Prosumer Long Zoom


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night86mare

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Aug 25, 2006
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Hi,

Didn't quite know where to post this.
I'm thinking of getting one of these 3 choices;

1) Sony Cybershot H2
2) Panasonic FZ7
3) Canon powershot S3 IS

Would like to know if anyone has experience with any, and what comments to get; ie. which would be a good choice and why.

All are in the same class, I think the Sony and Panny are cheaper, but price is not so much an issue here.

From what I've read, Panny has excellent lens, but image processor in-camera is rather horrible. But stabilization tech wise, Panny comes up tops. Also, the aggressive noise reducing algorithms in Panny (and Sony) tend to cause relatively significant loss of detail at high ISO.

I love Canon's images, for a good reason, I guess I don't have to explain why, but price and the fact that it requires 4 AA batteries is quite a turn-off.

Sony seems to be my inclination, though there is mention here and there that its detailing is not that great.

Much thanks in advance for any replies, really. Your help is appreciated. =)
 

night86mare said:
I love Canon's images, for a good reason, I guess I don't have to explain why, but price and the fact that it requires 4 AA batteries is quite a turn-off.
Price is about $750 with GST now. Much cheaper then my S2IS when it came out. I find AA batts great! They are cheap compared to the proprietary Li batts. Also, I can pop in any AA batts, they are standard any where in the world. Battery life of the S2IS is good. The S3IS has a similar battery life. I went on holiday for a few days, shot about 1GB of movies & pictures per day. The AA batteries lasted me they whole day. I was using 2500 NiMH.
 

I prefer a camera with a tilt/swivel LCD. Lets you take shots at different angles easily. I get lots of candid shots where my 'victim' has no clue that a photo was taken.
 

I owned Sony H1 and Pana FZ5 before. Overall, FZ5 is slightly more responsive (faster AF and continuous burst mode) and with sharper lens, but if image quality is very important to you, stay away from it. H1 has faster access to all the manual control functions and good image quality, but let down by the use of memory stick (not much of a problem if u get a portable HDD to download your photos and 'recycle' your MS). From DPReview, you can see that H2 has improved further in image quality while FZ7 shows the opposite. I did not get the S2IS because of the 1) higher price and 2) softer image. However, the swivel LCD is a big plus.

Just to share my personal experience :)
 

cerebrus said:
Price is about $750 with GST now. Much cheaper then my S2IS when it came out. I find AA batts great! They are cheap compared to the proprietary Li batts. Also, I can pop in any AA batts, they are standard any where in the world. Battery life of the S2IS is good. The S3IS has a similar battery life. I went on holiday for a few days, shot about 1GB of movies & pictures per day. The AA batteries lasted me they whole day. I was using 2500 NiMH.
Hi cerebrus! Love your shots, have seen them here and there.

Mmm, I know, I also prefer AA; H2 uses 2 and lasts 400 shots apparently if use NiMH..
S3IS uses 4.. That's why I very sian.. If I bring spare must carry 8 altogether hehehe.

Ah yes, I forgot all about the swivelling LCD.

Hrm. I think I will boot Panny off already. I was looking at DP Review gallery pictures, they're still nice, but somehow I don't like.

Anyone know price of H2 now? =D
 

cheersjy said:
I owned Sony H1 and Pana FZ5 before. Overall, FZ5 is slightly more responsive (faster AF and continuous burst mode) and with sharper lens, but if image quality is very important to you, stay away from it. H1 has faster access to all the manual control functions and good image quality, but let down by the use of memory stick (not much of a problem if u get a portable HDD to download your photos and 'recycle' your MS). From DPReview, you can see that H2 has improved further in image quality while FZ7 shows the opposite. I did not get the S2IS because of the 1) higher price and 2) softer image. However, the swivel LCD is a big plus.

Just to share my personal experience :)
Hi there, yes, I do not like FZ7, as I just mentioned.. The image processing doesn't seem appealing.

Mmmm.

Damn, now I'm really torn between Canon and Sony. Just diving in; already just bought an A540, just scouting the market for long-zoom prosumers, target to get one next year after I ORD from NS! =D
 

Hi, if you want more info on S3, see below::thumbsup:

Can read more about S3 here:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=185616&page=49

Can see what accessories for S3 here:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=193492&page=30

Can see sample pic of S3 here:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=204520&page=35

Can ask the S3 users here:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=194833&page=13

night86mare said:
Hi,

Didn't quite know where to post this.
I'm thinking of getting one of these 3 choices;

1) Sony Cybershot H2
2) Panasonic FZ7
3) Canon powershot S3 IS

Would like to know if anyone has experience with any, and what comments to get; ie. which would be a good choice and why.

All are in the same class, I think the Sony and Panny are cheaper, but price is not so much an issue here.

From what I've read, Panny has excellent lens, but image processor in-camera is rather horrible. But stabilization tech wise, Panny comes up tops. Also, the aggressive noise reducing algorithms in Panny (and Sony) tend to cause relatively significant loss of detail at high ISO.

I love Canon's images, for a good reason, I guess I don't have to explain why, but price and the fact that it requires 4 AA batteries is quite a turn-off.

Sony seems to be my inclination, though there is mention here and there that its detailing is not that great.

Much thanks in advance for any replies, really. Your help is appreciated. =)
 

if you can extend ur budget to slightly over a grand, try looking at the new FZ50. you will love the manual zoom ring over those left/right turn control. as for image processing engine, do look out at the thread in pana section for LX2, user have proven that the "watercolor" effect only kicks in at high ISO, below that the image you get straight out of camera is contrasty/vibrance and sharp. This should appear to FZ50 as well since both are using the same Venus III. As for AF speed, some users have reported that FZ50 is faster than FZ30 which was originally quite fast as well. :thumbsup:

another plus would be that the pana offer RAW. :lovegrin:
 

Not trying to argue against ExplorerZ, just do not forget that the FZ50 is in a different class then the S3IS. The Canon eqivalent of the FZ50 would be the Pro 1, or hopefully its replacement. One can dream right? :bsmilie:
 

cerebrus said:
Not trying to argue against ExplorerZ, just do not forget that the FZ50 is in a different class then the S3IS. The Canon eqivalent of the FZ50 would be the Pro 1, or hopefully its replacement. One can dream right? :bsmilie:
agreed, thats why i put IF budget could be extended
 

night86mare said:
From what I've read, Panny has excellent lens, but image processor in-camera is rather horrible. But stabilization tech wise, Panny comes up tops. Also, the aggressive noise reducing algorithms in Panny (and Sony) tend to cause relatively significant loss of detail at high ISO.

1. Excellent lens, yes.
2. Image processor. Not horrible, maybe Iso 100-200 should do. Don't expect DSLR like quality images with no noise out of camera from this category.

All 3 camera's are well for their price and picking one is matter of personal preferance and price.

IMO, if i was choosing, i'd pick the older Fz20 against the FZ7 or any of the other cameras for reasons its image quality hasn't degraded and its f/2.8 constant through the 12x range is a bonus, can't find that in any prosumer camera nowadays. And at least it has a hot shoe support (although non-ttl)

My thoughts. :)
 

metallilan said:
My thoughts. :)
Could not agree more... my baby :lovegrin: FZ 20 :lovegrin: never let me down. Still can shoot quite decent pics in ISO 200. If u have a quite good flash than ISO should not be a big problem. Of course, please don't compare it with DSLR...
 

here i go again,

have you looked at the H series whitepaper yet? Written by a pro who used the H1/H5 to earn $$ and run exhibitions. You can read it even if you went the canon or pany way to pick up a few tips and tricks.
 

Each prosumer camera has its own shortcomings. I'm using a prosumer Nikon 5700 for the past 17 months or so and I think an upgrade/renewal is soon on my cards.

Thought of upgrading to a DSLR but have decided to wait till Sony has shaken Canon and Nikon with its Anti-shake on the camera body as I believe that Anti-shake on body is the future trend. So I've been doing some research on a prosumer camera as a stop-gap measure in the mean time.

Personally, from my experience in using a prosumer camera, I prefer the Fujifilm S9500/9600 for its lower noise at higher ISO without sacrificing too much picture details.

For prosumer cameras, the longest actual focal length is around 72mm and the guideline to prevent handshake blur is 1/72 at the longest focal length used. To prevent motion blur, shutter speed must be at least 1/125-1/200 anyway.

For the pictures that I usually take, antishake is not of much use most of the tiem because either motion blur prevention is paramount (meaning that I'm already shooting at least faster than 1/72 at actual 72mm focal length) or the focal length is so short that the shutter speed is faster than 1/focal length (therefore antishake is of no consequence) or slower than 1/focal length would introduce too much motion blur than I would like or I could easily use a tripod for shooting still subjects under low light conditions.

So I prefer a prosumer camera with a lower noise level at high ISO such as 400 or 800, without too much deterioration in picture details.

Therefore I prefer the Fujifilm S9500/9600.
 

cerebrus said:
Not trying to argue against ExplorerZ, just do not forget that the FZ50 is in a different class then the S3IS. The Canon eqivalent of the FZ50 would be the Pro 1, or hopefully its replacement. One can dream right? :bsmilie:
Mmm, yes that's true.

Budget is unfortunately, limited to less than a K. =D

I wish I had unlimited budget - don't we all?
 

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