Decide what to buy: the Reevoo.com blog

Last week’s Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) awards gave Nikon chiefs something to celebrate. They nabbed the most sort after awards with the D3 model coming top in the ‘Best DSLR – Expert’ category and the D300 receiving the ‘Best DSLR – Professional’ prize.

If you have problems with low light performance, pick up the D3. Judges were very impressed with the results, even when used at  ISO 6400. The D300 is one for those of you that like your equipment to keep up with your adventures - It was commended for its “solid design, excellent handing and robust build quality” and its speedy autofocus system.

Canon did pip Nikon to the post with their new EOS 450D which picked up the ‘Best DSLR – Advanced’ award and the Panasonic LUMIX FX-500 topped the ‘Best Compact Digital Camera’ category.

I’ve checked out the camera reviews on Reevoo and at the moment, the top rated DSLR is the Panasonic FZ50 Black with 9.1/10 from 43 impartial reviews and the top rated compact digital camera is the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1200 with 9.2/10 from 55 impartial reviews.   

You can check out more SLR reviews and compact digital camera reviews from Reevoo. As it’s nearly summer hols time, I’ll be doing a Top 5 digi camera post soon. Until then, you can see reviews for lots of photography equipment here.

This week’s Gadget Watch brings us a telephoto lens for mobile phones launched by Green-House in Japan. This universal lens also connects up to a tripod and transforms your phone’s humble camera into a 8x zoom machine. Now all you need to do is fit the thing in your bag. Not so great for those of us who opt for pocket-friendly handsets. We don’t think it’ll mean the end for SLRs in the near future. What do you think?

If you’re serious about your photography and in the market for some zoom action, we recommend looking through the reviews from people that have bought proper cameras and lenses. At the moment, shoppers have rated the Panasonic FZ50 Black as the best performing SLR and the Canon Ef 24 105MM Is Usm  as the best lens.