Camera Advice needed for a good Ultra Zoom Camera for newbie starting with photography

ronnie_gogs

ronnie_gogs

Morphing from a Geek to a Nerd
Skilled
I want to get into photography

Guys after reading a tinkering with my basic Kodak M883 I found that its basically a just a Birthday party camera good for a few shots.... Well I have used it for over clicking 2000 pics so I am not complaining about the cam

So thought its time to upgrade my cam if I want to get into photography.....

A good camera with full manual control, wide and ultra zoom and good IQ

Budget 18k.... (non room to make it 24k or anything :bleh: )

The reason I cam thinking of a compact and not a DSLR
1) I am a newbie
2) For a same specs in a DSLR I will need a UW lens, Macro lens and a telephoto lens so I am assuming that would set me back by 60-80k or more which I can't afford
3) DSLR upgrade only when I am confident of using a good compact and find DSLR to be a good upgrade.
4) It will be used as a compact for travel photography and nature photography

Requirements

1) More than 15X Zoom
2) Decent wide angle
3) Good picture quality with no noise to ISO 400
4) Good for night photograghy
5) Light Body
6) RAW mode (optional)
Candidates so far
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
Sony Cybershot DSC H50
Nikon P80
Olympus SP 565UZ
FujiFilm Finepix S8100
Olympus SP 560UZ

Out of Range
Canon SX10 IS

The model which I like the most now :eek:hyeah:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 review Cameralabs introduction
[youtube]2iJo0yAYcNA[/youtube]

Looking for advice on what to look for and tips in selecting a cam....
 
FZ28 over the other choices you have listed any single day. Incidentally, there is a 16-page comprehensive comparison on dpreview of all these cameras. Click HERE.
 
gforce said:
FZ28 over the other choices you have listed any single day. Incidentally, there is a 16-page comprehensive comparison on dpreview of all these cameras. Click HERE.
Click to expand...

thanks for the link :hap2:

really helpful ....
 
FZ28 has been my fave choice for a while now. The 27mm wide-angle and speed is a really good combo.

Some of the Oly 26-520 are also interesting choices...but you're best served by going over to that dpreview shootout - very nicely done and the FZ wins easily.

'Super Zoom' Camera Group Test (Q1 2009) Review: 16. Conclusions and ratings: Digital Photography Review

You're not entirely right on the DSLR argument though...a Sony Alpha A300 + 18-250 lens gives you exactly the same package with more speed, better dof control and cleaner IQ. But yeah, its a heckuva lot more expensive and bulkier. :D (1000$!)

Cheers!

Payne
 
There's a statement in that review i.e. the superzooms cannot give image quality like the high-end compacts. I'm curious....can I expect better IQ from a high end compact vs the FZ28? If so, which ones are they referring to?
 
Just cam back from the Croma and another store to get a feel of the cameras

Conclusions

1) Sony HC50 Electronic Viewfinder is tiny I could barely see anything

2) Canon SX10 Good sturdy cam with a good grip but a bit heavy

3) Olympus SP565 16k now Best grip of the lot and feels good to hold it

4) Nikon P80 .... Good cam with a good grip

5) Kodak Nothing striking...

6) Finally the FZ28 .... decent to hold.... lightest of all the cameras

feels a bit plastic... But other than that I liked the camera.....

Grey Price for FZ28 quoted 17.5k

On ebay I am getting it for 18k....with 1 year warranty and with coupon it will be 17.5k so I guess thats a good option.....

PS : Only the Canon Sx10 and FZ28 can be used with the optical zoom when filming a video... All others are digital zoom in Video....

I know its not related to photography but 720p at 18X sounds good to me... :p

Video with zoom in use :p

[youtube]azAJ2T1r_Ew[/youtube]

I really like this cam now..... heart almost set on it :)
 
ronnie_gogs said:
Only the Canon Sx10 and FZ28 can be used with the optical zoom when filming a video... All others are digital zoom in Video....

I know its not related to photography but 720p at 18X sounds good to me... :p
Click to expand...

well sony h50 also optical zooms,the panasonic is the best thanks to wider lens and being a leica,while the sony H50 also has a decent lens zeiss but doesnt goes as wide and far as the panasonic.
 
i read H50 has very poor ISO performance above ISO100 itself!

also,dont get a DSLR for your first camera,a friend of mine did so and is struggling with a 1000d
 
touzeen said:
i read H50 has very poor ISO performance above ISO100 itself!

also,dont get a DSLR for your first camera,a friend of mine did so and is struggling with a 1000d
Click to expand...

well H50 has similar or better iso performance then panasonic fz28.at H50 does high iso low light shots better then fz28.
 
Well the Sony is out of my consideration now and I did not like the view finder(tiny) and price too....

Also Sony zoom is 15x... price almost same as FZ28....

And according to DP review the Optical IS does not work so well compared to the Canon and Panasonic.....

Sony H50 lost marks for its smaller zoom range, fiddly controls and tiny, low resolution viewfinder (it also has the most destructive noise reduction and least effective image stabilizatoin of the trio), leaving the Canon SX10 IS and Panasonic FZ28 vying for the top spot.
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Source : http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q109superzoomgroup/page16.asp

And another thing I found is that the for zoom the sony uses + and - buttons unlike the dial in others which I really like :)

sony_h50_back.jpg


PanaFZ28_top_right_controls.jpg


I am almost decided on the FZ28 for now....
 
go in for a Sony H50. But since they have now incr the price you also have the NIKON P90 (Not P80 ) at about 24.5K
Both are equally god. I use a H50 and I got it in May end last year as soon as it was released. I have no complains with it. I use it extensively and it has intelligent AUTO modes and huge manual settings also. Best of both worlds.....
 
i dont know why everyone missed fujifilm s100 fs......i know its on the higher price range.....but its worth.....take a look at that also.....its a gem of a camera....
 
docguha said:
i dont know why everyone missed fujifilm s100 fs......i know its on the higher price range.....but its worth.....take a look at that also.....its a gem of a camera....
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well i know its a great camer i wanted to reccomend that but with a price higher then every entry level dslr even in the grey market its costs about 30k.
 
If i had that much budget I would go for SX1 IS or SX10IS or Sony A200 :p....

but withing my budget FZ28 suits best now....

Will get the cam in a few days :)
 
ronnie_gogs said:
If i had that much budget I would go for SX1 IS or SX10IS or Sony A200 :p....

but withing my budget FZ28 suits best now....

Will get the cam in a few days :)
Click to expand...

well the fuji produces better images then the sx10 and sx1 IS ,and matches the DSLR like A200 in low iso.but the sx1 is realy a waste of money at 32k ,if HD video and high burst rate is important get the sony hx1 rather then the canon sx1.
 
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