New Camera?

[Will Rickards]

I'm thinking about a new camera for xmas and stumbled upon the Panasonic DMC-TZ1. The link is to the Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com) review. Is there anything else like this camera with the 10x optical zoom in a compact format? When do you think the new revisions to this model will come out? February 2007? It seems this is a great body of a camera without the sensor to match.

Currently I have a Canon Powershot A60.
I like this camera but have a few qualms with it.

1. Lack of over 3x optical zoom.
   Inside this is only a big deal at weddings and such. But I've NEVER gotten a good wedding shot with this camera. Lighting is too low and I'm too far away from the subject.
2. Auto Focus not that great
   Initially I liked it and thought it worked well. But the more indoor shots I took the more were not in focus. I've learned to work with it but miss more shots than I want to because of wasting time playing with focus or end up getting a blurry shot anyway.
3. Shutter Lag
   This is pretty much self explanatory. It takes too long even when I've already focused the subject. All the newer cameras probably outclass mine but I'd like to minimize this. I miss so many pictures of the kids because the picture I wanted to take was missed.

Keep in mind, I'm picky, especially about the pictures. But I'm not a professional photographer or even really an amateur. I just like taking them and would like to have a compact type camera that would feel less limiting. I don't print many of the pictures and when I do it is usually just at the local cvs/walgreens/<insert drug store name here> at the 4x6 or 5x7 size. I'd like to be able to print some of the kids at 8x10. We hit The Picture People every so often to get pictures of the kids. And 2 out of 3 times I'm disappointed with their pictures.

Thanks in advance to all for any recommendations or opinions on that Panasonic camera.

 

[Stereodude]

That Panasonic is a noise monster. I'd steer clear.

 

[Tannin]

Will, as I see it, a camera of that general nature is never going to suit you because, even if everything else is perfect, a lens with a 10X zoom ratio is not going to be able to deliver acceptable quality.

If I were you, I'd look for:

• Around 5 to 7MP - 4MP is a bit dinky, and anything over about 6 or 7 is just plain ridiculous in a sensor as small as a digicam's. The laws of optics make it impossible to get an image quality improvement, and the laws of physics make it 100% certain that you will have more noise - which might not be noticable on a bright sunny day, but certainly will be indoors or in twilight.
• About 3X or 4X optical zoom. More than that is pushing it if you want quality pictures. If you are serious about telephoto stuff, then you need a DSLR, which is in an entire different cost and weight category. Note that the important spec isn't the maximum focal length, it's the minimum - in real life, unless you do birds or baseball, wide angle is much more important than telephoto.
• Whatever brand you like as long as it isn't S*NY. (Because Mercutio will spew on you, Tea will cry, and I will be infuriatingly condescending and say that it's OK, I understand, and I have a friend that was like that too but he's actually a really nice person and I had a pleasant chat with his therapist last week and everything's fine.)

I don't think you will get much in the way of good wedding shots from the situation you describe short of a DSLR, but there may be others here that can make suggestions more pleasing to your pocket.

Most digicams seem to be much better on the shutter lag front than they used to be these days. But try one and see before you buy.

I'm not really aware of an ideal P&S camera at present. After some very good models (my Powershot A95 was excellent) Canon seem to be getting a bit trashy and gimmicky, Fuji make good stuff but insist on using those stupid *$@#%# non-standard XD cards, ditto Olympus and (I think) Pentax too. Not sure which way to jump really. But don't get a 10X zoom with 10MP, cause it won't deliver anything like the quality you expect.

 

[timwhit]

I have a couple friends that own the Casio Exilim EX-Z850, and they like it a lot.

 

[Will Rickards]

I think I'll just wait and see what comes out next year.
The Fuji F30 looks promising though. Just add a longer zoom and some better daylight shots.

 

[udaman]

I think I'll just wait and see what comes out next year.
The Fuji F30 looks promising though. Just add a longer zoom and some better daylight shots.

The search engine on SF is your friend(oddly enough, this thread is currently right above a certain Handruin thread ):


Another Digital Camera Thread - Point and Shoot

You can get the F30 (note the limitations in the various reviews on it, if you have PS or other capable image editor, you may be able to compensate for overly contrasty exposures in daylight) with rebate right now, but the extra money spent on the new F31 (B&H has it listed as being available sometime this month) with face 'recognition' focus capability might be worth it.

DP site you linked to has a comparision shot of a Nikon D50 with excellent Nikor 50m 1.8 Prime lens as a comparison withe the F30 at ISO 800, take a look. I have to somewhat disagree with Tannin, I miss the longer focal lenghts far more than wide angle, YMMV.

Available in the near future, bulky compared to compact (or did you mean pocketable subcompacts, like the Canon SD700/800 IS ?), is the new 'small' DSLR Nikon D40 (note it's not a 10MP camera, horah!), with lens at suggested ~$550 (USD), which is right in the category with more expensive compact P'N'S digicams. But the D40 has one omitted item I would miss (even though I tend to be full on manual exposure type of advanced ametuer photog, like Gilbo ), lack of pin for mechanical autofocusing of some Nikon lens groups. Best thing about DSLR's besides a multitude of manually controlled functions, is the viewfinder with micro prism circle/split halves focus screen that came as an option on the older SLR's, makes focusing manually the most accurate of all under difficult light situations where autofocus fails you.

Look for an digicam that has a central spot, or limited area autofocus mode, then you can point the center of the image for the area you want to have the autofocus 'hit' on. Average area scene autofocus mode on lower priced compact digicams invariably screw up on images, like with closeups or in that wide angle mode Tannin speaks of.

Leica also has a branded model, based on same mechanics of that Panasonic.

Someday , perhaps 5 or more years down the road, subcompact digicams with have decent zoom range, better sensors like in the Fuji F30, and more manual settings (something along the lines of the super expensive Leica rangefinder cams of the 60's & 70's),

Someday, we may actually see a smaller/slimmer DSLR's (no reason whatsoever we couldn't have this now, if a manufacturer set their R&D dept loose on this) kind of like the old Olympus OM-1, OM-2 lines of the 1970's, those were great compact SLR's, small and lightweight compared to all other SLR's of the time.