Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Dad's advice for buying a camera 5
Next thought, Lumix DMC FZ28. All 3 are in a similar price range. This one maybe slightly cheaper but much of a muchness.
Love Mel
Hi Mel
I've been looking at a few reviews. Have you seen this one?
It compares many of the long zoom compact cameras available at the time. That includes both the Panasonic fz28 and the Canon SX10 IS. And those two cameras won. The Pentax wasn't in the review because it's newer. If you haven't already, you should read this review, in particular the conclusion. Because, the difference between these two cameras comes down to what sort of photographer you are. The Canon takes slightly better pics but it is much bigger. The Panasonic is closely behind in quality but is much smaller and lighter. Which is more important to you? BTW, there is now a Canon sx20 IS to replace the sx 10 IS. This means two things. 1. You might want to take a look at it to see if it is better still and 2. There might be better deals on the SX10.
And there is still the Pentax. The wobbly lens is the biggest thing against it in my book. Take a look in the shops and see if the lens seems wobbly to you. If it's not then maybe it is a good choice.
One thing to remember with this sort of camera, the way they get such a big zoom in such a small camera is by reducing the size of the sensor. Generally, the bigger the sensor means the better the quality. (That's what SLRs have, a big sensor) I can't really say, but I suspect that the quality of pics from these cameras might not be as good as I get in mine. The quality issue is most noticeable with low-light shots. I see it in my shots and you might see it in some of yours. So, for example, if you want to get a shot of Hamad performing at night it could be challenging. If you are up close you can use the flash. Then again you might not want to do that either because the flash makes reflections and sometimes it affects the colours. If you can't use flash because you are not so close, you can zoom in but the picture becomes a bit 'noisy', ie a bit speckly. Having more zoom with a small sensor creates noise in low light situations. It will also depend on stage lighting. Often I take night shots in that sort of situation and the lighting is so good there is no problem even without flash.
The point is, all these cameras will have this problem. If you want to avoid the problem you go for a midrange camera without the big zoom. Then you've got to get in close to the subject. Personally, I like the zoom. For you, how important are those night shots?
love
Dad
Love Mel
Hi Mel
I've been looking at a few reviews. Have you seen this one?
It compares many of the long zoom compact cameras available at the time. That includes both the Panasonic fz28 and the Canon SX10 IS. And those two cameras won. The Pentax wasn't in the review because it's newer. If you haven't already, you should read this review, in particular the conclusion. Because, the difference between these two cameras comes down to what sort of photographer you are. The Canon takes slightly better pics but it is much bigger. The Panasonic is closely behind in quality but is much smaller and lighter. Which is more important to you? BTW, there is now a Canon sx20 IS to replace the sx 10 IS. This means two things. 1. You might want to take a look at it to see if it is better still and 2. There might be better deals on the SX10.
And there is still the Pentax. The wobbly lens is the biggest thing against it in my book. Take a look in the shops and see if the lens seems wobbly to you. If it's not then maybe it is a good choice.
One thing to remember with this sort of camera, the way they get such a big zoom in such a small camera is by reducing the size of the sensor. Generally, the bigger the sensor means the better the quality. (That's what SLRs have, a big sensor) I can't really say, but I suspect that the quality of pics from these cameras might not be as good as I get in mine. The quality issue is most noticeable with low-light shots. I see it in my shots and you might see it in some of yours. So, for example, if you want to get a shot of Hamad performing at night it could be challenging. If you are up close you can use the flash. Then again you might not want to do that either because the flash makes reflections and sometimes it affects the colours. If you can't use flash because you are not so close, you can zoom in but the picture becomes a bit 'noisy', ie a bit speckly. Having more zoom with a small sensor creates noise in low light situations. It will also depend on stage lighting. Often I take night shots in that sort of situation and the lighting is so good there is no problem even without flash.
The point is, all these cameras will have this problem. If you want to avoid the problem you go for a midrange camera without the big zoom. Then you've got to get in close to the subject. Personally, I like the zoom. For you, how important are those night shots?
love
Dad
Labels: camera, Lumix, Panasonic, photography
