Looking for a good compact digital camera for up to £200

[King Mustard]

I am looking for a good compact digital camera and I’m happy to pay up to £200 for it.

I’d be taking it to nightclubs so a nice flash would be useful.

I also like taking general amateur photos, so a decent macro mode and some manual controls would be handy also.

Any ideas?

[Photo-John]

Good camera question post. Thanks for including the extra information. That makes a big difference for us being able to help.

My favorite compact camera right now is the Panasonic Lumix ZS3 / TZ7 (it's the TZ7 in the UK). It's got a 12x zoom lens with image stabilization and a great iA "Intelligent Auto" mode that will choose the best shooting mode for you. I have been very impressed with it. It also has some manual controls if you want to take control. I used exposure compensation and chose the ISO myself most of the time while I was using it. It also has a macro mode - pretty much all compact digital cameras do. It's actually easier to get good closeup photos with a point-and-shoot than it is with a DSLR

The flash is where you might be disappointed. I dont think there's any compact camera that has a flash that's good past 15 feet - and most of them aren't good for more than about 6 feet. So if you want to light up a whole dance floor, it's not gonna happen. If you want to get photos of your mates at the bar or out front, that should be no problem. Don't expect it to be good for live band photos, either. There's a reason pro concert photographers are shooting with thousands of dollars worth of gear.

Here's a link to an article I wrote early this year when the Panasonic ZS3 / TZ7 was announced. I shot with it for a day and the article has a whole page on the ZS3:

Panasonic 2009 Miami Lumix Camera Introduction >>

And here's a link to the user ZS3 / TZ7 user reviews >>

Panasonic was the company to perfect the compact, pocket-sized superzoom digital camera category. But Canon, Fuji and Casio have recently introduced their own pocket superzooms. So take a look at what they have to offer as well. Besides the Panasonic, I think the most interesting new pocket superzoom is the Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR. You can read my announcement article for that camera here:

Fujifilm FinePix F70EXR Announcement >>

Let me know if those fit the bill. If not, tell us why not and we''l see if we can point you towards a more appropriate camera.