I'm in the market for a new camera. I've never really had a "nice" camera...always point & shoots. I mainly want this camera for hunting purposes. It needs to be somewhat packable, video capable, and have a decent zoom. I don't want to go the SLR route because I don't want to spend that much and also don't care about changing lenses, settings, etc. I've been checking out the superzooms and think they would do the trick. Anyone have any recommendations? I like the Panasonic Lumix FZ35/38 but its 18x optical zoom seems to be lacking compared to its rivals. How much zoom do I really need to capture decent shots of deer, birds, etc?
I was in your same spot and I decided to go with the Nikon P90... 24X optical zoom and 12.1 mega-pixels. It has worked out great for me as it is very user friendly and compact (compared to a DSLR). I have experience with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ series and IMO they have really slowed down lately and have been passed by so many other companies. A few years ago the FZ-10 was amazing... now it is nothing. I would look into the Pentax and Nikon line-ups. I have used the Sonys DSLR-type cameras and I'm not too fond of them either. With that said... nothing can compete with a true DSLR camera. My buddy purchased a Pentax recently and even though his lens doesn't zoom as well as my P90... it takes much more crisp photos at extended ranges. Here are a few shots from my Nikon P90...
You guys aren't making this any easier. Beautiful pics BTW!!! I started out liking the Nikon P100 (I guess a step up from from your cam, Buck Magnet). BUT, I've read several reviews where the cam locks up and the batteries have to be removed before it will work again. So, then I moved to the Canon SX20 IS but I wasn't as impressed with its zoom capabilities compared to the Nikon. Nikon's quality looked better at the longer zoom than the Canon (just from what I could tell in the store). Now, I'm onto the Lumix FZ38/35 but NO ONE carries this camera near me. Joe, do you have the current model I'm talking about? Do you have any zoomed out pics? Anything you do NOT like about it? Thanks guys!
I don't have much knowledge with the newer point and shoots, but I can offer up this advice. Any of the major players have a great P&S on the market. The key is learning how to use the camera. That maybe information you already knew, but it really goes a LONG way in photo quality. I see a lot of people buy nice cameras and never use anything but auto. Even with DSLRs. If that is your plan, you can save a lot of money. Not sure if that helped at all. Nice photos, BM.
