DMC-FZ30 or DSC-H1??????

[dcdesign]

Need help choosing - been all over the net and reviews, getting really big headache!!!!!

Budget: $400-$600
Size doesn't matter

*10-12x zoom - very important

*“image quality” Very important (10 on the scale)

I've used some manual controls in the past, but none to the full extent and probably won't

*Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos- lots of indoor and low light situations!!!

*Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?YES!!!

*needs NO SHUTTER LAG -hated the delay in my previous camera, you have to percieve every action! and I want fast shutter speeds (on regular mode -don't use the burst modes) at high zoom and with flash and in high resolution -can it be done????

Are there particular brands you like or hate? - only one I've had is the Olympus C-3040Z -loved the super bright f1.8 lens, had it 5 years and is starting to loose picture quality, plus only 3x zoom. need more!

Are there particular models you already have in mind?
Panasonic LUmix DMC-FZ30S and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1

*will be my family camera as well as some professional work. I love to PRINT my photos - I'm a scrapbooker!!! I'd love to take pictures in large file sizes

[BonjiB]

I own an fz30 and couldn't be happier. The fz30 blows the h1 out of the water in my opinion. The pictures are far more detailed and crisp. I'd advise you hit a store and check em both out. The h1 feels very much like a toy in comparison to the fz30. The manual zoom ring on the 30 is an absolute joy to use. Oh, i do remember one thing about the h1 i didn't like... the viewfinder is stinkin tiny. Although sony does make awesome cameras the h1 does NOT have a carl ziess lens on it like most of their line. The fz30 has a leica lens on it which needless to say, kicks bootay. Take your SD card up to a local store and fire off a few test shots, see how you like the images and handling of the camera and make a descision based on what YOU like. I personally thought the fz30 rocked out hardcore so i went with it. In my opinion the fz30 is THE best superzoom on the market (with the possible exception of the fuji s9000) however, the s9000 doesn't have image stabilization which was a bust for me anyways. Another HUGE advantage of the fz30 is the hot shoe for an external flash. I'd HIGHLY recomend an external flash for the fz30. I use a sunpak 383 auto for all my indoor work and couldn't imagin using the camera without it. It works great. You pretty much set the shutter to 1/60 and aperature to what the back of the flash tells you and the flash does the rest. Very neccesary with a point in shoot considering they all suffer from noise at the higher ISO levels. So... good luck with your puchase.

[jcon]

I would also suggest the Z30, but keep in mind, low light and indoor and sports is this cameras weakness! The suggested Sunpak will help but its not a saviour. With that said, its the best out of the 2 you mentioned, but thought you should know, low light(high ISO) and sports is its downfall. Good luck and enjoy whatever you purchase!

[capedeci]

It's true that the FZ30 is a better choice, it has higher price, and also belongs to higher end of their lineup. The H1's comparison is FZ5, not FZ30.

The main advantage of FZ30 that I can think of is the hot-shoe, 8mp, SLR style, and rotating LCD.

But it is not true about the H1 being so bad and like a toy. It's a very good camera too, and also highly popular, it just belong to different segment. Regarding the Sony Vs. Zeiss lens, it has no difference, in fact, H1's lens is one of the best lenses on Sony's lineup, even it didn't carry the Zeiss name.

Also be wary that FZ30 is one of Panasonic's "noise monsters", which performs very disappointing noise levels for it's price & class.

I own an fz30 and couldn't be happier. The fz30 blows the h1 out of the water in my opinion. The pictures are far more detailed and crisp. I'd advise you hit a store and check em both out. The h1 feels very much like a toy in comparison to the fz30. The manual zoom ring on the 30 is an absolute joy to use. Oh, i do remember one thing about the h1 i didn't like... the viewfinder is stinkin tiny. Although sony does make awesome cameras the h1 does NOT have a carl ziess lens on it like most of their line. The fz30 has a leica lens on it which needless to say, kicks bootay. Take your SD card up to a local store and fire off a few test shots, see how you like the images and handling of the camera and make a descision based on what YOU like. I personally thought the fz30 rocked out hardcore so i went with it. In my opinion the fz30 is THE best superzoom on the market (with the possible exception of the fuji s9000) however, the s9000 doesn't have image stabilization which was a bust for me anyways. Another HUGE advantage of the fz30 is the hot shoe for an external flash. I'd HIGHLY recomend an external flash for the fz30. I use a sunpak 383 auto for all my indoor work and couldn't imagin using the camera without it. It works great. You pretty much set the shutter to 1/60 and aperature to what the back of the flash tells you and the flash does the rest. Very neccesary with a point in shoot considering they all suffer from noise at the higher ISO levels. So... good luck with your puchase.

[coldrain]

Sony H1 at ISO 64:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_h1-review/nightshot-crop.jpg

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

As you can see, the H1 performs better noise wise at ISO 64 than the FZ30 at ISO 80. So, sunny out door photos with the H1 will be a lot less noisy too. That the FZ30 is "sharp and detailed" as a poster said above, is mainly due to its in camera processing, which enhances the noise a lot too, and also produces sharpening artifacts.

Sony H1 at ISO 200:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_h1-review/nightshot200-crop.jpg

Panasonic FZ30 at ISO 200:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/nightshot200-crop.jpg

As you can see, at ISO 200 the H1 produces quite usable photos, a good thing for indoor photography. The results of the FZ30 are becoming VERY noisy, ISO 200 with the FZ30 is in my opinion totally useless.

Even at ISO 400 the H1 betters the FZ30 at ISO 200:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_h1-review/nightshot400-crop.jpg

The FZ30 at ISO 400 is getting totally unacceptable.
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/nightshot400-crop.jpg

Yes, the FZ30 has the nicer lens, and yes, it has a nice zoom ring instead of a zoom switch. But image quality is in my opinion more important, and for you indoor photos are important, and you do not always want flat flash photos I am assuming, so the H1 is the better choice of the two.

[dcdesign]

Well, upon reading the four posts to my question, I have to say that you were all very helpful, but I'm still not sure. I guess I have to get my priorities straight - picture quality is NUMBER ONE for me and except for soccer season, most of my action photos will be inside poorly lit gymnasiums and these are my kids, so, hey, the pics just have to turn out! I love all the extra bells and whistles with the Z30 and I actuall have been to the camera store and held both of them (liking the Z30 a little better - I have big hands and I really like the SLR feel) I didn't have time to do more than a little playing with it and wasn't able to take any real shots to take home and print, which it sounds like I should do.

The last poster brought back those night skyline photos which I keep trying to forget - I did read that review - but I guess it's because I'm still in denial that the camera I want more isn't going to give me those great night shots - which I will be taking...

Eek! This is hard decision - isn't there a perfect camera out there for me? Does anyone have any other suggestions in my price range with my afformentioned criteria?

[coldrain]

Not so well lit indoor soccer? The Fuji S9000/9500 or S5200/5600 are much better in those conditions. The S9000 will give you the bigger SLR feel which you liked.

Look at the difference in noise/detail at ISO 400:

Panasonic FZ30 (ISO 400):
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz30-review/nightshot400-crop.jpg

Fuji S9000 (ISO 400):
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s9000-review/nightshot400-crop.jpg

Fuji S9000 (ISO 800):
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s9000-review/nightshot800-crop.jpg

See how you can READ what is on the building with the S9000, but that you can not even see there is anything there with the FZ30 (the same building is on the lft with the FZ30, on the far right with the S9000).

This high ISO performance makes it a better candidate for action photos indoors.

[dcdesign]

Hey thanks for another direction... I'm not up on alot of these brands, so this really helps... I'd rather not carry around a big external flash all the time if I don't have too, will the built-in flash work for most situations? (Indoor) Is it a pop-up flash?

[capedeci]

yes, that Fuji is a better choice (Idont know about its price). Since FZ30 only usable at ISO200 at most, the image stabilization is pretty much useless, you can get same well exposed image at much higher shutter speed with the Fuji at higher ISO.

Inbuilt / pop flash surely will work, but they produce bad pictures. Lighting is very unnatural, because our eyes are trained to see light source from above (light, sun, etc) instead of from the front (built in flash)

The built in flash often will wash out your subject (overexposed subject on underexposed background), it also make your subject looked flat, not 3D. With a bounce/external flash, you can produce more even lighting, much much better.

[Jason25]

The H1 is a great camera, I used to own one. The only things I would like on the FZ30 over the H1 is the zoom ring and hot shoe. The H1 has a really slow (recycle time), overpowered flash. That's the only issue I ever had with it. The build quality is very nice, as well as the image quality. The shutter lag is very good, never had an issue with that. I'd still recommend the camera (unless you use flash a lot), and the only reason I got rid of it is because I stopped using it once I got my D50.

[dcdesign]

Thanks for the recent post. I believe I will need to use the flash as many of the photos I'll be taking are in the house in the evening, etc., and inside sporting events and you never know what you'll get for that kind of lighting... So you're saying the camera (H1) is fast when you don't use the flash, but slow when you do? - recycle time? How do you think the Canon S2 IS compares?

[capedeci]

FYI H1's flash takes 9 seconds to recharge ;)

dunno bout Canon

[dcdesign]

Okay, then how about the Canon S2 IS? The more I read the more I don't want all the manual control -I want the OPTION to use it, but not the HAVE TO use it... Will the Canon S2 IS do okay in sporting low light situations?

[Jason25]

FYI H1's flash takes 9 seconds to recharge ;)

dunno bout Canon
That's about right. It wasn't much less even when I used 2500mAh batteries.

dcdesign: You can always use auto mode until you get used to the camera and learn when to use manual controls. IS doesn't really help when shooting moving subjects. It's best for still shooting and macro. As for recycle time, that's the time it takes between taking a shot with flash and the next time you can shoot with flash, basically the time it takes for the flash to recharge for the next shot.

[tim11]

Okay, then how about the Canon S2 IS? The more I read the more I don't want all the manual control -I want the OPTION to use it, but not the HAVE TO use it... Will the Canon S2 IS do okay in sporting low light situations?
Didn't somebody mention FUJI S5200 in this thread for lowlight-no flash? I can't go back checking. :p
S2 IS is great camera but like all ultra zoom cams, it's not a low light performer. I have to mention that pop-up flash doesn't reach that far. The flash range for FZ20 is 3 metres (10feet?) on ISO100 the most; and I don't think flash range for S2 is any better.
Providing flash is allowed, you either have to get a slave flash for S2 or go for FZ30 which allows for external flash. I'm sure someone will say.. GET A DSLR. LoLz.

[capedeci]

Didn't somebody mention FUJI S5200 in this thread for lowlight-no flash? I can't go back checking. :p
S2 IS is great camera but like all ultra zoom cams, it's not a low light performer. I have to mention that pop-up flash doesn't reach that far. The flash range for FZ20 is 3 metres (10feet?) on ISO100 the most; and I don't think flash range for S2 is any better.
Providing flash is allowed, you either have to get a slave flash for S2 or go for FZ30 which allows for external flash. I'm sure someone will say.. GET A DSLR. LoLz.

I think the Fuji will fit him the most, it has decent low light (high ISO), long zoom range (superzoom), supports external flash :) And affordable all-in-one system.

You can't have these on either Canon S2 or Sony H1, or Pana FZs.