Too many options! Need your help!

[jmowery]

I've been researching digital camera options for weeks, so now I'm thoroughly confused! :confused: Here's hoping you all can help me sort this out.

I'm pretty much a novice photographer, but interested in learning more, so I'm looking for a camera that will be easy to use but that I can "grow" into. I will be shooting vacation, family and wildlife photos. I will be going to Alaska next summer, so will be shooting a lot of landscape photos there. Probably will print mostly 4 x 6's, but maybe also up to 8 x 10 on occasion. Would like to keep the bottom line at $400 or under, but could go slightly over, if needed.

I have been leaning toward one of the ultra zoom models and have researched the Kodak DX7590 and DX6490, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3 and the Cannon Powershot S1 IS. The Panasonic seems to be hands down the best quality and I can get it at Circuit City.com for $339.99 with another $50 mail in rebate, but am unsure if 3 mp is enough. The Kodak models seem to be the easiest to learn but the photo quality in the reviews I've seen are not as good as the Panasonic. The S1 IS is about the same price as the FZ3, but also did not seem to be up to the FZ3's quality.

....Or should I go with something like the Cannon A95 and add conversion lenses for the telephoto shots?

If you're still reading, I'm sure you can see the depth of my confusion by now. Any recommendations? :)

[John_Reed]

I've been researching digital camera options for weeks, so now I'm thoroughly confused! :confused: Here's hoping you all can help me sort this out.

I'm pretty much a novice photographer, but interested in learning more, so I'm looking for a camera that will be easy to use but that I can "grow" into. I will be shooting vacation, family and wildlife photos. I will be going to Alaska next summer, so will be shooting a lot of landscape photos there. Probably will print mostly 4 x 6's, but maybe also up to 8 x 10 on occasion. Would like to keep the bottom line at $400 or under, but could go slightly over, if needed.

I have been leaning toward one of the ultra zoom models and have researched the Kodak DX7590 and DX6490, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3 and the Cannon Powershot S1 IS. The Panasonic seems to be hands down the best quality and I can get it at Circuit City.com for $339.99 with another $50 mail in rebate, but am unsure if 3 mp is enough. The Kodak models seem to be the easiest to learn but the photo quality in the reviews I've seen are not as good as the Panasonic. The S1 IS is about the same price as the FZ3, but also did not seem to be up to the FZ3's quality.

....Or should I go with something like the Cannon A95 and add conversion lenses for the telephoto shots?

If you're still reading, I'm sure you can see the depth of my confusion by now. Any recommendations? :)...that you're only confused by how many megapixels you need to make a good 8X10. That's easy. Two megapixels can produce a perfectly fine 8X10. So all of your choices are capable. Granted, more MP give you more cropping possibilities, but one thing you'll find in using a long-zoom camera with image stabilizer (like the FZ3 or Canon IS) is that you can confidently use the lens at any focal length and usually get sharp results. So you wind up doing a lot of cropping and composing right in the camera, such that your images often don't even require any trimming after downloading. For what you described, I think the FZ3 will work fine for you.

[jmowery]

Ahhhhh! I knew someone here could cut to the heart of the matter. It seems like the Panasonic is the one I should go for, then. What is your opinion on ease of use for someone who is fairly much a novice to digital photography? I do have a 2 mp camera now, but have mostly just used it for point & shoot--nothing fancy.

[propwash]

That's the beauty of the Panasonic. You can start out by using the Program mode (point and shoot.) After you get a little more familiar with its capabilities, you can start using more of the features. It does have a full manual option, so you can make as many or as few of the decisions as you want to. Let the camera do the rest.

[ReF]

seems like picture quality is your #1 concern so i guess it's pretty easy to see why everyone suggested the panasonic, and I agree. i'm going to throw something else out there, and that's the panasonic fz15 which is in the $360 range. it doesn't have the vignetting issue (dark corners) which can be a pain in the butt if you plan on doing panoramic shots and it's 4mp in case you need to do any trimming (you never know). i do recommend that you get an extra battery if you're heading out to alaska (unless you don't plan to take many pictures) and a good multi-coated polarizer. check luminous-landscape.com or dpfwiw.com if you're not sure what polarizers do or why you would want one. just remember not to use them for panoramics and not to polarize at full strength if "steps" are appearing in the sky. good luck!

btw, all digital cams are easy to use if you are a novice because they all have an auto mode and many have a P mode.

[jmowery]

Thanks for the replies. I took a look at the FZ15 and decided to go with it. Who knows--that extra mp may come in handy as I get better at using the camera. :) Thanks for the advice, ReF on the extra battery & filters. I do plan to take a lot of pictures in Alaska-not a place I think I'll be able to get to often, so I want to make the most of it, lol! I've bookmarked both the sites you mentioned to go back to-very interesting!

Thanks again for all your help. Can't wait to get the camera and start using it!

[ReF]

glad the info was useful to you