Advice Please

[nursejudy]

I am being led to believe that i can have a new camera,is it best to have one for xmas or wait till the jan sales

the three camera's i have been looking at are as follows

Canon Powershot S3 1S

panasonic Lumix DMC -FZ50

Sony DSC-H5 Cyber shot

which do I go for? or any other ides

all advice gratefully recieved

judy

[Steve Randles]

Given the nature of the Jan sales, and how much you can save I think it would be prudent to wait. How much is available to spend Judy?

 

Steve...

[Gillies]

Very tough choice in the cameras - all three of them seem to be the best in the compact digitals available just now from reading up on the reviews, neither of them will dissapoint you. I guess it will come down to which features you like best on any of them and the price you get it for ... do you want more megapixels, more zoom, better quality ... maybe one or two places will have ones on sale after xmas.

 

If you are not wanting to go down the Canon or Nikon SLR route like most people have gone ... then from these three cameras your looking at, if I were you I would go for the Panasonic, from what Im reading on various sites its great up to ISO 200, Leica glass, and boasts a whole host of features that better or are on a par with the other two cameras ........ BUT no matter which one you choose, all three will give you great photos!

 

Gillies

Edited December 11, 2006 by Gillies

[poledark]

Hi Judy, as you know, I advised you to get the Canon, but as Gillies has said, the Panasonic possibly has the edge.

 

I know you want to get some bird shots, so the big zooms will help you to get in closer, without the horrendous expense incurred with a DSLR.

 

6mpx is more than sufficient for good quality prints up to 8" x 6".

 

Don't be put off by anyone rubbishing Digital zoom, I use it a lot on my Nikon 8800 (now discontinued). Certainly will get you good shots up to 2X digital, use a tripod though

 

Converters are also available and will turn a 12x zoom (400mm ?) into a super zoom of 560mm (1.4x) or 680mm with a 1.7 lens. If you then add a bit of digi zoom, you are up in the 1000mm range......all in one package

 

I read many reviews/comments that a 28x70 (approx) lens is "more than adequate" for most shots, and maybe it is, but you will very soon want to get in closer, and then you have to start spending BIG money if you go for a DSLR.

 

Another thing to consider is DUST....it will become a problem one day if you go SLR....just look at the number of adverts for cleaning kits, at least a dozen different makers, you wont get that problem with a compact.

 

 

 

I honestly think you will never need to consider another camera for many years to come

 

Den "just my two pence worth"

[Yogi]

We all have our favourites and would advise with our own options. I'm a Canon person but I also have a Kodak Z740 which is such a brill camera, can't fault it for anything. The pictures are superb. My barn owl picture was done with the Kodak at 5 mega pixle (hope you've seen it), however, the newer ones are 6 or even 7.2 pixle. And the zoom is good too.

 

At the moment buying a camera is like buying a car - so many to choose from and it all depends what your personal requirements are.

 

We can advise so much but it boils down to personal preferance. Some of the write-ups in the mags are good but even the mags are expensive these days.

 

Happy Hunting

 

Yogi.

[Hellbelly]

This site has a lot if good info, reviews etc etc. I found a forum in there that had a heap of questions (mostly about problems) about specific models.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

 

I'd never buy another Sony after the dust problems I've had (and its wide spread), even though I'm quite fond of it and its features.

 

HB.

 

PS, just found this while looking for some lens info for myself.

 

OKYO Sony Corp. (6758.TO) said Friday it has found defects in some of its popular Cyber-shot digital cameras, the latest quality problem to strike the Japanese company whose image was severely tarnished by a massive battery recall earlier this year.

 

The electronics maker said in a statement that liquid crystal display screens of eight camera models might not display images correctly, saved images might be distorted or cameras might not take photos at all.

 

Sony has shipped a total of about 1 million units of the models in question, of which 0.4% had been reported to have been affected so far, a company spokesman said. Sony will fix for free cameras that show signs of the problems. He declined to comment on the cost that Sony may have to bear to address the problems, which only affect models sold in the domestic market.

 

 

The problems with the cameras put the spotlight back on Sony’s quality control. It is the latest in a series of quality-related setbacks for Sony, which recently appointed an executive to spearhead quality and safety management across the company, whose operations span production of consumer electronics like LCD televisions and computers to movies and entertainment.

 

Glitches in Sony-made lithium ion laptop batteries that it supplied to the world’s biggest computer makers forced it to recall up to 9.6 million battery packs, triggering huge costs that contributed to a 94% plunge in its net profit for the July-September quarter. Snowballing costs to develop and bring to market its PlayStation 3, whose European launch was delayed by problems Sony faced in producing a key component of the game machine in sufficient quantities, also weighed on its earnings in that quarter.

 

 

The troubles reflect the growing difficulty of maintaining quality amid the rising use of increasingly complicated electronic devices and shorter lead times for product development, said Kazuharu Miura, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.

 

“This isn’t a problem only for Sony,” he said.

 

Other consumer electronics makers, and other manufacturers including automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp., will need to address this issue to maintain the quality of their products, he said.

 

As new technologies have been developed, Sony uses more devices that are equipped with computers. As a result, the company is now more vulnerable to problems with computer programs.

 

On top of this, Sony is forced to develop more advanced products in a shorter time period to react more quickly to consumer demand. This pressure to develop upgraded products in a limited timeframe raises the risk of errors and defects, Miura said.

 

Sony has shipped a total of about 1 million units of the models in question in Japan, of which 0.4% had been reported to have been affected so far, a spokesman said. The company has also sold the affected models overseas, but can’t say how many have been shipped or what proportion had been affected, the spokesman said.

 

Sony will fix for free cameras that show signs of the problems. He declined to comment on the cost that Sony may have to bear to address the problems.

Edited December 11, 2006 by Hellbelly

[Yogi]

This site has a lot if good info, reviews etc etc. I found a forum in there that had a heap of questions (mostly about problems) about specific models.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

 

I'd never buy another Sony after the dust problems I've had (and its wide spread), even though I'm quite fond of it and its features.

 

HB.

 

I'd never buy another Sony anything. I've had problems with ALL Sony stuff I've bought. It all seems to be programmed to pack up one week after the guarantee runs out. Wouldn't recommend it at all.

 

Yogi.

[nursejudy]

thanks guys

not sure how much money is available ,my other half just wants me to get the right one!!!! my little sonyDSC W12 has been good fun,but i never seem to have the right lens on ,the zoom on the camera is x3 and i have a wide angle lens and an extra zoom of 1.5 i think,its the zoom i am after really,and the simpler the better,as Den says i would love to get some bird shots!!!! ..once again thanks

judy

ps can i get the convertors den was talking about for the panasonic....i have been reading the reviews on the Dp review site.

Edited December 11, 2006 by nursejudy

[poledark]

Judy, not sure about the Panasonic FZ50, but a 1.7 converter is availabe for the FZ30.

 

Tha Canon has a fold out screen...very useful, I tend to use my fold out screen a lot.............lots of situations where camera is on tripod with remote leads, and screen angled to suit

 

Interesting feature of the Pan is the extra zoom available by lowering the pixel count...up to 19x optical !

 

I can't find a review of the FZ50 anyone help?

 

Den

[Yogi]

It'll be a wise thing to shop around. I got my Kodak Z740 in Argos and as I said its a brill little camera. Kodak have a good on-line shop. My Z740 is auto focus from 38 - 380, its got a X10 optical zoom. As with most camera's it does black and white as well as sepia. It also has a video function. It can be programmed for either aperture priority, shutter priority, full manual or full auto. However, it is only 5 MP, the more up-to-date ones are either 6 or 7.2.

 

Yogi.