The New Camera

My search for a new camera has come to an end and I'm now in possession of a device that can hopefully fill the void left by it's predecessor. It was a bit of a dilemma which I outlined a few weeks ago and just in case anyone is curious, here is what I went for:

Though still dreaming of interchangeable lenses, I once again went for a compact camera with a fixed lens. Sadly, both my bank balance and I just couldn't justify the cost of a DSLR/Compact system camera right now though thanks to everyone who passed on their advice :)

After a lot of research and choosing some minimum specifications for the budget I set myself, I ended up taking what I would consider a bit of a risk. That is, veering away from the industry leaders of Canon and Nikon and heading the way of a Sony. A Sony Cybershot DSC-HX5V to be precise. I did so largely because it met my minimum specs, and had decent reviews and the price was good. At £180, though closer to £200 with the extra battery that I've ordered too, it wasn't overly pricey in terms of my budget. It was a little disheartening as Amazon had it on sale a wee while back for £10 less but I think I can live with that.

I picked it up today and here are the pros and cons I've discovered so far:

Good points:

- It has the wide angle lens I was after – landscapes and city shots should be a lot better :)
- It is a lot smaller and lighter than my previous Canon.
- It has a function called 'Hand-held twilight' that has to be seen to be believed – the camera takes 6 shots in a burst and stitches them all together somehow creating an in focus, well lit image that doesn't have the loss of image quality experienced such as when using a high ISO, tripod and slow shutter speed to try to get a similar result. That function so far seems to do a decent job even when my eyes are struggling to do the same! Very impressed.
- The panorama sweep function is good fun.
- Shutter speed and processing speed is pretty fast.

Bad points:

- Manual mode is a little disappointing, only 2 F-stops and ISO settings are set away in a sub menu which seems awkward.
- If I were to use the HD video with stereo sound it'd be hard not to cover the microphone whilst holding the camera.
- There is a mirage of auto settings that I'll likely to not use too many of.
- It uses Lithium Ion batteries that are more expensive to get hold of compared to AAs. Also the recharging will take a lot longer.

So it seems as though I've bought a camera aimed more towards the auto fan which isn't exactly what I had wanted to go for - however, I think this camera will grow on me. I say that because although it isn't going to be as easy to get a shot how I want it, it is still likely to be possible in most scenarios given a few extra seconds or a bit of persistence. As I look at the list there, there are more good points then bad points so far.

On top of that with the likes of the 'hand-held twilight' it looks like this camera might open up a means to take night shots that, with my last camera, I would otherwise have given up on.

It might take a little getting used to but I think my research might have paid off. The real decider will be how good the photos turn out and for that, only time will tell but so far so good.

My Camera has Crossed the Line.

Goldfish can get 'White Spot' and it seems my camera has developed something similar - 'White Stripe' - an illness caused by years of excessive usage, numerous drops, bumps and shakes. I guess I had been lucky until now but sadly it seems something like the lens or a chip inside has developed a flaw.

Here is the problem:

In case you didn't spot it, here is the problem a little closer:

Although bearable on a lot of brighter shots, the line does look even more pronounced on images taken inside or darker night images and this really spoils the photos. It's true that I could just edit each picture by filling in the missing pixels, however with the quantity I end up taking it wouldn't really be practical to do regularly. I've narrowed it down to being an internal problem with the camera so sadly there is no simple solution.

Any opinions would be much appreciated... I've narrowed down my main options to be the following:

1) Try and get my current Canon Powershot SX110 IS (a Fully Manual Point and Shoot camera) repaired - The problem here being that it might cost the best part of a new camera anyway since it's out of warranty and you can get a new one from about £130)

2) Take the plunge and dip into savings to buy a Digital SLR - I'm very tempted by this option but am not sure if I can justify spending the sort of money required.

3) Buy a new version of my current camera.

4) Some alternative option of buying another camera that I don't know about yet.

I generally like to have a camera on me at all times, I will likely keep carrying my current one on me anyway since it's already damaged (just for those opportune moments) but having a camera that can take photos without a big line through it is required for those treasured memories the rest of the time (such as for travelling and special occasions).

Whatever I end up doing, I need (strong word I know, I suppose 'want' is the reality but it feels like a need) a camera that is fully manual. At the moment, if I do get a new one, I kinda find myself leaning heavily towards investing in something a little better - to a lot better - such as a camera that has a wide angle lens. I grown to love taking photos and I'd like to continue to develop being able to take them

I've been reading lots of reviews on review sites like whatdigitalcamera.com and I think my main issue is going to be price. I reckon the absolute limit I could stretch to would be £400 and even that would be breaking the bank. So if it is a new camera it would be a bottom end DSLR but it could otherwise be a very good bridge camera. With that in mind, since last time I was camera shopping, there is now this 'Micro Four Thirds' technology which has cut out the mirrors (providing the manual view finder of a DSLR) and creating what they're calling a Hybrid camera - lol, it was a hard enough choice last time and now there is even more... *eek*.

Any advice would be awesome and even better, if anyone knows of any hard to pass up special offers I would be very, very grateful :) Also, what do you all use and would you recommend your camera?