SOS from germany!

[sina]

Hi,
I'm from germany, couldn't find useful information about help-me-pick-a-camera there, and finally I found my way here.

I guess it's not very new, when I say I'M CONFUSED in this research-jungle. But I am! Planning to get a digital camera anyway (never had one) I took into consideration that I'm going to travel around the world next year. So it should be something! with good image quality, because that's something you may be doing just once in your life. And it shouldn't be too big, because I will carry it around on my back.
And I love to make pictures of flowers and all kinds of animals when travelling, so the macro should be nice. And I hate missing moments because of slow cameras! But while researching I found out, that may be exactly this is the problem. Because I got the intention that for exmaple the picture quality of canon is better than sony, but the sony's are the fastest. I heard good things of the canon A95, but how much slower ist it than a sony (e.g. V1)? How shall I imagine the difference, is it like really "waiting" after you push the button until the picture is taken? Do you recognize a big difference? I can imagine that the sonys are really fast, but are the canons 'slow'?
And although not being a professional photographer at the moment, I think I would like manuals, because I really want to learn something and improve my foto skills. But the Digital elphs sound very comfortable too, very small and good image quality(as people say), but not much manual options. Or should I take something like a canon g5 into consideration, is this much much better than for example the A95?
I would be so happy about some advice. Also about any other camera out there!

Thanks,

Sina

[D70FAN]

Hi,
I'm from germany, couldn't find useful information about help-me-pick-a-camera there, and finally I found my way here.

I guess it's not very new, when I say I'M CONFUSED in this research-jungle. But I am! Planning to get a digital camera anyway (never had one) I took into consideration that I'm going to travel around the world next year. So it should be something! with good image quality, because that's something you may be doing just once in your life. And it shouldn't be too big, because I will carry it around on my back.
And I love to make pictures of flowers and all kinds of animals when travelling, so the macro should be nice. And I hate missing moments because of slow cameras! But while researching I found out, that may be exactly this is the problem. Because I got the intention that for exmaple the picture quality of canon is better than sony, but the sony's are the fastest. I heard good things of the canon A95, but how much slower ist it than a sony (e.g. V1)? How shall I imagine the difference, is it like really "waiting" after you push the button until the picture is taken? Do you recognize a big difference? I can imagine that the sonys are really fast, but are the canons 'slow'?
And although not being a professional photographer at the moment, I think I would like manuals, because I really want to learn something and improve my foto skills. But the Digital elphs sound very comfortable too, very small and good image quality(as people say), but not much manual options. Or should I take something like a canon g5 into consideration, is this much much better than for example the A95?
I would be so happy about some advice. Also about any other camera out there!

Thanks,

Sina

Keeping in mind that this is a once in a lifetime trip may I suggest you expand your horizons slightly and consider the Panasonic FZ3 or FZ20.

The FZ3 is fairly compact (4.3 x 2.7 x 3.3), easy to use, has plenty of resolution (3.2MP) and one of the best lenses in the non-dSLR market having a 12X optical zoom with image stabilization and very fast (f2.8) for lower light capabilites. The FZ20 is the big brother, with the same wonderful lens, but includes several improvements like a hot-shoe for external flash, a higher resolution 5MP imager, and a larger (2") LCD. They are $399 and $599 respectively.

Your original choices would also serve you well, and all of these cameras have a decent macro which allows very close-up focus to less than 5cm.

I think we have narrowed the field to 3 or 4. If I were going around the world, and didn't have a D70 (dSLR) the FZ20 would be the camera I would take along. Period.

[PhilR.]

Guten abend! (here in Texas anyway...)

Once again, Mr. Riehm beats me to the punch (American colloquialism). Although one can't say anything bad about the Canon cameras that you mentioned, I would also have to say to give serious consideration to the Panasonic FZ series. Their fast lenses allow you to take pictures in lower light levels (such as the interior of a museum) than what most other cameras will allow, and any other camera with a faster lens (like a Canon G6) will most likely not have a 12x zoom. You will especially like the 12x zoom when photographing animals. Also, the FZ series are one of the few cameras with image stabilisation, which helps when shooting at high zoom levels or low light levels.

As mentioned, there are two versions to consider. If you only need 3.2 megapixels, then I think the FZ3 would make a better travel camera since it is noticeably smaller than the FZ20, yet still retains that great lens. You do give up the hotshoe, but in my opinion the need for an external accessory flash is not a great consideration for general travel photography (and since I've been to approx. 50 different countries on six continents, I've done a *lot* of travel photography).

As for shutter lag speed - it's been my past impressions that Canon's are slower than other cameras that I've used. They aren't slow, but a Sony or Panasonic will be slightly faster. Just keep in mind that any camera that focuses itself will need time to do that focusing. Just about all cameras have fast shutter lag speeds when pre-focused.

In the end, all of the cameras that have been mentioned will do quite well, but it is nice to have a travel camera with a longer zoom than the 3x of the Canon's. Since you mention size, I feel that you should consider the Panasonic FZ3. It will do everything you want, and more than you dreamed.

tschuess!
PhilR.

[sina]

Guten Tag (at least here in germany, close to Cologne)
or "Hallo" (german version of hello or hi),

thanks very much for the advice! The Panasonic sounds great. Tommorrow I will go to a Camera-Shop and have a look at it. Altough the price is a little bit out of my budget (I'm a student:) ), the cameras are more expensive in germany than in the USA, normally 399 Dollars would be around 300 Euros (don't have the exact currency-change-rate in mind now...) but here they just put away the dollar sign and replace it with a euro-sign. So the camera will cost 399 euros which is about 530 Dollars...

Anyway...christmas is ahead (I hope for the grandmothers and their financial support).

Thanks again and if new questions arise I will be back!

Tschüüüüs :) ,

Sina