Top Deals From the Weekly Email
Cheap Digital Cameras
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This is a rundown of all the current top deals on branded sub-£100 digital cameras.
Bear in mind you'll need to buy separate memory cards for storing the photos you take.
Too much jargon? Check out the basic digital camera glossary at the bottom of the page.
While it's getting on a bit in age, this Fuji ticks all the necessary boxes for taking good holiday snaps. Reduced to £57 at Amazon, it has a 3x optical zoom (plus 5x digital), an ample 2.7" viewfinder screen, plus image stabiliser, basic video capability and a decent panoram mode.
Like all digital compacts at the budget end it relies on AA batteries for power, so if you plan to use it a lot it'd be wise to grab some rechargeables.
Megapixel rating: 10
Optical Zoom: 3x
LCD viewfinder screen: 2.5"
Storage type: SD/SDHC upto 4GB (not supplied, see the Cheap Memory Cards note).
Battery: Standard AA
MSE UPDATE 10am 28 OCT: Camera now back to £99.
This highly regarded point-and-shoot Canon was reduced to £59.99 at Argos, which has since put the price up to £99, making the standalone offer easily beatable. It does however still have a fairly decent half-price deal on the same camera plus a photo printer for £129.99.The Canon has a 3x optical zoom (plus 4x digital), and a 2.5" viewfinder screen, plus image stabiliser, face detection and the usual complement of scene modes for taking pics in various situations. The camera can also take (far lower quality) videos with mono sound.
On the downside, it relies on AA batteries for power, and since it'll go through them pretty quickly, you should factor this (or some decent rechargeables) into the cost.
Megapixel rating: 10
Optical Zoom: 3x
LCD viewfinder screen: 2.5"
Storage type: SD/SDHC upto 4GB (not supplied, see the Cheap Memory Cards note).
Battery: Standard AA
If you want more megapixels, this Samsung from Play is worth a look at £64.99. Aside from its 12mp rating, the features are similar to the Canon's (and many others in this price range), with 3x optical zoom, 2.5" LCD viewfinder, image stabiliser and face recognition.
Again the camera relies on AA batteries, so it's more expensive to run than a rechargeable one, but if you're an occasional snapper or have some decent rechargeables this is unlikely to be an issue.
Megapixel rating: 12.2
Optical Zoom: 3x
LCD viewfinder screen: 2.5"
Storage type: SD/SDHC upto 4GB (not supplied, see the Cheap Memory Cards note).
Battery: Standard AA
This Fujifilm, £79 at Tesco Direct, is worth considering if you want more zoom. With 5x optical zoom (most offer 3x), and a 2.7" viewfinder, it might not offer as many pixels for the money as the Samsung above, but that's hardly the be-all and end-all, even if the shops would have you believe it is. If you arrange to collect it from a store, you won't pay for delivery, otherwise it costs £5.
Those that want a more slimline camera can get a newer model, the J20, which offers the same zoom features but with 10 megapixels for £89, also at Tesco Direct. Both of these cameras come with rechargeable batteries, so you'll save in the long run if you use them often.
Megapixel rating: 10
Optical Zoom: 5x
LCD viewfinder screen: 2.7"
Storage type: XD or SD/SDHC upto 4GB (not supplied, see the Cheap Memory Cards note).
Battery: Rechargeable
At the posier end of the scale, this Sony's currently reduced from a massive £140 to £90 at Amazon, and at 19mm thick it's the slimmest of all the above. In terms of specs it's less exciting, with a fairly standard 3x zoom and 10mp sensor, though it does sport a large 2.7" screen and rechargeable lithium battery.
As it's a Sony, it has all manner of (branded) picture-taking options, and is easy to use from the get go. If you're the type that likes your cameras super-portable and good-looking, you could do far worse.
Megapixel rating:10
Optical Zoom: 3x
LCD viewfinder screen: 2.7"
Storage type: Sony Memory Stick Duo (see the Cheap Memory Cards note).
Battery: Rechargeable
Seen a better deal? Post it in the discussion and we'll add it in.
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Megapixel: A megapixel is 1 million pixels, which is often used to describe the number of image sensor elements in a digital camera. The higher the resolution, the more megapixels (ie a resolution of 2048×1536 = 3,145,728, or 3.1 megapixels). (Wikipedia)
Optical zoom: This is the level of actual zoom the camera offers by using moving lenses, meaning there's no degradation of the image, just magnification. (Wikipedia)
Digital zoom: Simply zooms into the image after it's been taken, meaning the more you zoom in, the more the quality degrades. As such, it's not really worth consideration when choosing a camera. Better cropping can be achieved using photo editing software. (Wikipedia)
Image sensor: This is the bit of the camera that converts an image into an electrical signal. Two main types exist: CCD, and CMOS, and there's often little to choose between them. (Wikipedia)
Image stabiliser: The image stabilizer is what keeps pictures blur-free even if you've shaky hands. As such, it's a very important part of the camera, and shouldn't be skimped on. (Wikipedia)
SD/SDHC card: A roughly postage stamp-sized flash memory card used to store your photos. Various sizes are available, and those over 2GB are called 'SDHC', where the HC stands for High Capacity. It's important to check the maximum size your camera will take before buying these cards; get one that's too big and it won't work. (Wikipedia)
XD picture card: Like SD cards, except this time made by Olympus and Fujifilm. Since XD cards are in far shorter supply than SDs, prices are higher, but thankfully modern Fujifilm & Olympus cameras tend to take both types anyway, so you can plump for cheaper SDs. (Wikipedia)
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