Please Help Me Choose - Fuji F30, Canon A540 or Panasonic DMC-FZ7

[starryknight2005]

I've been looking to buy a digital camera for some time (I don't own one now) and recently went to Jeff's review site. I'm pretty close to choosing one of three cameras. I have checked other review sites to get a consensus on these cameras. I originally bought a Fuji F10 but took it back when I found out Fuji was coming out with the F30. Based on the reviews, I really like the F30 over the F10 with the exception of the purple fringing problem, which is more prevalent in the F30. I looked at Jeff's "tunnel of doom" picture and also noticed in another picture of what looked like the inside of a museum. The two windows high up in the corner of the room also have a nice purple hue to them. I think this would bother me alot. However, someone on this forum mentioned a free download of a program that eliminated most of this problem on photos.

Looking to see if there might be another camera that would be an acceptable substitute, I found the Canon A540. Although noise seemed a bit higher than the F30, the purple fringing was not as near a problem. Like Jeff, I too am a fan of NIHM's for the same reasons as his, which is one reason that drew me to this camera and the camera also had a little higher optical zoom but the pixel count of the view screen was much lower.

Another camera that caught my attention was the Panasonic DMC-FZ7. That night shot of the city across the water was amazing. The other shots of the same scene with other cameras didn't capture the reflection on the water like this camera did. Great photo! However, again, noise was a problem according to the review. Also, I wasn't exactly expecting to pay more money to buy an ultra zoom camera such as this but that night shot could change my mind.

Being just a beginner, I'm looking for something that is mostly automatic for now but also something with manual controls that I can grow a little with. If my interest and knowledge in photography grows more, then I can always move up to an SLR.

Bases on the pro's and con's of each camera I have mentioned above, and based on Jeff's reviews, if anyone was just starting out, which camera would be the better choice? If there are any other issues I need to know about these three cameras, please let me know so I can make an intelligent choice. Thanks.

[BonjiB]

Well, in my experience, i prefer an ultrazoom and the fz7 can give you that. Have you also considered the new panasonic tz1? It's a nice ultrazoom in a more compact body and it does have some usable higher iso settings (up to 1600) much like the fuji but like i said, features that long zoom which i find is more versitile. The fuji f30 sports an iso 3200 which remarkably isn't all that bad all things considering. It's nasty yes, but... no other point and shoot has an iso 3200 that i know let alone one that's actually useable. The fz7's iso 800 and 1600 look to be software enhanced and you lose all detail, everything goes to mud. THe tz1 is useable but i wouldn't bump past 800 unless you really needed to, not so with the f30, they did a REALLY nice job with the sensativity on that sensor reviews i've read on it say iso 3200 and a copy of neat image results in very nice 4x6 prints. The advantage i'm sure you know of having usable higher iso settings is low light performance. Each time you double your iso number you can shoot 1 stop faster (shutter speed) because it captures more light than the iso number before it which results in less blurr and properly exposed low light shots. Out of the three camera's you mentioned though i'd still pick the fz7 because of it's long zoom (12x) and the optical image stabilization. The wide range in the zoom on the fz7 gives you far more composition options. I have an fz30 and the fz7 is like it's little brother. It handles well and takes good pictures although it's iso 800 and 1600 are pretty much useless, you lose MASSIVE amounts of detail. It's really bad, 400 ain't too bad though. The tz1 handles the iso 800 and 1600 much better and that fuji you menetioned does an even better job but lacks the long zoom. So, the choice is yours.

[starryknight2005]

Thanks BonjiB for your input, it's appreciated. I noticed you didn't mention the Canon. Any particular reason why? I wasn't sure if I should go with a camera that is good with purple fringing but is not as good in the noise department or visa versa. Which is easier to correct with software?

I looked at the review on this site for the tz1. Although it offers a smaller size with high zoom, I didn't care for the pictures with some noise and purple fringing present (city shot). Also, this is a 5mp camera and I am looking more for 6 and up.

If anyone else has other cameras that may fit my requirements, I would welcome the advice. I prefer the low light performance capabilities (low noise) and speed of the F30, the no/low purple fringing and AA battery capabilities of the A540 and the zoom of the FZ7. The zoom is not as important as the picture quality so I can live with 3-4x zoom as long as I don't have alot of post picture corrections to make.

[raalarcon]

Hi,

I have your same problem: still trying to decide but looking at a couple other options. If you want something over 6MP, I think the Canon A620 could be an option for you to look at. I am actually trying to decide between the Canon A620, the Fuji F30, the Panasonic FZ7 and the Canon S3 IS. Check out the A 620...very good pricing!

Rene