Digital still cameras, camcorders, batteries, memory cards, cases and other accessories. Free delivery to most UK addresses.
Amazon is best known for books, but sells cameras and a wealth of other things directly and on behalf of other retailers. Amazon sales are post free on orders over £15.
Digital compact cameras and SLR's, memory cards, printers, scanners memory cards and other accessories. Free UK delivery over £100 otherwise £4.95
Buy online or reserve at internet prices and collect from a Currys shop. Good prices but on a narrower range than you would get from a specialist.
Digital cameras, camcorders and a few accessories. Delivery varies, typically around £10 for a camera. Sound & Vision have similar stock and delivery-inclusive prices.
Although their shops are now known as Currys, Dixons still exists online. Prices are better for equipment than consumables. Look for discount codes
Buy online or reserve online & collect from shop. Free UK delivery over £150, otherwise usually £3.95.
Part of the Comet group, but from Laskys you get prices that are often even keener and free delivery, but a narrower range of products.
Narrow range of digital cameras, things to make them work (batteries, memory etc) and to print pictures (ink, paper). Free delivery to UK.
Largest electronics retailer in Europe. See the Discount Code page to get even more off. Delivery costs vary and can be high.
Cameras and camcorders but few accessories. Similar stock as Digital Direct, with a practical but less attractive web site and prices include deliveryOnce upon a time, taking photos was a matter of threading film through sprockets and removing it without exposing to light. The film was expensive and you didn't know whether you had a good image until it was developed. All that has changed. Now digital cameras give you fabulous images that you can see straight away, and no fiddling with expensive film.
These cameras have become progressively better at producing detailed, realistic images and phenomenally cheaper. Although there are still film-based cameras around, many manufacturers only now develop and sell digital cameras.
There are essentially two kinds of camera. One type is known as a compact camera, the other is called an SLR.
SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. In an SLR there is only one lens, unlike a compact camera, where there are usually two lenses (one that you look through and one that takes the picture). Light comes through the lens and is diverted by a mirror to the eyepiece until the instant a picture is taken. When you press the shutter, the mirror moves and the light passes to the film or digital sensor. You therefore see through the eyepiece exactly the same picture as the one that gets taken.
An SLR camera is bulkier to carry and heavier than a compact, so is less likely to be on hand if an opportunity shot arises out of the blue. The advantage with an SLR camera is that the lens is bigger, is likely to be better, and is changeable. This means that, not only can you zoom (increase magnification), but also you can change the lens for one that magnifies even more. Magnifications of up to 10 times are not uncommon. You can also change the lens for one that does the opposite, and takes a wider picture than you could normally fit in, without having to go too far back from the subject.
Compact digital cameras have come a long way in recent years. Easy to carry and more likely to be there when you need it, a good quality compact camera is fine for most family and holiday photos. Most newer compact digital cameras have a respectable zoom range and high resolution. A resolution of 4 megapixels or more will give you a good image on the computer as well as a good print up to about 12 inches by 10 inches. Nowadays, cameras that take pictures much bigger than 4 megapixels are common.
Cheaper digital compact cameras, just like film compact cameras, can have poor lenses and some of them do not handle colours very well. Independent comparisons in the photographic media are usually able to demonstrate the shortcomings of cameras that appear to offer high resolutions (a lot of megapixels) for a 'bargain' price.
It is best to look out for a brand name that is respected, the highest resolution (number of megapixels) and the widest zoom range that is reasonable, bearing in mind the other pressures on your budget.