Larger travel camera ideas?

[stevewestern]

I know there is already a thread about travel camera's but as my requirements are slightly different I (with help from @redhed17 ) thought it worth starting this one.
With a view to going on a trip to Borneo, Cambodia, Vietnam etc I am looking for something more like a bridge camera that doesn't need to be pocketable, but does need good image quality.
A decent length of zoom like 24-200, a reasonably wide max aperture and good autofocus are important. I don't want to take anything as big and cumbersome as my Fuji X-H1 and a few lenses.
Used is fine, budget is fairly open, so what are my options - any ideas ?

 

[woof woof]

My holiday set is a (FF but small) Sony A7 with the tiny 35mm f2.8 and a TZ100 which is a 1" sensor compact with a 25-250mm zoom.

 

[Topsy]

Hi Steve, I've no idea about those kind of cameras but whatever you end up getting don't forget that in those countries the weather is humid and will take a toll on anything not weathersealed. If it were me I'd think hard about just taking the fuji and a do-it-all WR lens (16-80 springs to mind). Also I'd certainly take a small compact zoom camera as a back up. Good luck with the search.

 

[stevewestern]

My holiday set is a (FF but small) Sony A7 with the tiny 35mm f2.8 and a TZ100 which is a 1" sensor compact with a 25-250mm zoom.

Hi Steve, I've no idea about those kind of cameras but whatever you end up getting don't forget that in those countries the weather is humid and will take a toll on anything not weathersealed. If it were me I'd think hard about just taking the fuji and a do-it-all WR lens (16-80 springs to mind). Also I'd certainly take a small compact zoom camera as a back up. Good luck with the search.

Thank you both. Weather sealing is an obvious factor I'd not mentioned as I'd not thought about it!
I'm just looking at some of the phone pictures my girls have been sending us from their travels (currently in Cambodia) and the quality is just so poor on anything other than a phone screen. I just printed one off to A4 size and it's just not worth it even at arms length.
I'd sort of kept hold of the X-H1 just in case and do have the 18-135 WR and then maybe something like your (@woof woof )TZ100 which my wife might also enjoy using.

 

[Nod]

TBH, I'd take the X-H1 with the 18-135. It's slightly bulkier than a bridge but the IQ is significantly better. A decent compact as a companion to the larger camera is a good idea - my choice is the Sony RX-100 iii but you might be happy with the TZ-100 Panny (I was until I compared shots from it and a mate's Sony.)

 

[stevewestern]

My holiday set is a (FF but small) Sony A7 with the tiny 35mm f2.8 and a TZ100 which is a 1" sensor compact with a 25-250mm zoom.

Alan, what's the focus speed like on the TZ ?
I've just seen that Argos have them on sale for £320 at present..

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

If I want a heavy duty "bridge" camera, I pick up this...



... it's a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 28~300mm lens.

It works for me.

 

[woof woof]

Alan, what's the focus speed like on the TZ ?
I've just seen that Argos have them on sale for £320 at present..

Pretty good (but I don't shoot action,) it's fine for holiday and day out use plus it has eye detect, all the usual modes including aperture, shutter, manual and custom modes and can save as raw.

If you are interested and think that focus could be an issue... I bet there are a load of TZ100 reviews on youtube

 

[Stephen L]

Olympus E-M5 and 12-100?

 

[mstphoto]

My travel setup is the Sony a7c + Tamron 28-200
Occasionally I'll add the Tamron 17-28.

 

[TimHughes]

If I want a heavy duty "bridge" camera, I pick up this...

View attachment 374568

... it's a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 28~300mm lens.

It works for me.

The canon equivalent of this worked for me too…. Until I discovered canon’s L lenses and embarked on the slippery slope.

In answer to the question, I’d also favor taking what you have, possibly adding TZ or RX100.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

The canon equivalent of this worked for me too…. Until I discovered canon’s L lenses and embarked on the slippery slope.

I'm a bit of a Bridge camera addict and have owned and used several. I really enjoyed the original "super bridge camera", Sony's R1...

 

[ancient_mariner]

Stephen L in post #9 has the obvious answer.

I have always found bridge camera picture quality disappointing, and owning one was what made me decide to buy a DSLR. Unfortunately I'll never go back to Zimbabwe and re-shoot those pictures. As pointed out, other people's experience and view of these things is different.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Stephen L in post #9 has the obvious answer.

I have always found bridge camera picture quality disappointing, and owning one was what made me decide to buy a DSLR. Unfortunately I'll never go back to Zimbabwe and re-shoot those pictures. As pointed out, other people's experience and view of these things is different.

The point about Sony's R1 was that it equaled or exceeded the performance of the best dSLRs and dSLR lenses of the time, according to those who measured such things.

I was very happy with my specimen.