start saving!

Another benchmark camera to compare against is the Canon Powershot S40.
It's old but was blessed with fantastic image quality.
I used to own one and it created wonderful A3 prints - but the only ISO that created good results was ISO 50, which was a major limitation !!!!!!!!
 
If I had a budget that low then I'd probably look at film to keep me ticking over. There are ongoing costs but the cost of entry is really pretty cheap compared with digital. This is probably why film is so popular with hard up students.
 
Gambling said:
Any recommendations, advice and pointers are hugely appreicated. :)
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Any camera is better than no camera.

In that budget range there's a new model popping up every time you blink, so the review websites will keep you up-to-date. Fortunately, there are very few turkeys from the main manufacturers (Fuji, Panasonic, Sony, Canon, Nikon - and that's probably the order I'd rank the manufacturers for compacts). Fuji have a refurb shop on their website that can save a few pounds (I didn't realise this until someone posted a link earlier).

Pick a camera that's the right size for you, and that you find comfortable to hold, use and carry. Don't be impressed by lots of megapixels, or "digital zoom".. they're both distractions and largely irrelevant.

You're unlikely to get a camera that's got loads of manual controls, but you should find one that does a good job at automatic exposure and focus. And that leves you free to find interesting subjects and concentrate on composition.
 
Thank you for all of your advice, I knew that my budget would be a major sticking point as I now truly understand how much money can be spent on cameras! I've been looking at buying second hand and I've been looking at cameras such as the s5700 and that picture looks fantastic. I've also been looking at the FZ28 however they seem to be a little difficult to come by and I've just missed one for bang on my budget.

The Fujifilm FinePix series seems to be the best option for my budget and there's always plenty of cameras around, thank you for the recommendation of review sites as I've been looking around but they seem to be a little hit and miss.
 
boliston said:
If I had a budget that low then I'd probably look at film to keep me ticking over. There are ongoing costs but the cost of entry is really pretty cheap compared with digital. This is probably why film is so popular with hard up students.
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I agree with this, given the budget. Very good 35mm cameras go for peanuts these days. Add to this a good negative scanner (later on) and you'll have a much more capable set up than if you went digital for £70!
 
+1 to the film suggestion. I have just purchased a very nice Olympus OM10 with a 50 1.8 lens for £18 and that was probably overpaying!
And if you don't end up using it just put it on the shelf and look at it and to me they are design classics.

Doesn't give the instant image gratification though so may be (probably is) missing the OPs requirements.
 
I've just looked online at a couple of film developing/printing prices (literally the first two I clicked on from a google search) and they both started at £7 for 36 exposure smallest size prints. I can't find any reference to that old standard deal of chucking in a free film with your prints either - so that's another £4 - so you're looking at £11 per 36 exp - six or seven films and the running costs are equal to the original budget. On a such a tight budget, I would expect the 'running costs' to be too prohibitive to make it viable.

That was a very quick look at film, developing and printing costs - so my reckonings might need revising.

I took a look on the Argos ebay clearance store and found a Canon SX120 for £75 - it has Av Tv and full manual too and for what it is, is a very capable camera (I have one :).
 
weybourne said:
I've just looked online at a couple of film developing/printing prices (literally the first two I clicked on from a google search) and they both started at £7 for 36 exposure smallest size prints. I can't find any reference to that old standard deal of chucking in a free film with your prints either - so that's another £4 - so you're looking at £11 per 36 exp - six or seven films and the running costs are equal to the original budget. On a such a tight budget, I would expect the 'running costs' to be too prohibitive to make it viable.

That was a very quick look at film, developing and printing costs - so my reckonings might need revising.

I took a look on the Argos ebay clearance store and found a Canon SX120 for £75 - it has Av Tv and full manual too and for what it is, is a very capable camera (I have one :).
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Thats why I mentioned the neg scanner, cuts dev costs dramatically then gives you full control over the PP'ing as you would a raw file.

But of course its not going to be cheap (we know our hobby isnt cheap!!) and cost will rise as film has become less popular. I still think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of buying a cheap small sensored digital camera..
 
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weybourne said:
I've just looked online at a couple of film developing/printing prices (literally the first two I clicked on from a google search) and they both started at £7 for 36 exposure smallest size prints. I can't find any reference to that old standard deal of chucking in a free film with your prints either - so that's another £4 - so you're looking at £11 per 36 exp - six or seven films and the running costs are equal to the original budget. On a such a tight budget, I would expect the 'running costs' to be too prohibitive to make it viable.
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Jessops still throw in the free film and their high street 1-hr service with 6x4 prints is £7. Cheaper if you can leave it over-night. Develop only you can get for under £3, and developed and scanned to a disc (no prints) for under £5 if you shop around.

No need for Google, there's a very good list of developing services in a sticky in the Film and Conventional section of the forum :thumbs:
 
I understand and appreciate the posts about film cameras, but I'm not so sure that film will be the best way forward at this point for the OP - he did say "but I'm hoping it'll get me out there and started" and that money is very tight. I'm not particularly flush either but if I had to pay for film (or the developing etc) then I might as well put my camera in the draw and forget about it for most of the time. If I was 'rationed' to 36 exposures and couldn't see the results until a day or so after I had taken the last shot, I'd feel even less inclined to 'have a go' (OP - please let me know if I've got it wrong). A cheap small-sensor camera can give adequate results and can certainly be used as an upgrade to a mobile phone for the purpose of exploring photography - especially if it has priority and/or full manual modes.

But then again, I could be barking up the wrong tree.

If the OP is interested, here's some examples that I've just taken (for illustration) straight out of the camera with the SX120 in manual mode:

.

And here's a couple of other examples:

Program Auto mode - a bit of basic pp using Gimp:

Program Auto mode: I did have to play with this one in Gimp to tackle a blown highlight

Program Auto mode - a bit of basic pp using Gimp:

As well as manual exposure mode, the camera can be manually focussed too. The controls are pretty easy to access once they are learnt. It doesn't save in RAW and hasn't got a viewfinder though :(.
 
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