Canon Powershot SX40 HS Bridge Superzoom Camera now £289.99 inc mainland postage @ UKDigitalCameras.co.uk (RRP £409.99)
Ok so I've been looking to upgrade from my old FujiFilm S9600 Bridge camera for a while and stumbled across this deal. I spent a lot of time researching this so hopefully my research will benefit someone else.
Note I cannot find this from a reputable UK-based merchant for less than £315 making this a great price. This was posted previously with this merchant for £305 minus postage so this price is even better. Google UkDigitalCameras.co.uk and you'll find this is a highly rated company. You can also pay via Paypal (£1 surcharge) if you don't trust their payment system. £289.99 incs £5 postage.
So, why buy a superzoom bridge camera you might ask?
If you want to try your hand at photography for the first time with a "proper camera" or if, like me, you are a budding amateur photographer that has some skill and can take a good shot but prefer to use automatic modes and do not spend ages fiddling with the finest details then a bridge camera is for you. If you want to take pictures of animals, landscapes or fine parts of architecture and cannot get right up close then a superzoom bridge is for you. I am a genuine believer that a DSLR is an unnecessary expense for most casual photographers. I won't doubt for a second that good DSLR cameras with inter-changable lenses are better than bridge cameras for pros but they are also much more expensive. All but the most discerning amateur photographers will probably find that a bridge ticks all their boxes and more for a much lower price. Why spend thousands for a bunch of features that you will probably never use anyway? Good bridges (and this is one of the best) still take crystal clear images, are packed with features and in this case have an eye watering zoom. I can assure you that you wouldn't get close to this price if you opted for a DSLR with a zoom lense of a similar size (equivalent 24mm - 840mm). Even with my old outdated FujiFilm I have had top quality large canvasses printed.
So why Canon Powershot SX40 HS?
I spent a long long time researching and I picked this camera. In my opinion this camera strikes the best balance of zoom, image quality, features and price. If zoom isn't important to you then you might want to consider another, albeit more expensive model such as the Panasonic Lumix FZ150. If zoom is everything to you, then you might want to consider the Nikon P510 with a mahoosive 42x zoom (24mm - 1000mm equivalent) from Amazon. That'll also more expensive though, and the reviews are generally less favourable.
I hope this of use to some people.
All Comments (15)
Jump to unread Post a CommentI think The FZ48 or 150 are better IMHO.
Hot deal for this though; as it IS best price ive seen :)
1) Despite their website title SLRHut - consumer electronics in UK SLR hut are not based in the UK and operate from the USA.
2) The address they quote in London is just a mailbox next to a takeaway, it is not a store at all
3) All goods will be supplied from the USA as grey imports so you will not have a UK warranty
4) Their phone number may be a London number but it diverts to the USA as shown by the opening hours which are USA office hours not UK
5) Prices shown do not include UK taxes, VAT or duty. The checkout process adds to the price but you have no guarantee that you will not be hit with more duty when the goods are delivered.
6) SLR hut claim to have been trading in the USA for 10 years but there is no company of that name trading in the USA. The SLR hut.COM website is the same as the UK one so is not usable by USA customers as all prices are in pounds. SLR hut website was only created in 2011.
Based on all the above facts would you trust a company that misleads in this way to resolve any problems if you did buy your DSLR camera from them?
1) Despite their website title SLRHut - consumer electronics in UK SLR hut are not based in the UK and operate from the USA.
2) The address they quote in London is just a mailbox next to a takeaway, it is not a store at all
3) All goods will be supplied from the USA as grey imports so you will not have a UK warranty
4) Their phone number may be a London number but it diverts to the USA as shown by the opening hours which are USA office hours not UK
5) Prices shown do not include UK taxes, VAT or duty. The checkout process adds to the price but you have no guarantee that you will not be hit with more duty when the goods are delivered.
6) SLR hut claim to have been trading in the USA for 10 years but there is no company of that name trading in the USA. The SLR hut.COM website is the same as the UK one so is not usable by USA customers as all prices are in pounds. SLR hut website was only created in 2011.
Based on all the above facts would you trust a company that misleads in this way to resolve any problems if you did buy your DSLR camera from them?
Uh this isn't from SLRHut?? UKdigitalcameras.co.uk are based in the UK. If you read their site it says they ship from the UK. Like I said Google them, they have a good reputation.
EDIT: Sorry I didn't read the post before and I see you were replying to that. Noddle, as hypnotic says I'd avoid SLRHut. Too good to be true I'm afraid. I found only good rep for Ukdigitalcamera.co.uk though and they ARE based in the UK. If you check their site, not all prices are rock bottom either (which is a good sign of a dodgy site), it just seems they are doing a particularly good price on this model. Comes with 2 year warranty as well.
Edited By: Benji CC on Jul 21, 2012 21:12
1) Despite their website title SLRHut - consumer electronics in UK SLR hut are not based in the UK and operate from the USA.
2) The address they quote in London is just a mailbox next to a takeaway, it is not a store at all
3) All goods will be supplied from the USA as grey imports so you will not have a UK warranty
4) Their phone number may be a London number but it diverts to the USA as shown by the opening hours which are USA office hours not UK
5) Prices shown do not include UK taxes, VAT or duty. The checkout process adds to the price but you have no guarantee that you will not be hit with more duty when the goods are delivered.
6) SLR hut claim to have been trading in the USA for 10 years but there is no company of that name trading in the USA. The SLR hut.COM website is the same as the UK one so is not usable by USA customers as all prices are in pounds. SLR hut website was only created in 2011.
Based on all the above facts would you trust a company that misleads in this way to resolve any problems if you did buy your DSLR camera from them?
Uh this isn't from SLRHut?? UKdigitalcameras.co.uk are based in the UK. If you read their site it says they ship from the UK. Like I said Google them, they have a good reputation.
Think Hypnotic was replying to noddle36 as he/she posted the SLRhut link :)
1) Despite their website title SLRHut - consumer electronics in UK SLR hut are not based in the UK and operate from the USA.
2) The address they quote in London is just a mailbox next to a takeaway, it is not a store at all
3) All goods will be supplied from the USA as grey imports so you will not have a UK warranty
4) Their phone number may be a London number but it diverts to the USA as shown by the opening hours which are USA office hours not UK
5) Prices shown do not include UK taxes, VAT or duty. The checkout process adds to the price but you have no guarantee that you will not be hit with more duty when the goods are delivered.
6) SLR hut claim to have been trading in the USA for 10 years but there is no company of that name trading in the USA. The SLR hut.COM website is the same as the UK one so is not usable by USA customers as all prices are in pounds. SLR hut website was only created in 2011.
Based on all the above facts would you trust a company that misleads in this way to resolve any problems if you did buy your DSLR camera from them?
They should do something about that site then as it is very misleading.
However the auto setting arent great so am selling that one.
I too did some research and went for the Panasonic G3 that was on hotukdeals earlier in the week from Argos at £299 after discount.
Being argos though they failed to deliver on time. So am waiting on monday but all the reviews for it are excellent. Plus with the fact you can change the lens gives you loads more options for only £10 more.
Oh and the LCD on it is touch screen so you can touch on the LCD the part of the picture you want to focus on and it auto focuses on that and takes the picture within 0.2 seconds. Not sure how useful that is , but I love a gadget.
Might be an alternative for some people
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-PowerShot-SX40-HS-35x-Digital-Camera-Black-NEW-/170792236841?pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item27c402b729
I think The FZ48 or 150 are better IMHO.
Hot deal for this though; as it IS best price ive seen :)
How bad is the slow autofocus? how long it takes?
Here's my Flickr for some examples