FZ20, C8080, and CP8800

[agukha]

Hello !

I don't know wich of these cameras to buy:
the panasonic FZ20, 5mega, 12X stabilised zoom, excellent quality picture
the olympus C-8080, 8mega, wide angle, only 5X, maybe the best quality picture (non reflex), orientable display (a little)
the nikon coolpix 8800, 8 megan 10X stabilised zoom, a bit of distortion, completely orientable display

I have a casio qv2800UX, 2 mega, 8X, very good for macro (1cm) and orientable 'visor', I am looking for a camera doing good macros (I excluded for example the minolta A2/A200 for that), and having a good zoom is surely a plus, also I like very much the orientable display (no need to lie in mood to take an insect ;) )

but, for the next camera I will buy I want a great quality of pictures,
the 8800 doesn't seem to be at the same level than the C-8080 (don't know versus the FZ20), but is more all in one, I don't consider the sony F828 because it seems to have a lot of purple fringing, the 8800 have a bit of distortion but I prefer that to colors pb.

I never used a wide angle, is it a big plus (I like taking landscape pictures a lot also) ?

the principal question for me I believe, is quality, how does compare the image quality of these 3 cameras ?
is the FZ20 somewhat comparable to the coolpix ?
is the C-8080 really that better than the FZ20 in quality or is it close ?

I like big zoom, but the quality of C-8080, plus the wide angle may be interesting if it is really above the others, but is it ? :)

I don't consider the question of price, I suppose I will keep this cameras 4 or 5 years, as my casio, and a difference of 300€/$ is not important
(by the way, I don't want a reflex, like the canon 300D, because I don't want a big cameras, transporting material for it etc etc)

the only evident default of the FZ20, for me, is that it has not orientable display

maybe one could be remove of my list if it is really worst than other in macro ? (I didn't notice differences there )

thank you very much for your help, thoughts and time !! :)

[TrepOne]

Steves-Digicams, and look at the sample pictures you will find that the 8800 and the 8080 have better pic quality, they should because they're 8 megapixel cameras vs 5 meg FZ20. I just bought a FZ20 and will have to be happy with the pic quality because I have no more $$ to spend, $500 US was as much as I have for a camera. Maybe in a few years I'll have more to spend. But the FZ20 got excellent reviews on dp review.com, steves-digicams.com and dcresource.com. So check out these sites.

TrepOne

[D70FAN]

Hello !

I don't know wich of these cameras to buy:
the panasonic FZ20, 5mega, 12X stabilised zoom, excellent quality picture
the olympus C-8080, 8mega, wide angle, only 5X, maybe the best quality picture (non reflex), orientable display (a little)
the nikon coolpix 8800, 8 megan 10X stabilised zoom, a bit of distortion, completely orientable display

I have a casio qv2800UX, 2 mega, 8X, very good for macro (1cm) and orientable 'visor', I am looking for a camera doing good macros (I excluded for example the minolta A2/A200 for that), and having a good zoom is surely a plus, also I like very much the orientable display (no need to lie in mood to take an insect ;) )

but, for the next camera I will buy I want a great quality of pictures,
the 8800 doesn't seem to be at the same level than the C-8080 (don't know versus the FZ20), but is more all in one, I don't consider the sony F828 because it seems to have a lot of purple fringing, the 8800 have a bit of distortion but I prefer that to colors pb.

I never used a wide angle, is it a big plus (I like taking landscape pictures a lot also) ?

the principal question for me I believe, is quality, how does compare the image quality of these 3 cameras ?
is the FZ20 somewhat comparable to the coolpix ?
is the C-8080 really that better than the FZ20 in quality or is it close ?

I like big zoom, but the quality of C-8080, plus the wide angle may be interesting if it is really above the others, but is it ? :)

I don't consider the question of price, I suppose I will keep this cameras 4 or 5 years, as my casio, and a difference of 300€/$ is not important
(by the way, I don't want a reflex, like the canon 300D, because I don't want a big cameras, transporting material for it etc etc)

the only evident default of the FZ20, for me, is that it has not orientable display

maybe one could be remove of my list if it is really worst than other in macro ? (I didn't notice differences there )

thank you very much for your help, thoughts and time !! :)

Let's quit beating around the bush. Just buy the FZ20 and save your sanity. You cannot go wrong on features and price. This is a no-brainer.

[agukha]

Let's quit beating around the bush. Just buy the FZ20 and save your sanity. You cannot go wrong on features and price. This is a no-brainer.

well, for the price it is surely the best ratio, but the price is not the thing that will prevent me from buying one this cameras, I think that I will be very happy with any of the FZ20, C-8080 or CP8800, just (still) don't know the one with wich I will be the less limited...
I might be able to test the FZ20 in january, I am not in hurry to buy one so I'll wait and see at least this one, I've heard there is a big show ni february, maybe a FZ30 with orientable display? or an olympus with a bigest macro stabilised ? :) or a CP8900 better in low ligth ? :)

[Thon]

well, for the price it is surely the best ratio, but the price is not the thing that will prevent me from buying one this cameras, I think that I will be very happy with any of the FZ20, C-8080 or CP8800, just (still) don't know the one with wich I will be the less limited...
I might be able to test the FZ20 in january, I am not in hurry to buy one so I'll wait and see at least this one, I've heard there is a big show ni february, maybe a FZ30 with orientable display? or an olympus with a bigest macro stabilised ? :) or a CP8900 better in low ligth ? :)

It all depends on your type of photography. If you like big prints, then the 8MP boys will be the ones to look at. but is a big zoom is your ball game, then the FZ20 should be the straight forward choice.

For me, in your dilemma, try getting the C8080 can get a teleconvertor. You get a wide zoom and a not too bad telephoto. If not then the CP8800 maybe ok too.

Another option is to be patient and wait for PMA in Feb 05. You never know what they dish out there. Maybe you might even get a Olympus C780UZ??? 5/7MP 10x zoom with IS in the current C770UZ body size. Now that is a camera worth waiting for. I may even trade in or sell my C770UZ on ebay to get that. Or else Panasonic may show a FZ30??? with 1?x zoom with 1/2.0 aperture available through out the zoom range with newer IS technology???? We will have to wait and see.

If you can wait, wait. If you can't, I cannot see anything wrong wth any of your 3 choices.

[John_Reed]

It's not exactly a "no-brainer," but that f2.8 lens of the FZ20 is the fastest at full zoom of any of your choices. But I was thinking if you were really concerned about the FZ20's lack of rotatable display, a guy on dpreview once posted a comment showing how he used a 2" mirror, taping its bottom edge to the bottom of the FZ10's display (same size as FZ20), which allowed him to view and frame his shot nicely from above.

[D70FAN]

It's not exactly a "no-brainer," but that f2.8 lens of the FZ20 is the fastest at full zoom of any of your choices. But I was thinking if you were really concerned about the FZ20's lack of rotatable display, a guy on dpreview once posted a comment showing how he used a 2" mirror, taping its bottom edge to the bottom of the FZ10's display (same size as FZ20), which allowed him to view and frame his shot nicely from above.

John, You need to quickly patent the articulating mirror accessory for digital cameras. Uses the tripod mount for attachment. My commission for double rethinking this idea is 10%. ;)

[John_Reed]

John, You need to quickly patent the articulating mirror accessory for digital cameras. Uses the tripod mount for attachment. My commission for double rethinking this idea is 10%. ;)I'll send you a 0.63" X 0.63" piece of mirror, which is 10% of the area of the 2" mirror I suggested. ;)

[agukha]

It's not exactly a "no-brainer," but that f2.8 lens of the FZ20 is the fastest at full zoom of any of your choices. But I was thinking if you were really concerned about the FZ20's lack of rotatable display, a guy on dpreview once posted a comment showing how he used a 2" mirror, taping its bottom edge to the bottom of the FZ10's display (same size as FZ20), which allowed him to view and frame his shot nicely from above.

this seems to be very interesting !!
with that (if I find the link and am able to build one without destructing 27 mirrors :) ) and a external home made batteries power with standard batteries, it would be all I want :)
thank you for the information !

[John_Reed]

this seems to be very interesting !!
with that (if I find the link and am able to build one without destructing 27 mirrors :) ) and a external home made batteries power with standard batteries, it would be all I want :)
thank you for the information !The poster (on dpreview) was a guy calling himself "psphoto," a former Life Magazine photographer. I tried looking for the post, but I think the policy there is to purge them after so many weeks of inactivity. But there wasn't much "construction" involved. I think you'd make it by laying the 2" mirror face-down on the LCD display, and then laying a piece of tape on the bottom of the mirror and the camera body to affix it to the camera at that point. la Voila! You've got a tiltable display! Of course, it inverts the image, but for framing, that's no big deal.