A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that my trusty Canon Digital Elph S500 had gone walkies. “What?” I hear you ask, “Isn’t this guy supposed to be a proper photographer? What the hell is he doing with a compact camera?”. The answer to that, really, is quite simple: I often find myself in situations where carrying a full-size camera around would be uncomfortable, unnecessary, or even downright dangerous. As such, I decided to buy the then-top-of-the-line Canon compact camera.

Interestingly enough, in this round of research, I discovered that yes, if I wanted a shit-hot digital compact, I needed to shell out some serious dosh. I ended up paying (Yes! Paying! Obviously, the camera manufacturers haven’t noticed Photocritic well enough to send me free cameras yet. The scoundrels!) £300 for what is undoubtedly the best compact camera I’ve ever used: the 10 megapixel Canon Digital Ixus 900 Ti. It’s got lots of pixels, a battery that lasts and lasts, an amazing screen, and a body of titanium, so it can take the next few years of abuse.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered on the T3 website that digital SLR packages have dropped to under £300!

Okay, okay, I shan’t keep you in suspense any longer. The camera in question is the Pentax K110D – I haven’t seen any reviews of this camera, and I haven’t had a chance to play around with it myself, yet, but Pentax has a long history of being a sturdy brand, and it would certainly be worth taking a closer look before you decide to splash the extra money for another dSLR! Check it out on Amazon UK or Amazon USA!

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