Right, folks are after a new cam and are currently looking at LUMIX DMC-FZ30 from Panasonic. Does everything they need, without the expense of them having to buy new lenses etc. It can also be picked up for ~ 300 quid (supposdly) Trying to convince them shelling out a little more and getting a proper DSLR might be a better use of their money... Any thoughts? Cheers chaps
if they are just wanting to point and shoot then a dslr will be a big waste of their money as they are general pretty poor on automatic in my experience.
fz50 is out soon - i wouldn't go for the 30 - has terrible noise issues (a mate has one and is seriously considering upgrading as it's really beginnign to get on his tits). dpreview calls the noise 'an issue' even at ISO80 - and from what i've seen on their review, and the pics my mate takes, i'm inclined to agree. wouldn't go near it with a barge pole. Plus the max ISO is 400 - the fz50 will go up to 1600, which is always handy for point and shooters. here: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0607/06071905panasonicfz50.asp
Bit more of an update: They want to get into Wildlife photography - telephoto lense is the requirement. Basically the like the 12* zoom on the Lumix so would want an equivalent lense if they grabbed a DSLR. Price is also an issue, they wont want to spend 500+ quid @ Fod - Yea noticed those comments - cheers for pointing out the newer model
the 12x zoom on the lumix is about the equivilent of 400mm for 35mm photography. something I looked into the other day was the Canon S3 IS - http://www.cameras2u.com/products/details.cfm?PRODUCT=1101B007AA http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/ It looks the business and seems work quite well.
tbh with shooting wildlife, a DSLR and a long lense is the way to go. unfortunatey, at their budget they can't REALLY go for that. they'd have to spend about double that.
well.. Canon do special add-on lenses for their pro-sumer cameras (S-series iirc) that could prove useful and a cheaper alternative to a fully fledged dSLR.
