New camera advice

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ant7609

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Ant
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Hi, new to forum and basically looking for advice on a new compact digital camera as a gift for my wife. I know very little about the subject so would appreciate any comments. She currently has a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 and my budget is around £1000, I'd like to get the best I can for all my budget and not just better the one she has, she uses her camera for the usual holiday photography but has a keen interest. What I don't understand for example is the TZ60 she has, has a 30x optical zoom yet some and some of the newer more expensive cameras don't even come close to this, how come? (this is probably how and why its not my thing)
Thank you very much for taking time to read this and I look forward to any advice you can give me.
Ant

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ant7609 said:
Hi, new to forum and basically looking for advice on a new compact digital camera as a gift for my wife. I know very little about the subject so would appreciate any comments. She currently has a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 and my budget is around £1000, I'd like to get the best I can for all my budget and not just better the one she has, she uses her camera for the usual holiday photography but has a keen interest. What I don't understand for example is the TZ60 she has, has a 30x optical zoom yet some and some of the newer more expensive cameras don't even come close to this, how come? (this is probably how and why its not my thing)
Thank you very much for taking time to read this and I look forward to any advice you can give me.
Ant

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You will get many differing opinions :)

What are her keen interests?

The TZ 60 is an excellent camera for average holiday shots.
 
Sangoma said:
You will get many differing opinions :)

What are her keen interests?

The TZ 60 is an excellent camera for average holiday shots.
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Hello. We do travel a lot so mainly holiday photography but having said that, she takes it fairly seriously. Thanks for your response
 
How many photos does she take at that 30X zoom.
Are more shots actually taken at the wide end?
How big is too big?
Is changing lens an option?
 
alfbranch said:
How many photos does she take at that 30X zoom.
Are more shots actually taken at the wide end?
How big is too big?
Is changing lens an option?
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WOW.....I feared this would happen, I'm already confused, I do know it has 30x zoom but I wouldn't know why and when it would be used.
 
ant7609 said:
WOW.....I feared this would happen, I'm already confused, I do know it has 30x zoom but I wouldn't know why and when it would be used.
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When you zoom in that far a far off object will fill the frame. It is not easy to get sharp shots zoomed in that far.
For my holiday shots I shoot at the wideangle end of things but that is me.
 
Cameras & camera gear can (is?) a very personal thing to the photographer.

So, as you say she takes her photography seriously......though you may wish the gift to be a surprise IMO you need to engage her in the matter, to ensure that you buy her what she really wants.

Your thoughtfulness in buying her a new camera is wonderful so best of luck making a decision but as suggested above with some input from her ;)
 
Box Brownie said:
Cameras & camera gear can (is?) a very personal thing to the photographer.

So, as you say she takes her photography seriously......though you may wish the gift to be a surprise IMO you need to engage her in the matter, to ensure that you buy her what she really wants.

Your thoughtfulness in buying her a new camera is wonderful so best of luck making a decision but as suggested above with some input from her ;)
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I agree
 
ant7609 said:
Hi, new to forum and basically looking for advice on a new compact digital camera as a gift for my wife. I know very little about the subject so would appreciate any comments. She currently has a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 and my budget is around £1000, I'd like to get the best I can for all my budget and not just better the one she has, she uses her camera for the usual holiday photography but has a keen interest. What I don't understand for example is the TZ60 she has, has a 30x optical zoom yet some and some of the newer more expensive cameras don't even come close to this, how come? (this is probably how and why its not my thing)
Thank you very much for taking time to read this and I look forward to any advice you can give me.
Ant

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I assume you’ve had some discussion and know she’d prefer a compact over an interchangeable lens camera and if so here’s some answers to your question.

There are numerous factors that affect the image quality but a big one is the sensor size, in very simple terms the bigger the sensor the better the quality of the image.

Traditional compact cameras such as the TZ60 have a small sensor and only require small lenses to cover this sensor therefore you can get longer lenses (more reach/zoom) in a compact body.

Compact cameras such as the Sony RX100 series have a much larger sensor offering better image quality, but this means that the lens needs to be much bigger and therefore can’t offer the same zoom without increasing bulk massively therefore they have to sacrifice reach/zoom to keep it compact.

The other thing to note is that cameras like the RX100 series have wider aperture lenses meaning more light is let into the camera which will be better for low light photography as it will mean less noise (grain) in the image.

If it was me buying a compact camera I would buy a Sony RX100 series. YMMV.

There are compact cameras with even bigger sensors but these have either a fixed lens (one focal length, no zoom) or they have narrow aperture lenses and below par (imo) performance.
 
If she’s interested in photography, you need to be guided by her rather than random folk from an internet forum as she’ll have a better idea of what she wants from her camera.

A big zoom range generally means compromises elsewhere - either image quality, performance as well as physical size.
 
The Sony RX100 series are generally considered to be the "best" compact camera option. However, if your wife uses the long end of the zoom, to photograph small and/or far away things, it may not be the best bet for her.
 
Craikeybaby said:
The Sony RX100 series are generally considered to be the "best" compact camera option. However, if your wife uses the long end of the zoom, to photograph small and/or far away things, it may not be the best bet for her.
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snerkler said:
I assume you’ve had some discussion and know she’d prefer a compact over an interchangeable lens camera and if so here’s some answers to your question.

There are numerous factors that affect the image quality but a big one is the sensor size, in very simple terms the bigger the sensor the better the quality of the image.

Traditional compact cameras such as the TZ60 have a small sensor and only require small lenses to cover this sensor therefore you can get longer lenses (more reach/zoom) in a compact body.

Compact cameras such as the Sony RX100 series have a much larger sensor offering better image quality, but this means that the lens needs to be much bigger and therefore can’t offer the same zoom without increasing bulk massively therefore they have to sacrifice reach/zoom to keep it compact.

The other thing to note is that cameras like the RX100 series have wider aperture lenses meaning more light is let into the camera which will be better for low light photography as it will mean less noise (grain) in the image.

If it was me buying a compact camera I would buy a Sony RX100 series. YMMV.

There are compact cameras with even bigger sensors but these have either a fixed lens (one focal length, no zoom) or they have narrow aperture lenses and below par (imo) performance.
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I have a RX100 iii and I am not a massive fan my older Olympus XZ-1 had better image stabilisation
 
alfbranch said:
I have a RX100 iii and I am not a massive fan my older Olympus XZ-1 had better image stabilisation
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Odd, I believe both have 2 stops stabilisation and I never found my RX100 III stabilisation lacking. But of course we’re not all going to like the same things, however overall there’s no denying the RX100 III is a better camera in terms of ability, bigger sensor, more mp, newer processor, better AF, pop up evf to name a few things. That doesn’t mean the individual is going to enjoy using it of course (y)
 
Thank you for all your comments, I will read them all properly later when she's not around. I really didn't expect this question to raise so much interest, its mostly all foreign to me and I obviously need to consider more options, I just expected somebody to send me a link to Amazon and get my wallet out! Thanks again.
Ant
 
Mintchocs said:
Link provided. A bit larger than the TZ60 but more useful and better qualit.
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That’s the RX10 bridge camera which is much bigger than the TZ60, it’s pretty much the size of a smaller DSLR.

This is the RX100 M3.

Although I would go for the M6 which is well within @ant7609 ’s budget.


The M7 offers some improvements in terms of AF performance and frame rate (and a few other bits) but whether that’s worth the extra cost is debatable.
 
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