Digital Camera Advice - Point and Shoots?

[Skippman]

I'm looking to replace my old Nikon CoolPix 5.1mp camera with something a little more modern and feature rich. I travel quite a bit and had considered SLR's but decided against them due to cost and portability factors. That puts me back into the range of the point and shoots. I'm looking at some of the higher end gear in that area though. Particularly the Mega Zoom point and shoot.

My Requirements:

Must have at least 8x optical Zoom
Must be at least 8mp
Must do well with motion shots
And I would prefer something that does decent low light shots.

Right now I'm looking at the Panasonic DCM-ZR7 which I really like and the Sony Cyber-Shot DCS-HX5 which I've yet to get any hands on experience with.

Any advice?

[skier]

don't think anyone would disagree with a canon powershot, but i'm not sure they go that high-end

[Apoptosis]

The Panasonic Panasonic DMC-ZR 7 is nice, but I'm Canon all the way...

The Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS Digital ELPH is their flagship model and it's nice. Here is a link to it - http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contr ... elid=20024

Loaded with first-of-its-kind features and high-end capabilities, the Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS Digital ELPH gives ELPH lovers all new reasons to step up. Never before has Canon equipped an ELPH with a back-illuminated CMOS sensor-driven HS SYSTEM or an f/2.0 lens - both of which deliver incredible images in low light. And shooting action or sporting events has never been so fun, with High-Speed Burst mode and the Super Slow Motion Movie function to mix things up. You'll control shots like a pro with Aperture- and Shutter-priority modes, and play your 720p HD movies effortlessly on your HDTV. All this from a super-slim style icon - what more could you ask?

Personally I was thinking about getting the Canon PowerShot SD980 IS Digital ELPH or Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS Digital ELPH to take with me to Taiwan later this month just due to the size of them and that they are both under $200. They are f/2.8 lenses though... Not the f/2 that the SD4000 IS has to offer.

[Skippman]

That Canon definalty is nice, but it has does not have the optical zoom capability of the Panasonic or the Sony. I need this feature for taking shots while skiing and hiking. I do like the 28mm lense though.

I'm taking a trip to Australia and New Zealand this year and want to get the best camera I can afford to take pictures with.

[vbironchef]

I just bought my wife a Canon PowerShot S90 for her birthday and she likes it. here's the link http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contr ... elid=19210 I must say you are asking a lot from a little camera. They usually do one or two things good, but not everything. I guess you have to find what's right for your type of picture taking.

Edit: cnet has reviews of their top picks for compact cameras. http://reviews.cnet.com/best-compact-ca ... contentNav Like I said before you must consider what type of pictures you will be shooting. Maybe you need a video camera and a pocket camera as well. It wouldn't hurt to have both anyway. Have fun on your trip.

[Skippman]

I finally found someone in town here who carries the Sony Cyber-Shot DCS-HX5V. Ultimate Electronics. Going there seemed to be about as fruitful as asking someone at Jiffy Lube how to rebuild an engine. At least I got to get some hands on experience with it.

Thoughts:

Optical Zoom is of excellent quality for the size and format.
Menues are easy to navigate and the on screen display easy to read.
The twilight setting seems interesting (takes 6 shots and interpolates them to produce the image)
The digital panorama function is interesting but still suffers from a pseudo-fisheye style distortion
Low light photo's tended to be overly warm and almost yellowish tinged.

Now mind you this was all with the auto settings and zero experience with the camera. I'd love to get the opinion of someone who actually knows more about cameras than I do. I keep waiting for Creve Cour Camera to get some in so I can pick their brains about it. I still love the Panasonic though and am finding this to be a difficult decision.

[Apoptosis]

yeah, my knowledge is shooting under 15 feet... Can't help you for distance shots like you are looking for.

I've been searching the past week for a replacement for my Canon SD770 IS... Not sure what I am going to do either... Looking in the $200 range myself. The SD980 IS for $199 doesn't look to be a bad upgrade from the SD770 IS though. The Canon SD780 IS can be found for $150, both are DIGIC IV.

[FZ1]

The Panasonic Panasonic DMC-ZR 7 is nice, but I'm Canon all the way...

These Panasonics are nice...I think they have a ZS3 model which has a nice zoom. My LX3 is a killer P&S camera but it has very little zoom which is fine for me as I'd rather have it's low-light performance and use my DSLR for longer shots.

[Apoptosis]

I'd rather have it's low-light performance and use my DSLR for longer shots.

Same here... Got the SLR for distance and the money shots and I use the compact for travel and fun use.

[Skippman]

I unfortuatly don't have the budget for both, nor the desire to carry around a large bulky SLR when backpacking. So I guess I'll just keep looking.

[eunoia]

Canon SX120IS

Has all your criteria, 10X optical, 10.0 MP, optical and digital image stabilization, up to 1600 ISO, shutter priority program, night snapshot program.

May be a slight bit bulkier than the ones you mention, but lens quality is important when zooming. Also, speed is mentioned as a con in a review here:

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras ... 65882.html

Not sure how is performs vs. yours in rapid series shots.

[KnightRid]

I love my Panasonic DMC-FZ7. I have been looking at the newer DMC-FZ35 for more mp and bigger zoom but have not pulled the trigger yet.

Main complaint is the low light functionality. Maybe i can set something on the camera to make it better at taking pics in low light but i am no camera enthusiast, so I never bothered looking at the settings ;)

Mike

[FZ1]

I love my Panasonic DMC-FZ7. I have been looking at the newer DMC-FZ35 for more mp and bigger zoom but have not pulled the trigger yet.

Main complaint is the low light functionality. Maybe i can set something on the camera to make it better at taking pics in low light but i am no camera enthusiast, so I never bothered looking at the settings ;)

Mike

ISO FTW

[Major_A]

I considered getting the Panasonic DMC-ZS3R's older model the Panasonic DMC-TZ5S. From the research I conducted from a price/performance/size ration the Panasonic Lumix series is the way to go.

If it helps I own a Canon SD-1000 and it works pretty well. Once you get comfortable with the settings and can fine tune settings the pictures come out really well.

Side note: My sister owns a Kodak P&S and it is a giant piece of garbage. It takes 10.3 MP pictures but every one of them is blurry. Come to find out talking to her it's broke, sounds like the battery is bad.

[Skippman]

I spent the day at Creve Cour Camera and Ultimate Electronics yesterday compairing the Sony and the Panasonic. The Sony produced the quickest motion shots and their 10 shot burst mode featuer was pretty impressive but all of the pictures appeared soft while the Panasonic's pictures were sharp and chrisp. True it's not as fast, but the shots it took were of higher quality. I also tried a Casio camera that sported an awe inspiring 40 shots per second burst mode. The pictures appeared bleached and without warmth so I passed on it.

I compared both prints and the true digital image using my netbook both as a double blind. The Panasonic won in almost every catagory but the burst mode. I can live with that. Looking on Buy.Com I was able to snag the Panasonic DMC-ZS7 for $316 shipped which is $100 less than full retail.

I'll let you guys know what I think about it after I've played with it for a while. Some features like the apature priority and shutter priority probably won't get much use from me in the beginning until I get comfortable with the camera.

[FZ1]

I'm sure you'll like it. Panasonic makes some really nice P&S cameras.