Decent camera for less than £50

[doodab]

Surely it just depends on your own definition of 'decent'? I was always happy with the pictures I took with my 5mp camera.
Why would you need an SLR if for example, your just taking pictures of someone in a bedroom

A larger sensor & better lens will give you better images. Above a certain point increasing numbers of pixels aren't particularly important unless you intend to make large high quality prints.

In a bedroom you ideally want a sensor that gives good high ISO performance, a brighter lens and image stabilisation. You won't get much for £50 but for £100 you can get something that should give noticeably better results than a phone. This looks alright although personally I would increase my budget a bit more.

[The Spartan]

Any bird will do.

That's just one step above any hole is a goal lol!!

[Spacecadet]

That's just one step above any hole is a goal lol!!

Even glory holes?

[d000hg]

Anything in the £50 bracket will be no better than a half decent phones camera

You can get 3X optical zoom and 12Mp for £50. That's top-end phone stuff... optical zoom especially, which is the big differentiation between cameras and even cheap phones surely?

[Ignis Fatuus]

Surely it just depends on your own definition of 'decent'? I was always happy with the pictures I took with my 5mp camera.
Why would you need an SLR if for example, your just taking pictures of someone in a bedroom

Actually 5Mp is about the sweet spot for tiny sensors such as used in many pocket point-and-shoot cameras. Levering more megapixels out of the same sensor gives more noise because each sensor is smaller. But many pocket point-and-shoots give fine results nowadays. It's getting back to the way it was in film days, when your (decent) pocket 35mm camera gave image quality almost as good as your SLR, it just wasn't as flexible.

Yes it does depend on your definition of decent. But try googling for example, Canon s95, and you'll find a huge level of satisfaction with it, from people who are demanding about image quality and who also use much bigger and more expensive cameras. That camera fits in your pocket, but alas does not cost under £50.

Personally I recently bought a Canon Ixus 220HS for £109, and have been really impressed with it (I already have a slew of cameras but had no recent decent pocket go-everywhere camera).

It's the budget that is limiting here, not the idea of a pocket camera.

[Ignis Fatuus]

BTW just a personal rant: most of the things about a camera that can be expressed with a simple number will tell you nothing worthwhile about the camera. Megapixels lead that charge. Zoom factor follows, especially so-called digital zoom. Highest ISO speed is another one (the question is not what is the highest ISO setting, but what is the highest setting that gives acceptable results in any given situation).

There is no easy figure that will tell you about image quality, far less usability or enjoyability.

[d000hg]

BTW just a personal rant: most of the things about a camera that can be expressed with a simple number will tell you nothing worthwhile about the camera. Megapixels lead that charge. Zoom factor follows, especially so-called digital zoom.

Not when you're comparing a phone with digital-only zoom against a cheap camera with basical optical.

Agree on pixels though, for basic holiday snaps you don't want to print/enlarge.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Not when you're comparing a phone with digital-only zoom against a cheap camera with basical optical.

Agree on pixels though, for basic holiday snaps you don't want to print/enlarge.

We may be agreeing here.

1. Digital zoom adds nothing. Optical (i.e. real) zoom does something. However it comes at a cost so don't be greedy about how much of it you want.
2. More megapixels is not better. After a certain number of Mp for a given sensor size, more is worse. By about 7 Mp on a tiny sensor (1/2.3", say a pocket camera), or by about 10 Mp on a small sensor (1/1.7", say a compact but non-pocket camera) you have reached the limit.

You can print bigger than snapshot size with any camera, and do remember that in most Real Life a bigger print will be viewed from a greater distance, so it works with fewer dpi.
8Mp will print to A4 at 300dpi (that's a classic "good enough for anything" print resolution).
It will print to about A3 at 200dpi, and that's really plenty good enough for a print you're going to put on the wall.

So just say "no" to 14Mp in a pocket camera. It's a load of cojones, or whatever you call them.