Best non SLR Camera?

jank

Hi all,

Planning to do some travelling next year.
Im wondering what is the best non slr camera out there. I would be interested in something like this
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/597486/art/fuji/finepix-s8000-fd.html?itag=3889#fichetechnique
or
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/529231/art/olympus/sp-550-ultra-zoom-charcoa.html

The reason i dont want an SLR is 2 fold.
1 too big and bulky for long distance traveling and 2 my dad has a nikon d70 with 3 different lenses so no point in me getting one either.

The above examples look good especially the optical zooms. Is there anything i should look out for here features that are a must or models to avoid?

Also would i be better off buying in hong kong or over the interweb.
Thinking of traveling for about 2 years starting next year so would need some decent enough, but going to munich next month so i could use it there for a test. Should i wait until i start out next year as newer better cheaper models will be out then?

Cheers

ttomasso

Hi!

I checked the two cameras you mentioned and from this I assume you're quite an experienced photographer and you know what you want. I guess you want wide angle and long tele. But there is one problem with this. At the momentary stage of technology (and at the given price), it is hard to make a good enough lens that would be good both on wide and long end. So I guess that the optics and therefore the image will not be the best (this is what you want) I recomend you to trade either long end or the wide end of the lens range for the higher quality of the remaining range of focal lenghts. You have to think of what you shoot most commonly. Wether it is capturing wide scenes or destant details. And then look in that range. I just think that 18x zoom is way too much
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The other issue is that if you want the BEST camera, then you should look at other manufacturers. At all respect to Fuji or Olympus, they can't beat the expertise they have at Canon's or Nikon's. At both companies they make huge optical machines for bradcasting, landsurveying and microprocessor industry. Obviously then they have more knowledge to apply to the relatively "low end" point-and-shoots. Take a look at Canon PowerShot S5 IS. It would be choice of mine. However it lacks wide angle, it is possible to buy the converter.
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Good choice with optical stabilisation. I wouldn't buy a compact camera now without proper IS. Not just some "high ISO boost" which stabilises image but gives so much noice that the image is unusable.


Tomas
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check my photoblog: http://photoblog.irishpanorama.net
or my photo calendar http://irishpanorama.net/irelandcalendar2008

jank

Great advice there.

Yea not sure what i want really. The wide angle would be great for the panoramic photos but the optical zoom would be great too but 18x is huge (over 500mm in a normal 35mm SLR) and maybe too much.
So your saying that a wide angle lens with an optical zoom up to 10/12 would have a better overall picture then one that would have a huge zoom.

Ill look up a few nikon and cannon cameras and ill post them here. I thought olympus was a good make though?

Ghost Train

Read a few reviews of the olympus 550, and as far as I remember, they weren't that good.

Not sure about the fuji

Panasonic have a new model out the FZ18, which does 28mm-504mm. Not that many review around, but the previous lumix models have been good

Thirdfox

Sony have a massive bridge camera too (including night vision photography )

But personally I would either get a compact camera for lightweight travelling or a dSLR for more serious photography.

Some panasonic compacts have 28mm wide angle and 10x optical zoom... Just don't ask about ISO noise problems

jank

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/389362/art/panasonic/lumix-dmc-fz50-silver.html#fichetechnique

Looks good, but not sure if it has a wide lens option.

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/542303/art/sony/cyber-shot-dsc-h9-black.html#fichetechnique

The Sony option. 15X zoom but only 8MP.

Would ye think that there would be a huge upgrade in the next while regarding these cameras. No point in buying one now i suppose when a newer and better one comes out next month.
How often are these models upgraded?

Ghost Train

jank wrote: »

How often are these models upgraded?

I'd say about every 6-12 months, don't really see any big upgrades coming, the olympus started the jump to 18x zoom at the start of the year, that was a big upgrade, might be another year or two before another big step. The 12x Lumix superzooms have been around since about 2004, and slowly improved each model (resolution increases/better lcd displays) till they introduces the 18x zoom this year.

Thirdfox

Short answer - often

Took only 4 months for them to "upgrade" the dSLR D40

But cameras in general are worse than computers when it comes to losing their value.

Trick is to remember that the camera you have is taking photos of the same quality as before and that you might not NEED the new whizz bang feature...

Thirdfox

my digital SLR is "only" 6 megapixels but I can easily print to A4 with it... how often are you thinking of printing past A4 size?

jank

Well im thinking the bigger MP the better, but of course things like Image Stabalisation and the actual lens size itself is important to take better pictures

SLR's have way better lense so thats why they take better pictures,well i may be wrong im not that clued up on this stuff.

Just another qucik question. Do most of these cameras come with wide angle lenses along with the superzoom capacity?

Thirdfox

No no no...advertising at its best I suppose - more megapixels is not better. Quality over quantity. A compact/bridge digi-camera has a small sensor with lots of photosites - this leads to lots of noise at high ISO images.

With a dSLR - they have a much larger sensor and a lot less photosites. The quality of the light received by these cameras is a lot higher than that of non SLR cameras.

This is why a 6 megapixel D40 will produce a much better A4 print than a 12mp panasonic compact.

And no, most bridge cameras do not have wide angle lenses built in (most start at 35mm equivalent) some (Panasonic at the top of my head) begin at 28mm though. You can normally buy converters though (at around E100).

I would suggest looking at the Nikon D40 - it's very small and light for a dSLR. See my signature for pictures taken by this E420 camera (some were taken with another E230 lens though )

Dink

Last year I bought a Canon G7, it's a high end compact, small and light weight. This year Canon have upgraded it to the G9 which incorporates Raw. I think this would be right up your street! Ideal for travelling.

_Whimsical_

This gallery might of interest to you .
http://caff.smugmug.com/Camera%20Test
It has lots of test shots from the Fuji s8000 in different situations showing off all it can do. It's from a thread on a discussion forum where they seem to cover every aspect of the camera. It might be worth a read : http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1012&message=25004005

Over all the impression I've got from reading is up that the image quality is not great on any of the superzoom cameras although some people people feel its a worthwhile compromise for 18x zoom. The Panasonic fz18 seems to be the best performer according to most reviews.The Olympus seems to be the poorest.

jank

Where is a good site for these reviews.
Seems to be a comprimise between a superzoom camera with ok shots or something less like a 10x zoom with better shots.

Although saying that the images taken in that link you gave me chilly dont look to bad at all

Zeppi

Hi there,
Last week I bought the Fuji S8000fd. What I can tell you is that every penny spent was worth it.

Great camera and great pictures for a newbie like me.

rgds
Zeppi

_Whimsical_

jank wrote: »

Where is a good site for these reviews.

http://www.digitalcameratracker.com/
This site keeps regular track of reviews on various cameras and links you to them. You just search for the name of the one you are interested in. I don't think many particularly respected sites have done reviews on the newer superzoom cameras yet. The Fuji only seems to have two. The forums on www.dpreview.com are good for getting a feel for what people who own the cameras think but sometimes the more you read the more confused you become!
I think if I planned to buy a camera for travelling image stabilisation would be my primary concern because your pics will probably be taken off the cuff rather than on planned trips out with a tripod. From what I've read the Panasonic camera has very good IS. Some people on dpreview have said they've taken long exposure handheld shots without a tripod that they'd never have thought possible before. I think the IS on the Fuji camera only works in certain modes (I'm open to correction) whereas in the Panasonic FZ18 camera it works in all modes. That's probably true of lots of other cameras too but I don't know much about them.

thebaz

For a bridge camera the panasonic fz8 , looks best buy , 250 euros , is a good price , i'm thinking of getting one myself (trading in a rarely used p&s).
It has IS, and all good manual capabilities, along with a Leica lens, and 12x optical zoom.
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/583759/art/panasonic/lumix-dmc-fz8-lumix-black.html

jank

Thanks for all the help. Never knew panasonic made camera's never mind good ones!