Canon SD850 or Panasonic DCM-FZ8K-Any inputs

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blueyesdude

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Hey guys,its been a long time since i posted.

Thanksgiving deals are going out here and there are mind-blowing deals.

Last i saw coolermaster extreme 500w was on sale for $5.:S

Neways,me going for a digcam.

Narrowed down to Canon SD850 IS or Panasonic DCM-FZ8K(12x optical zoom/SLR body)

Both of them are around $240.

If anyone has more suggestions at that price range please fell free to comment.

Thank you.
 
^Not at high ISOs though.. stick to IS050/100/200 max. At higher ISO levels, there is very high NR, leading to a blurry mess.
 
I will recommend the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 (DMC-TZ3)...it has the same inherent high ISO issues (starts from ISO 400 or so). But its a Leica lens with 10x optical zoom.....sells for arnd 240$ in amazon with free shipping. Ur choices seems to be varied...one is a compact whereas other is a big as an entry level SLR

Here is one review of the camera

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

As of the A710IS....I dont recommend the A series from Canon at all....better off buying a Sony W80 or a Canon SD850
 
Canon SD870 IS:

Conclusion - Pros

* Good image quality (at lower ISO settings)

* Accurate metering in the majority of situations

* Very useful lens range with surprisingly good edge-to-edge performance

* Useful and adaptable Auto ISO-shift function

* Handy macro performance at wide end of lens

* Large, bright, clear screen

* Looks and feels well designed, handling better than expected

* Feels fast and responsive in use

* Superb build quality and finish

* Direct print button can be customized into something more useful

Conclusion - Cons

* AiAF/Face detection a little haphazard

* Occasional tendency to ignore (and overexpose) bright regions

* Touch wheel slightly awkward

* Image quality suffers above ISO 400 due to noise and noise reduction issues

* Easily scratched and scuffed

* Manual control limited

* Average battery life

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8:

Conclusion - Pros

* Excellent resolution & sharp results

* Good, natural color and excellent exposure

* Superb 12x optical zoom

* Smooth, almost stepless 2-speed zoom

* Effective image stabilization

* Small and light, but well built

* Comprehensive range of controls

* Very fast operation

* Fast (and accurate) focus using 'High Speed' option

* Well designed menu system

* Nice handling and improved controls

* Easy to use

* Bright, clear, high resolution LCD screen

* Excellent EVF, big improvement

* Decent burst mode and fast card writing

* Powerful flash

* Excellent battery life

* Good movie mode

* Usable raw mode (approx 3 second shot-to-shot with a fast card)

* Powerful raw convertor (SILKYPIX) included

* Lots of in-camera image adjustments

* Superb value for money

Conclusion - Cons

* Some areas of performance actually worse than predecessor

* Noise is, as usual, a bit of a problem at lower ISO settings

* ISO 400+ noise reduction produces color bleeding and loss of low contrast detail

* Default noise reduction too high at all ISO settings (use low NR setting)

* Limited dynamic range, highlight clipping in JPEGs

* Default contrast a bit on the high side

* Occasional (mild) fringing

* Occasional focus hunting at long end of zoom in low light and in macro mode

* Slight video lag in live preview makes very short shutter lag rather pointless

Sony Cyber-shot W80:

Conclusion - Pros

* Good resolution, particularly in the middle of the frame

* Nice design - very slim, all-metal body

* HDTV output

* Decent macro

* Good image quality in good light; bright, sharp images with immediate 'consumer friendly' appeal

* Very reliable exposure system in most shooting conditions

* Face Detection works well and is fast

* Accurate flash exposures

* Lots of detail at lowest ISO settings

* Easy to use with attractive interface

Conclusion - Cons

* Slow, unreliable focus in low light

* Combined effects of noise and noise reduction at high ISO's and in low light produces poor results

* Noise reduction effects visible even at low ISO settings

* Fiddly controls and fancy fade effects which make menus feel unresponsive

* Screen is low res, has low refresh rate in low light and isn't that bright

* Strong red-eye even with red-eye reduction mode

* Fairly weak flash with fairly slow recycling

* Multi AF can get confused in busy scenes and focus on the wrong area

* Image stabilization doesn't seem particularly effective

* HDTV output requires additional equipment

* Minor issues with highlight clipping and color fringing and flare

* Some corner/edge softness

* No manual (custom) white balance

Canon PowerShot A710 IS:

Conclusion - Pros

* Good resolution

* Clean and detailed results across the frame and zoom range

* Useful 35-210mm equiv. 6x zoom lens

* Effective image stabilization

* Fairly light noise reduction means less fine detail is lost at higher ISO settings (though see below)

* Fast, reliable focus

* Reliable exposure and white balance and accurate color (though a bit too 'vivid' by default)

* Sophisticated and comprehensive features and controls

* Good range of in-camera tonal and color adjustments

* Excellent build quality for a 'budget' camera

* Very little purple fringing

* Compact and lightweight

* Big, fairly bright (though low res) screen

* Excellent battery life from 2x NiMH batteries

* Good balance of noise reduction and detail retention at higher ISO settings

* Excellent macro mode

* Excellet movie quality

* Optional add-on lenses, filters, 40m underwater case and slave flash

* Good value for money

Conclusion - Cons

* Highlight clipping and occasional over-exposure in bright, contrasty conditions

* Combined card / battery compartment can make changing cards without losing the batteries fiddly

* Zoom is a bit jumpy (not enough steps between 35 and 210mm)

* No dedicated button for ISO and no custom modes / shortcuts

* Our sample had occasional auto orientation errors (landscape shots being tagged for rotation unnecessarily)

* Slow flash recycling (and fairly slow shot-to-shot times in general)

* Low res and very slightly laggy screen

* Images a bit soft viewed at 100% - benefit from a little sharpening

* ISO 400 and 800 do look quite noisy

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3:

Conclusion - Pros

* Uniquely versatile compact with 28-280mm equiv. lens

* Excellent resolution, surprisingly sharp lens

* Unusually versatile aspect ratio options

* High quality construction for the price

* Little (if any) color fringing

* Very low distortion

* Good shot-to-shot speed

* Reliable white balance with fine tuning

* Feels fast and responsive with some important improvements over predecessor

* High speed (and accurate) focus; near class-leading performance

* Superb, bright, high-resolution 3.0-inch screen

* Decent movie mode with 848 x 480 pixel 30fps wide screen option

* Image stabilization works well

* Histogram in record and playback mode, full on-screen exposure information

* Excellent on-screen menus and control system

* New 'natural' and 'vivid' color options

* Easy - and fun - to use

* Good value for money

Conclusion - Cons

* Heavy noise reduction - make ISO 400+ usable only for small prints

* NR smoothing/smearing of fine detail and texture even at ISO 100 (and fairly strong at ISO 200)

* Mild vignetting at widest zoom setting / maximum aperture

* No manual control of shutter speed or aperture (not a huge issue to most users)

* Images look a little soft and flat using default settings

* Separate sharpness, saturation and contrast controls would have been nice!

* Occasional exposure problems and clipped highlights when shooting in bright light

* Closest focus not close enough, macro mode slows down focus and is not that impressive

* Focus hunting at long end of the zoom in low light and near close focus limit

* No longer allows zooming during movies

Canon SD800 IS:

Conclusion - Pros

* Good resolution, good color

* Useful and fairly rare 28-105mm zoom range

* Clean, detailed results at lower ISO settings

* Reliable exposure system

* Fast and accurate focus

* Very responsive

* Excellent user interface, easy to use

* Face detection AF/AE (it works most of the time but is a bit of a novelty)

* Effective image stabilization

* Superb build quality and styling

* Decent macro mode

* Punchy results out of camera

* Decent flash performance

* Large, bright, high resolution screen & optical viewfinder

* High quality movie mode

* External ISO control

Conclusion - Cons

* AiAF focus a bit unpredictable - turn it off

* Very little manual control

* ISO 200 and 400 suffer from the effect of noise reduction and loss of low contrast detail

* ISO 800 and 1600 of limited use

* Finish very susceptible to marks and scratches

* Still no exposure information for shutter speeds over 1/60 sec

* Some corner softness and some highlight clipping

Source: Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ

Now choose yourself :)
 
It will confuse him more :P

As of the A710IS its not upto the mark in pace with the Digital Ixus/SD series. Actually the DIGIC III processor makes the SD series real fast & snazzy. Plus the colors also seem to be more natural :)
 
A710 IS is outdated now. There are better options out there. One thing to remember is that all super zoom cameras have compromised lenses. No 10x zoom lens is going to perform well unless its ridiculously expensive like a canon 28-300 or a nikon 18-200 VR. Sticking with lower zoom ranges like 3x or 4x is guaranteed to give you a better lens.
 
^^ Ya its true abt the 10x optical zoom cams....but compare in the 250$ range and u will see that the Lumix TZ 3 is a quite a good one as within that budget u can get only get cameras like W80, SD800 etc.Nothing compared to what u have....but keeping budget in mind Lumix TZ3 is a very good choice considering its wide angle and good range
 
hmm,well there are pretty good reviews abt panasonic fz8 considering its 12x optical zoom.Even DPreview tags it as highly recommended.

There are noise issues at high iso,but if you are below that u are fine.I am little more inclined towards it partucularly because of the superzoom and the image quality is quite good enough from the sample photos at dpreview.

Wat say?
 
Are you even going to use the superzoom? Or do you even care about the high ISOs?

Wide angle and portability are desired for home users. and image stabilization is a big plus. The A710IS is a pretty good buy considering these aspects. And does the Panasonic have an optical viewfinder? This is quite useful if you want to avoid blurry images and/or save power by turning off the LCD.

How do you feel about the Canon 6xx series? These series have a flip-twist screen that you can protect when the camera is not in use. Just take a look at those also.
 
Supra said:
^^ Ya its true abt the 10x optical zoom cams....but compare in the 250$ range and u will see that the Lumix TZ 3 is a quite a good one as within that budget u can get only get cameras like W80, SD800 etc.Nothing compared to what u have....but keeping budget in mind Lumix TZ3 is a very good choice considering its wide angle and good range

For a superzoom in the $250 range, the Canon SX100 is really good too..

Newegg.com - Canon PowerShot SX100 IS Black 8.0 MP Digital Camera 1/2.5" CCD 2.5" 172K LCD 10X Optical Zoom 4X Digital Zoom

samples

SX100 Visits Morocco: Canon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
SX100 sees the light of day: Canon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

There are many samples in the dpreview forums.

Comparison with a720is
First impression with A720 and SX100: Canon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
But mind you, the video quality of the sx100 is horrible..
 
The S5IS is a great cam and specially at the US price of ~$320 (iirc).. Go for it if you can and dont mind the size.
 
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