Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Sorry, to bring this thread back but I thought it was better than starting a new one. I never went for the S9600 but am still looking for a similar camera.

I have come across this Panasonic one and it seems to have really good reviews. Any one use it before?

Most places have it at about £400 but amazon has it for £289.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DM...bs_ce_title_11

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Not that particular model but I've tried a couple of the older Lumix's and they're excellent with nice Leica optics. I would have one of those over a Sony or a Fuji any day for eg. It looks like a good choice of bridge camera but bearing in mind the size of the thing I'm guessing that you're after more of an SLR type feel/features so would you not consider going for a Nikon D40?

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

I'm not ready yet for a full SLR and all the additional costs involved. I would like a camera that I can try out some of the manual features that SLR cameras give, without out having all the separate lenses until I am more confident with photography.

I did enter a Photography contest at work for a 2008 calender and managed to win a place on the calender :)

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

I would certainly rethink your DSLR position for the following reasons:

1. Buying a DSLR which comes with a kit lens (the Canon EF-S 18-55 is the one that springs to mind) will be likely to deliver better quality than the fixed lens of most mid-ranged bridge cameras. The EF-S, as kit lenses go, is actually very good, pretty sharp and doesn't really suffer from barrel distortion.

2. You have all the same settings, including automatic 'point-and-shoot' on the consumer DSLRs (such as the Canon EOS 400D), so in theory should should be able to get the same results if not better out of it than you would a bridge camera.

3. The viewfinder is 'through-the-lens' which means that you take a picture of what the lens actually sees. Most bridge camera will have a duplicate LCD screen, albiet very small, as the viewfinder, in addition to the large one that many people use to compose their shot. Through the lens is always better.

4. If you break the lens on your DSLR, and people do, you can throw it away and pick up another one on eBay for less than 50 quid. You can't do that if it's fixed to the camera on a bridge.

5. When/if you do feel limited by the lens/lenses you've got - there are literally thousands of replacements to suit whatever types of photography you're doing. From a wonderful 50mm lens that costs about 60 quid and if brilliant for portraits with an outstanding blurred background right up to an 800mm lens that will set you back thousands and is ideal for wildlife and sports photography. And of course everything in between...such as fisheye, tilt/shift lenses for photos of buildings that are of correct perspective, image stabilised lenses for low-light shots, etc etc. And you can get one lens for a couple of hundred quid that will cover 200% greater focal lengths than most bridge cameras, easily. Which means you can take full-frame photos of things 200% bigger, or 200% further away.

6. If you ever want to do studio photography, with proper studio lighting, you'll be unlikely on most bridge cameras to be able to make it work properly...all Canons and Nikons and most of the others, work out of the box in a studio - which opens up another world of creativity to you.

Obviously the decision is yours - lots of other factors need to be considered too - and undoubtedly many tasks are performed very well by bridge cameras - but there's nothing a bridge camera can do that a DSLR cannot - but the opposite is not the case.

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Nicely put Andygrif.

As posted by myself in another photography thread is also now apt here.

I thought about a compact but then I thought about thinking ahead a bit further. It all depends on if you just want to take snaps or experiment and play around a bit. I wanted to try a bit of manual photography, nothing serious but a bit of achievement and see some different results than what a compact can do.

Ok you can't carry a dSLR around with you all the time but I wouldn't want to carry a compact around with me all the time either. But if I know I'm going somewhere where I might need the camera then it's no problem at the end of the day.

Besides I wouldn't trade in a 200mm lens now for anything.

I now have some (so I've been told) some very good pictures hanging on my walls that I have taken, that I'm sure I wouldn't have bothered to take or have gone out of my way to take using a compact and to me, that's the difference, as with dSLRs you see things just that slightly differently because you can.

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Thanks for the advice guys. I wouldn't call it a compact though as the body is about the size of an SLR, and it has manual focus and zoom using rings on the barrel which is like an SLR.

I am looking at that Panasonic as it will allow me to get shots on a decent focal range and not have to change lenses or anything. Once I am more confident and if I ever tried to get more proffessional with my photography then I will of course get an SLR but I don't feel ready yet.

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

If you go down the SLR route you can pick up the D40 for around the same price as the Panasonic right now. The 400D is a tad more expensive but will offer you a greater choice of lenses on the upgrade path and as andygrif says the EF-S kit lens you get with the camera is very good and you can pick up Canon's own f1.8 50mm lens for £60-80 which gives you a walkabout lens with great low light capability.

I already had an EOS5 35mm and some L lenses so decided to go for the 400D when I went digital. I mainly do motorsport and aviation and there are situations when subjects get too close for say a 100-400 and changing lenses would be very impractical so I usually keep a compact to hand for these situations rather than lose the shot.

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

It might be worth picking up a copy of What Digital Camera, the Jan 2008 issue dropped through the letterbox this morning so it should be in the shops on Monday.

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Going down the Canon dSLR route if you fancy a bit of optical zoom B&H are currently showing a used Canon EF1200 in stock

.... for $99,000 ;)

Re: Photography Question - Digi Cam
 

Anyone consdering the S9600 may be advised to hang on a bit. It looks like Fujifilm are about to anounce it's successor, the S100Pro. If you prefer the S9600 then prices should plumet soon otherwise hang on for the new camera. However, it looks as if it might be pricey - $799!

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/9800/82bybh5vk7.jpg

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=26282015