please empty your brain below

I ordered a new camera yesterday and it should arrive today. After you mentioned you might get a camera a few weeks ago I have been trying to find my little used DSLR camera, but as I cannot find it I went for a new one.
I really want a good zoom so I have gone for a Nikon bridge camera which has a 26X optical zoom, I may miss not having a viewfinder but these do not seem to be fitted so much these days, even on some DSLR's.
I always try to get a camera that uses AA batteries as you can easily get these anywhere and you can also use rechargeable. I have a good stock indoors of various USB and HDMI leads and a card reader, so connecting to PC is not a problem. I noticed that some cameras now have WiFi built in, so can connect via router.
Enjoy trying out your new camera as I hope to with mine later today.
The camera cable conundrum is why, when new phones were being handed out at work and my beloved Blackberry wasn't on the list (I only use my work phone for work, so the BB was actually the best solution), I ended up with a Samsung over an iPhone. Not because I like Samsung - holy cripes is their default UI awful. Not because I hate Apple - they're a bit pricey for me, but work's paying. But purely because I have at least a dozen cables lying around my house that will charge the Samsung and precisely zero that fit an iPhone. That was 100% of the decision making process.
A memory card reader would have been a better value for your 10 quid.
I like the Stratford station picture. If I was going to put a picture on my bedroom wall (which I'm not), that would be a top candidate.

As for something finishing up as not quite as good value as you thought, because of extras not initially realised, that has happened to me so many times that it has stopped annoying me; it's become part of life's rich tapestry.
Hope you'll quickly get over any initial reservations and enjoy using it
No cable? Bonkers. I recently got a new camera - old one got dropped on some rocks - and the cable was simply part of the charger. Whip the plug off and you have the cable. Easy.

John - funnily enough my new (compact) camera has a viewfinder on it. It seems in some models they are making a comeback. This one is basically a tiny LCD screen you put your eye to - you can focus etc.
I have to say I'm continually surprised by folk that spend real money on things, even cars, and don't bother to read the manual. There are good arguments for not including one in the box, because generally they come printed in n languages, so only a few % of the pages are relevant and the rest is recycling.
But I'm sure you will have a better experience with your new toy if you take time to download and digest the instructions...
Gracious, two more men, besides my husband, who cheerfully admit to reading the instructions.

I thought that was the very last resort for men, even if the instructions weren't in Engrish!
@ Bronchitikat - while a lot of stuff these days is fairly intuitive to use "out of the box" I always read the manual / instructions. I may not understand what some functions are supposed to do but at least I know the function exists ;-)

I am somewhat surprised at a camera being sold without a connecting cable though. Not good. I'm assuming DG bought from Jessops (given the resurrection comment) which partly explains the poor service. Should have used Park Cameras who have a shop just off Oxford St nowadays. Sorry for the shameless plug but I've bought my last 3 cameras from them.
Although I know you loathe to advertise specific products on your blog DG, in this case I'd be interested to know which model you've purchased as I'm on the market for a new camera. I love the colours in your cycle hire photo, and it seems to pick out details well in the Stratford photo.
...though, with a bit of research, I think I've figured it out now.
I to purchased a new camera it arrived on Wednesday was sent back on Friday not suitable as it did not have the ability to adjust the exposure setting in 1/2 stops like my existing Canon IXUS 15, which I really like but its become faulty and it's lost the ability to manually adjust the exposure.

One thing about the camera I brought and sent back which was also a Canon IXUS 115 I think was that it was £50 cheaper being bright purple than the silver version.

I'm now going to go to a shop, I will try Park Cameras as suggested.
I never bother with the connecting cable on my Ixus - just take the card out and use an SD card reader (only a few quid if not part of your PC already).
The manual is probably a 120 page pdf that you need to download and view on your computer (or print out if you can be bothered and want to use up some ink).

I also always use a card reader - much easier.

Enjoy your new toy !
It be time now that companies started using universal mini/micro usb's on all these items. Customers are being taken for fools, what with instructions/manuals having to be downloaded and cables having to be brought.
In the good old days ... my favourite response to a numpty question was RTFM. It's nearly impossible to use now.
I would've personally got a DSLR (even the 1200D and 100D perform nicely), but obviously that wasn't in your spec, or really budget.

That said Canon point-and-shoots around the high-end would be okay, and did work out well in your case.
Congratualtions DG! The Canon bridge camera is like a fun little sports car to drive. The amazing zoom goes from a few inches in macro mode to wide angle to zoom.

I've had one for years and most photographers say they'll never carry around a bag full of lenses again when they can do it all with just one camera.

For wildlife I like using a rapid fire 5 frames per second setting. This method is called 'spray & pray' and it works better than trying to time a fast action like a fox or bird.

Usually I delete about 80% of the pix I take, but the fun is in the shooting. Happy snapping!
Oh, and you should get a card reader because it's probably 5 times as fast to download pix as the troublesome cable.
Yeah, there are a number of professional photographers who recommend the high end Canon compacts just because they are so versatile and produce generally stunning photographs.
Cables? It's all wifi now.










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