Ill get straight to the point. I have a Samsung D85 and it's okay but since i've been on this site i've seen some amazing pictures, so i want to upgrade. The biggest problem with my camera is when my cats move it completely blurs the photo. I'd like a camera that will be able to take action shots. I don't really want to spend over £150 really but i might go up to 200 depending on if it's really that much better than one for around 150.

Here's some pictures i've taken recently with my Samsung... I know they're not great pictures or anything, it's pretty much my first time really trying to use a camera well (i'm 16).

Tbh I think you will find the majority of the really fantastic photos are taken with DSLR's as you just cannot get the same quality on a normal point and shoot - and I dont think you will get anything for under £150 unless you are willing to go second hand or maybe try a camera shop - some may buy back used DSLR's and recondition them maybe. Thats my honest answer - but others may have better ideas

I wouldn't give up. For one thing, the camera that you have now seems to have a manual shutter speed control, so if used properly you should be able to get clear pictures of a cat moving quickly. You just need a very brightly lit area and set the shutter speed to a higher value until it no longer blurrs.

I think you can definitely improve over what you have now on your budget. I'm not really a camera geek, so I don't have any particular recommendations, but I'd probably go look at some of the camera review sites, and get a camera that allows for manual focus and exposure controls. I don't care how good the camera is, it will be difficult to take good action shots without learning to control exposure and shutter speed manually.

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The little monsters 3

I'm a photographer, this is my kinda of thread, lol.

In ranges;

Point and Shoot, I like the Samsung zooms, the Nikons and the Kodak Easyshares. Small, affordable and usually under £100. I had a Kodak Easyshare C613. Cost me about £60 and took some amazingly nice photos over the years. Some below. Good application range, too. No flexability though on settings, it's like it or lump it with these.





The Fujifilm FinePix S1500 series, around and above, digital is basically a DSLR looking camera with the ability of a point & shoot zoom. Less buttons, less confusion, you put it on the setting you want, sport, landscape, macro, portrait, and you fire away. You might get some manual focus in if you're feeling adventurous.

It takes some VERY smart photos for a reasonable £150-200 price bracket. It's not the kinda of camera you'd want to cart everywhere with you but it's a very good mid range for more "I want to take some today, I'll pick it up" rather than a "I'll keep it in my bag for any occasion!" camera. Again, great application range, does macros nicely (the bug shot I had a lens macro glass on it)

Pic below of one i took on one of those cameras;





Now to the big stuff. The proper DSLRs.

I have a Canon EOS 40D, it's a big boy and the body alone fetches £300+. The lenses are anything from £100 to £1500. This camera however in stock setting with stock USM lens (£450 as a kit usually) is the cat's whiskers. Below photos taken with the stock lens. No extras. (the bottle green fly had a x2 macro glass on the lens end, a pack of these is about £5!)

You can get a EOS 500D for about £250 kit, and they're also called the XTi REBEL in other countries. Second hand, cheaper again. More versatility, but also more confusion if you're not used to SLR settings. They can be harder to get used to, but they do have presets so you can select a predisposed setup & point & shoot. They are BIG, they are HEAVY, they are VERY sensitive and DO need servicing at least every two years to keep them clean and functional. Lenses are SO sensitive to shock, so don't do a me and drop your most expensive one on the carpet and leave it useless!

The application of these camera is ENDLESS. Do what you want with them, they'll run rings around it. Subjects don't even have to be trying and you get a pro looking photo.








If you want to talk cameras and prices properly, PM me and I can help you out, if it's got a model number I've probably used it over the years

Regards,
Soph.

Most important thing I've learned over a few years of splashing in the photography pond: learn to use the camera and find good lighting. I took some AMAZING pics a few years back with a canon low end point and shoot (for the life of me I cannot remember the name, it was somehing from the A series, 450 I think?).
I now have a Canon 450D and two lenses (one cost about once and a half the amount I paid for the body) and one Canon G12 (was the top of the point and shoot line from Canon). Bottom line: if I use the automatic settings, most times I get average looking pics at most. When I venture into manual, things change a lot!
Bottom line: try reading a bit about photography, iso, shutter speed and apperture and how to use them, there are plenty of good, free resources. If you're still not satisfied with what you get, I'd then start looking at other cameras. But honestly, a camera worth 200 pounds will not give you amazing pictures if you don't know how to use it.

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Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

lovely pics Soph!

Further to Suki's comments about learning to use it, totally agreed.

Also see if you can get in on any online or free courses that help you frame, set up and compose your shots. I might have had a tiny Easyshare point and shoot, but many of the photos I've taken on it have won forum competitions in the past simply from the way I take and frame them. Learn the importance of composing in thirds, Points of focus, tricks of light and how to use even dim lighting to your advantage.

Animals are a notorious hard subject, learn how to get their attention and hold it, and get used to having to take a few shots to nail a composition you want. I can take 100 pictures, be it on my EOS 40D or on my Kodak Easyshare, and I might only pick out two or three from every "shoot" that I do that I liked.

Another good pointer; Learn to use Photoshop! Or any photo editing software. There is a brilliant "free" photo editing software similar to Adobe's photoshop or Jasc, called GIMP. Find it here; http://www.gimp.org/ downloads are on the right side. It can take a bit of tweaking to get used to if you're used to using Adobe, but if you're new to it, persevere, it's a free program and it's just as good

Knowing how to correct an exposure a little, knowing how to crop to frame something, knowing how to resize an image so it doesn't kill mum's PC still running windows 98 etc All vital things if you're going into Digital photography.

And thanks Kitsu, I LOVE photography. I seriously have never EVER regretted spending what I did on my camera kit. I got £1000 of camera and extras for about £500 on ebay, and I've not been happier. It's given me some seriously precious images, of friends, family, pets loved and lost. You can't put a price on having a nice looking photo of someone or something you've not got any longer. Also precious having captured moments in time forever to remember like yesterday

Soph.

Some fabbo pics, Soph!

I have the Fuji Finepix S5800 series - fairly small and light - can be used for pretty much anything and has selectable shutter speeds. You do need to be a techy to fully understand all the 'extras' but I find the pre-set options are enough for me! These were all taken by me using the various options from Macro to fast shutter speed.

I'm a photography student, I was going to attribute to the thread but it looks like you've got some wonderful advice already on here