Recommend a camera...

[Hagar]

Check out Omag's new toy here. http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=photos;action=display;num=1133093634

I reckon that's well worth looking into. Here's the brief specs.

Panasonic would like to present their latest camera, made for the most demanding photographer and winner of the best digital camera 2005-2006 from EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association).

The DMC-FZ5EG-S has a 5 megapixel CCD captor, with a LEICA Vario lens to give you outstanding photos. The DMC-FZ5EG-S has an optical zoom of 12x and is sure to take steady photographs thanks to Mega OIS stabilising system.

[GeForce]

Just thought I would add my two pennies worth...

My Dad's a professional photographer and he has the Minolta Dimage 7 (click here for info)

Of course I know this is waaay out of your price range, but I do use it quite a bit. The shutter speed is exceptionally good in my view, but the thing that annoys me a little is also the focusing time with auto-focus. It takes a good 2-3 seconds to focus, which is actually quite a long time when you are trying to take pictures of a plane flying overhead

Thought this is another thing you should consider...

Jon

[Saitek]

Thanks Woody.

Doug, yeah I realised that - but the S5500 is going for only about another

[GeForce]

Looks a great camera G-force - but way out of my price range.

Yeh of course. I was only making the point that focusing time might be an issue as well as shutter speed

Jon

[Hagar]

[quote]Thanks Woody.

Doug, yeah I realised that - but the S5500 is going for only about another

[Saitek]

So what camera do you use to take those great shots that you post Doug?

[Hagar]

So what camera do you use to take those great shots that you post Doug?

I carry both with me at air shows & use either depending on the subject & how close I can get.

[bbstackerf]

Pretty much depends on how much you have to spend.  My wife and I recently took up photography as a hobby - her moreso than I. We both have Sonys, I have the DSC717 which is no longer made, but still gets high marks on DPR. She has the DSC828, also no longer made. Both can easily be found new or like new on ebay or reputable online camera dealers. She recently purchased the Nikon D50 which gets higher marks than some of the more expensive Nikons. It's a digital SLR and gets much higher quality pictures than the so called 'point and shoot' digitals including the 717 and the 828. The good points of a digital SLR being that you can purchase better lenses as you gain experience.

If what you want is just a nice pocket point and shoot camera thats easy on the budget, The Sony P200 is a 7.2 MP that takes awesome pictures. They can still be had for about $300 for the starter kit.

In the end though, you'll get a hundred different recomendations from a hundred different people. Just do some shoping, if one catches your eye see what people say about it, go check it out, put your hands on it and make your decision based on what feels right to you.

Good luck and hope you find one you'll be happy with.

Keni

[Hagar]

Ben. If you're still interested this might be worth looking at. http://digitalcameras.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/sbs/124901/13445043.html

Not sure if it's already been mentioned.

[smashie]

For P&S camera I would go for this http://tinyurl.com/7b3cc

Saves the files as both jpeg and RAW, RAW gives you alot of scope for correcting small problems after the fact.

[Saitek]

Sorry about the delay... I've been working all this week apart from today and have barely been on Simviation much.

That camera looks great Doug... seems like it is what I have been looking for for a good price. I'll look into it. Many thanks for keeping your eyes open.  8)

Smashie - thanks for your input, but I'm not too keen on that camera. Thanks for the contribution though.