Whats the best digital super zoom for wildlife shots

[Julian Flavell]

Tapachula ,Mexico

Please I need some advice. What would the best non-slr super zoom digital camera for taking wildlife photoes. I need to take photoes of wild otters as part of research and a some photoes may be at dawn and dusk, with maybe some low light conditions. I'm looking for a minimum of 400-600mm telephoto and prepared to buy a telephoto converter if available. So far I am inclining towards the Panasonic FZ30, Canon S2 IS or maybe the Fuji Fine Pix S9000(great for low light but no image stabilizer and lower telephoto capability.) . After reading conflictive reviews i'm even more undecided! What is noise exactly and is it really that bad on the FZ 30?Some reviews say yes , others say no. Would it affect telephoto photoes much in ealry morning light or at dusk? My price range is between 400 and 700 dollars

Muchas gracias!

[coldrain]

The problem with the FZ30 is not that it is noisy at higher ISO's, almost all UZ cameras are noisy at higher ISO's. The problem is that it is already noisy at ISO80, its lowest setting. the noise is the unevenness in colour surfaces, where you would expect an even colour. Also odd colour blotches can be seen in noisy photos.

FZ30, ISO 80:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/nightshot-crop.jpg

FZ30, ISO 100:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/nightshot100-crop.jpg

S2 IS, ISO 50:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s2-review/nightshot-crop.jpg

S2 IS, ISO 100:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s2-review/nightshot100-crop.jpg

At ISO 200 and 400 the FZ30 is practically unusable, but the S2 IS is not very good either at those higher ISO's.

Fortunately, during normal daylight you do not need to go very high, and you will be able to make good photos with the S2 IS (and reasonable ones with the FZ30).

Here is a daylight photo with the FZ30, you can see the noise, look in the dark areas under the plane (but also in the sky and rest of the airplane) just how ugly it can get at ISO 80 already. You can clean noisy photos up with for instance neat image, but that will also make pictures less detailed since it has to replace the affected pixels with neighbouring pixels, and it can not see what was behind the noise.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/P1000137.JPG

[JTL]

To add...the aggressive noise reduction algorithm used e FZ30 (in fact, all the Panys) produces a distinct "watercolor" effect...but, obviously, many are not bothered by it...I personally don't care for it.

[TampaJim]

Here you go ... wildlife shots taken in subdued/shaded daylight. The fastest shutter speed was 1/100 and the slowest at 1/13 - all taken at ISO50! Obviously, I could have stepped up to ISO100 and still had brillant photos with zero noise - which would have allowed for faster shutter speeds. All of the photos were taken by hand - NO TRIPOD!

http://photobucket.com/albums/d31/jimgamble/

The Canon S2 rocks! The Canon S2 is also the smallest and lightest of the group - it is a backpack dream, even with an additional telephoto lens. The battery life is to die for and in a pinch you can buy regular AA batteries. You may also find desirable the movie mode (full 640x480 @30FPS) with zoom capability.