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I suppose you could also consider that on my S6500, when I shoot in RAW, the resolution is actually 4048x3036 pixels, which in lamens terms is 12.3 megapixels...

Not that I often shoot in RAW as they are 13MB+ for each photo, but it gives you an idea of how flexible that camera is.

As the S5600 shoots at an effective pixel count of 5 megapixels, I would expect it to shoot in the region of 10 megapixel in RAW mode.

One of the cameras that I previously struck of the list above has come back into play:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8


FAO Matty, can you read the trusted review in the link and tell me if its any good please.

Reading the review matey (and Trusted Reviews are just that, very trusted), I will pull up the following points:

- The ISO performance is miles better then the Z612 you were looking at, but it still falls short of what you were looking for maybe with a maximum reasonable setting of only 400 before too much noise reduction leads to moire pattern problems.

- The lens quality looks excellent (Leica are a top brand for lenses), but the macro mode is a bit questionable for the price of the camera, struggling to focus in using AF at anything less then 20cm.

- The colour reproduction seems very good, in fact near perfect for brighter colours, but the darker tones in the images seem too "contrasty" imho.

- At the wide angle, its probably not adequate for landscape photography as its only 36mm and offers no form of lens extension possibilities.

- Start up time of 4 seconds is to be quite frank abysmal, according to the review, the lens moves very slow, and is well blow that of its competitors such as the Canon S3 which only takes 1.5 seconds. Sometimes a fast start up can be really handy. 4 seconds doesnt sound like a long time, but when it comes to photography and "capturing the moment", it can seem like an eternity. This is one of the many problems of electronic zoom camera's, aside from the obvious pinpoint accuracy in control problems.

- The zoom is electronic, now it could just be me being picky, but at this price range, given what there is in the market for around the same price, I would be expecting a manual zoom at least?? Also, the manual focus isnt done using a focus ring.

Overall its a very good camera and extremely stylish imho, I love the way it looks and from the sounds of things the build quality is excellent. The Leica lens will ensure great photographs, but I suppose for the price range it is in, I am just expecting a little bit more when one considers the prices of comparable bridge camera's.

Thats quite a leap though fella, from £120 to a £200 camera lol, you could be worth considering a 9600 off the Fuji site for £203 or maybe even the Canon S3 dependent upon what you need from a camera.

You can find a Canon S3 on ebay for the £170 mark, and given the fact you can get a Fuji S6500 direct from Fuji for only £136atm, considering the bad points I have found there, personally even at £170 (incl delivery), I wouldnt buy it when there are others that are superiors in many ways on the market for comparable prices, maybe even less.

Its just my personal opinion of course, but one gets the feeling Panasonic tried extremely hard to get this camera to set a benchmark, but actually fell short of the benchmark cam's that already exist. Overall the camera is very good, but not particuarly great at any single aspect it does, and there are better overall camera's available.

Besides, worldnt you rather pay say £18 extra for an S3 and know you are getting a much better camera?

I think you need to look at the verdict on the review to judge this:

On a sidenote, I wouldnt recommend buying a cmaera off ebay, try to get it from a proper online retailer or even better, from a high street shop, particuarly Jessops etc, as buying from ebay can lead to problems with regards to returns etc.

Its always best to buy from a high street retailer because higher end camera's have multiple lenses and sensitive electronics inside them, and they can be damaged easily in transit.

If you buy from a high street retailer, its no hassle to take it back and get a new one, places like Jessops will even get the camera out of the box when you are there sometimes to ensure it is working correctly and give you a quick guide through some of the primary functions of the camera.

Im back tracking again to one I previously struck off the above list
Fujifilm FinePix S5700

It has a good review (I think) and is very close to my budget.

Yeah the 5700 is good, but tbh its almost the same as the 5600, but of course the 5600 is a fair bit cheaper. I think the main difference other then the megapixel count and design is the generation of SuperCCD in play, think the 5600 is 4th gen whereas the 5700 is probably 6th gen. Having said that, thhe 5600 got some startling reviews too.

Between the two, id go for the 5600 on the basis of features:price, but if I were to consider the 5700 (at the time I was looking for a camera, it wasnt available, its only recently come to market), I would be considering the 6500.

Jessops have it on offer atm, reduced from £199 to £169, don't know what the ebay sellers are like, its only £136 from Fuji atm though.

Having said that though, all in all, the 5700 does look like an amazing piece of kit for the price range its been placed in and I don't think you could go far wrong with it to be honest.

Im sold on the 6500 then, just gotta convince the wife on allowing me to up the budget a little.

Main reasons are:
the CCD size on the 6500 is a great 1/1.7
Manaul focus and zoom rings/dials

If I cant afford it, Im gonna go for the 5700 instead.

woohoo, I ordered my Fujifilm S6500fd today.

£115 of the Fuji Website using a promocode to get 15% off their listed price.

woohoo again

Quality stuff, im sure you will love using it

Thanks again matty for all your help throughout choosing my new camera and pointing me in the direction of the fuji shop.

No problem, glad to have been of help... hehe I feel like ive started a revolution with these 6500's, everyone has got one now!

Quality camera's though, they wernt selling well at their proper price of £279 in light of DSLR's crashing down in price, so its forced both Fuji and retailers to reduce their pricing by upto 50%, so they have become the bargain of the year within the camera industry.

Ye basically getting a DSLR quality camera and lens, but without the features only pro's need, for less then £150 lol. Cant be bad!

Got an email at 1pm toady confirming the dispatch of my camera. woohoo cant wait.

It arriveed midday today, But I've been at workall day, then I went to pick up a fridge/freezer, Haven't really had time to get out and test it, So I cant wait till tomorrow evening!