Superzoom Bridge Camera's

Daysleeper40

Daysleeper40

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Right, I have decided that I am going to buy a bridge camera rather than a DSLR - now I just need to decide which one!

So I am looking for any recommendations / personal experiences - particularly of any of the Fuji's and the Panasonic FZ18.

Any comments welcome but please don't try to talk me into a DSLR as I have made the decision that this is not what I am looking for.

Thanks :)
 
I can not remember which panasonic model it was... but my sister inlaw purchased on of these and I must say it is a very usable little camera. It has image stabilisation and an 18x zoom and manual controls.

I would say have a look at the other model that have recently been release as I have heard that the Nikon P80 is a very good bridge camera with lots of good functions.

Nigel
 
Kodak bridge cameras are bit iffy. I had one and I needed a tripod to get a sharp shot at full zoom. Oh and it didnt like indoors. Or rainy days. Or very sunny days. Or different shutter speeds to 1/400. Or different isos to iso 400.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Right, I have decided that I am going to buy a bridge camera rather than a DSLR - now I just need to decide which one!

So I am looking for any recommendations / personal experiences - particularly of any of the Fuji's and the Panasonic FZ18.

Any comments welcome but please don't try to talk me into a DSLR as I have made the decision that this is not what I am looking for.

Thanks :)
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I have an FZ18 at the moment. The 28 - 504mm zoom is an animal; you've got wide angle down at one end and more intrusion than you can handle at the other. It has a Manual mode which is the equivalent of AV in a Canon 400D, albeit with a reduced range of apertures and speeds in this mode. There is a Program mode which simplifies the Manual mode but adds some more functionality. The camera has been a winner of comparison tests in its category. Panasonic is releasing the FZ28 in September which has 10.1 megapixel image and a 27 - 486mm zoom. I hope that helps.
 
Thankyou - your comments are all helpful :thumbs:

I have previously been sold on the FZ18 but already have a load of XD cards for my Oly compact - the reason I was considering the Fuji's is that they are compatible with these cards.

As SD cards are relatively cheap I suppose I shouldn't let this influence the decision too much though. Oh, why does there have to be so much choice??!
 
I have used a Panasonic FZ50 quite a lot over a couple of years, & IMO, it can hold it's own against many DSLRs. I prefer it to the FZ 18, as it has a totally maneouvrable screen, & being silent, is very good for candids, or stealth shots, or whteverAlso does excellent, landscapes, portraits or whatever you want. It's also light, & easy to cart about unobtrusively. The FZ18 has a fixed screen.
Hope this helps.
 
I have the finepix s8000 as a second camera it a great camera my only real fault is the noise at higher ISO but as long as U dont Go above 400 ISO U should be allright, its a nice performer I always use it on Aperture priority & never go above 200 ISO Hope this helps

Frank
 
FWIW I personally didn't find a bridge camera very good and ended up buying an SLR.

Main disadvantage is the small sensor which means very very limited background blur in portraits. Also as mentioned much higher noise. Oh and no optical view finder.
 
I've just upgraded from a Fuji S9600 to a D-SLR. I had a Fuji S5500 before the S9600 too. I upgraded from the S5500 to the S9600 hoping that it would give me the image quality I wanted but of course it didn't. If you're going to be satisied with less than great image quality then the S9600 is one of the best bridge cameras, IMO. The other thing to consider besides image quality is depth of field, with a D-SLR you get much more of an aperture range and much better DOF.

Generallty I'd say if you want a camera that has a lot of the SLR controls but not the quality and you're not going to be doing photography on a professional level then a bridge camera may well be for you. If you are wanting to get the best image quality or intend to get into photography on a professional or even semi-professional level then that will mean a D-SLR.
 
pearce_jj said:
FWIW I personally didn't find a bridge camera very good and ended up buying an SLR.

Main disadvantage is the small sensor which means very very limited background blur in portraits. Also as mentioned much higher noise. Oh and no optical view finder.
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DS40 said that he didn't want a DSLR and he didn't want talking into buying one. FZ18 has an optical view finder and is a candidate for the proposed purchase. If you feel really brave you can switch the digital zoom on which takes you out to 2016mm of zoom. A damn good tri/ mono pod is needed. Even with the optical zoom of 504mm, the tri/ mono comes into play. I was staggered at how much the subject seems to move when I tried a hand held 504mm shot.
 
Hey RH, not looking to start a war of words..., just providing my experience with the Fuji S6500FD.
 
pearce_jj said:
Hey RH, not looking to start a war of words..., just providing my experience with the Fuji S6500FD.
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Nor I, I was just restating the original requirement. I would agree with you, I am happier with my DSLR output than my bridge camera output. In the end, the customer is always right. In this case, the "customer" has settled on a bridge camera and the FZ18 is a good option.
 
I had an FZ18 for a while and found it to be a cracking piece of kit,the image stabilizer works brilliantly, the only gripes i had were pictures could get a bit noisy in low light conditions and indoor shots could be a bit unreliable quality wise, not sure wether the latter could have been more down to me rather than the camera though.
All in all i would reccomend the FZ18 :thumbs:
 
I would recommend the Panny FZ50. Its what I use and in my opinion, is about the most versatile you can get for the money.

It has a zoom ring and focus ring on the lens body making it feel more like an SLR, it has a metal body making it very strong, as mentioned earlier, it has a tilt/rotatable screen which is useful, the macro function is excellent, it has a hot shoe if you want to use off board flash guns. Its the last word in bridge cameras if you ask me.

Highly recommended !!

If you want to see pics, pm me, or I can put some on here !!
 
Samsung Digimax Pro 815, 8MP, 15x zoom, Raw capture, and f2.2 maximum aperture.
Reviewed here and here.
 
Forgot to mention, what with all the other "super"zoom cameras coming out, the FZ50 and the like are prolly ridiculously cheap now. I picked mine up 2nd hand (mint boxed) for £200 little less than a year ago, still has 12x optical zoom which converts to 420mm...

Oh, and RAW !!
 
Thanks everyone - help is very much appreciated!

I do understand the argument for getting a DSLR over a bridge and believe me I have deliberated for HOURS about this - finally reaching the conclusion that I would be better off with a bridge. I am happy with the idea that a year or two down the line I might want to upgrade.

One major issue I have is that I have £200 worth of Amazon vouchers (thats the good bit) but I can't use them to buy from third party sellers on Amazon. The FZ18 is only sold by TP sellers :(

poo.

I fear I may be letting the 18x zoom thing seduce me slightly though. I'm going to look at the slightly smaller zoom ones too - so here are another couple to throw into the mix:

Canon S5 IS
Panasonix FZ8
 
I have bitten the bullet and gone for the FZ8. Thankyou for all the other suggestions though.

Looking forward to receiving my new toy now!! :D
 
The FZ8 is a great camera, I had one before I got the FZ50.

Have fun with it and dont forget to post your pics !!
 
Thankyou - and don't worry I'm sure I will be posting lots of "so what did I do wrong here?" examples! :lol:
 
Daysleeper40 said:
I have bitten the bullet and gone for the FZ8. Thankyou for all the other suggestions though.

Looking forward to receiving my new toy now!! :D
Click to expand...

Well done. Made the decision. Best of luck with the new camera.
 
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