Been fighting the temptation to write this thread for ages, since I’m a firm believer most the time what I need to ask is already out there! Anyway, I’m completely torn at the moment as to what direction to go in regarding camera selection. I'm planning on travelling in about 6 months, hoping to choose a camera reasonably early so I can play /practice with it first, since the photos I take I hope to look back on in 20-30 years. My initial plan was to go prosumer/super zoom - to that end I bought the Fuji s9600 of flea bay (had to send it back faulty CF slot), but after playing with it for a while I’m not sure the size is going to be practical. Since sending it back I’ve been looking at compacts like the Fuji 200EXR and Panasonic Lumix 500, however the Lumix seems to suffer at the long and short range of its zoom in image quality, and the Fuji appears to have the battery life of a small dead animal. So with my pointless back story in mind, can any one recommend a compact they've bought recently? Or if anyone’s been travelling, the type of camera they took?
Panasonic Lumix FZ-30 for a bridge camera (or the FZ-27/28 if you have a low budget) or the TZ7 (or TZ5 on a tight budget) for a compact
Yeah, the TZ7 is the best in terms of zoom in a compact body. If you don't need the zoom then look at the LX3 or the G10, but then that depends on your budget. They're probably the only ones I'd consider depending on your needs and how much you want to spend. As you say bridges/superzooms are still too big to be classed as a convenient holiday/travel camera and don't offer appreciably better image quality over high-end compacts.
Other half uses a TZ5 highly, recomended the range though you'll now be looking at the newer tz6 or tz7. doesn't have the best manual controls on the tz5 but the range of zoom and quality of pics is pretty decent, and we've happily carried that around when i couldn't be bothered to crate the d50 and lenses around. as said above if you don't wont the long zoom and pretty wide angle of the tz range but do want more manual controls the panasonic LX3 is great.
I travel with an Olympus 770SW, not that great in terms of image quality, but the build quality is Leica level IMO. Waterproof to 33 feet, survives five foot drops onto concrete, works perfectly fine at -10c, 220lbs crushproof, and has a great feel overall. No part of the camera has any 'give'.. I took it to Egypt, and it was exposed to dust, sand, salt water, etc etc for about two weeks, and it took only a wash in the sink to clean it, the camera still functioned fine. My only gripe is that it only accepts XD cards.. 2GB maximum, and overpriced. I wouldn't travel with any other point and shoot, having broken a pretty expensive Sony Elph a few years ago.. It comes in a few colors, I have the copper colored one. It's a bit old though, but Olympus has come out with many new ones. Quick look at their site, the STYLUS TOUGH-8000 and Stylus 1030SW are the similar ones in terms of durability, no idea how they feel though. Having a near-indestructable camera is more awesome than you would expect. Just my $.02 Of course, if you don't want a small camera like this, a used Canon EOS 10D, the 10D is more solidly built than its successors, it weighs more than the 20D-50D. Still pretty great pictures, low noise.
Thanks Gents, The LX3 and the TZ7 seem to be the likely contenders. (the G10 starting to get on the bulky side from what I can tell in the pictures). Going to mooch down to Jessop’s this afternoon and faint interest in purchasing to play with these two cameras. The trustedreview didn’t mention anything about the battery life on the LX3, anyone got any info on it?
I've heard good things about the LX3 and TZ7. Have you bonded with DPReview.com you can do buying -> side by side and send yourself bonkers comparing different beasts. The reviews are in depth too....
Canon EOS Rebel XSi isn't too bad. For some reason I'm inclined to recommend the AS720 by Canon, it's small and yet quite durable. In addition, it's picture quality isn't to bad, cheap too.
