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View Full Version : S3 vs FZ50


calsmith1
02-05-2007, 12:38 PM
Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible. Less than $700

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? Or does size not matter at all to you? Not that important.

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? At least 6

* What optical zoom will you need? (None, Standard = 3x-4x, Ultrazoom = 10x-12x, Other - Specify) Would like ultrazoom

* How important is “image quality” to you? (Rate using a scale of 1-10) 9

Do you care for manual controls? Would like manual control, plan on learning and growing with the camera

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Outdoor/wildlife, general purpose indoor

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Yes - 20x30max

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? some indoor

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? minimal

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? Have had Canon in the past

Are there particular models you already have in mind? Canon S3, Panasonic FZ50

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? (Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, Weatherproof, Hotshoe, Rotating LCD) Image stabilization

---Currently have a Canon G2 that has served me well. But would like to move closer to a dSLR. Going to be doing some traveling and would like the ultrazoom. Want to be able to have postersize prints with good detail. Also want to be able to use for just general purpose shots of the kids and the pets. Would like fast shot to shot. Thought I had decided on the Canon S3, and starting reading about the Panasonic FZ50. Panasonic seems like it can do more. S3 seems like it is closer to P&S with eht FZ50 closer to a dSLR where you have to learn a little to get good shots. I am learning about photography and want something that I can grow with without going to a dSLR for price reasons.
Let me know what others I might want to look at. Thanks in advance for your input.

mattdm
02-05-2007, 01:18 PM
The G2 was a really nice camera.

I think at this point, you may want to reconsider your thoughts about where to go next. The newer ultrazooms are really not more SLR-like than the premium point & shoots of a few years ago -- they're just newer, better point & shoots.

Although there's much knocking of the Nikon D40 here, it's priced at your under-$700 target and I think would provide more "grow into it" potential than the ultrazooms you mention. (Don't get me wrong, they're nice cameras.) You can then eventually buy nicer lenses for the D40, and then upgrade the body in a few years (to something better than what everyone is sure to reply with bashing the D40 with).

hcanan
04-26-2007, 06:17 AM
i have choosen the fz50. using it for two months, and like it. here are some samples;



http://www.esnips.com/web/hasimcanan-photographs

shahmatt
04-26-2007, 08:19 AM
You could perhaps consider the Fuji S6500FD. Cheaper than the S3 and FZ50, but has the best ISO performance amongst all of them, making it arguably the best low light ultrazoom camera in the market. See review here:

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/fuji/finepix_s6000fd-review/index.shtml

GravyTrain
04-26-2007, 09:03 AM
can you wait to see what the sony h9 looks like? that's what i'm doing :)