Would Coolpix8800 be a good choice?

[dzikson]

Well its about time to replace my old Sony DCS-P72 with something that packs more punch. I was looking at DSC-F717 but it seems I was too slow and I can't buy that camera anymore. Off course I started looking at F828 but it's just too big and seems it's not as good as the 717 was. So now I'm considering Coolpix8800. It seems I can get it for $650-$700 on the net which seems to be a very good price to me. I read many good reviews, including the one on this site but I wanted to ask one more time. Would you guys recommend that camera? I really like to 10x optical zoom feature and good zoom is important to me. I also want an 'slr-looking' camera. Also I wanted to ask, why it seems that 8MP cameras have more noise than 4-5MP once? It would seem to me that they should be higher quality since they are at higher resolution. Thanks for any info. Yeah I know, I'm a noob ;).

[D70FAN]

Well its about time to replace my old Sony DCS-P72 with something that packs more punch. I was looking at DSC-F717 but it seems I was too slow and I can't buy that camera anymore. Off course I started looking at F828 but it's just too big and seems it's not as good as the 717 was. So now I'm considering Coolpix8800. It seems I can get it for $650-$700 on the net which seems to be a very good price to me. I read many good reviews, including the one on this site but I wanted to ask one more time. Would you guys recommend that camera? I really like to 10x optical zoom feature and good zoom is important to me. I also want an 'slr-looking' camera. Also I wanted to ask, why it seems that 8MP cameras have more noise than 4-5MP once? It would seem to me that they should be higher quality since they are at higher resolution. Thanks for any info. Yeah I know, I'm a noob ;).

You might want to consider the Pansonic FZ20K as well. with 12X f2.8, Image stabilized lens it may be a better choice.

The simple version:

Consumer grade, 8MP, sensors typically pack 8 million light sensors into the same space as the 5MP and 3-4MP sensors before them. And the formerly high end .66" 5MP sensors are now being packed into the same size as 3 and 4MP (.37") sensors. Since the individual light sensors (pixels) are getting smaller, this simply means that it takes a lot more light to get the same output signal, or you have to boost (amplify) the signal from the sensor to get the same effect. This also amplifies the noise, with the signal, and you get much more noise as well.

In contrast, the average pro/consumer dSLR (Canon 300D, Nikon D70, etc.) type camera the overall APS-C sized sensor is 8 times the area of a 2/3" (largest) consumer grade sensor, and therefore more expensive to make, but it also takes a lot less amplification to produce the same signal, and thus a lot less noise. So even at 12MP an APS-C sized sensor will produce very low noise at high ISO settings not even available on most consumer all-in-ones.

At the pro level Canon's 1Ds Mk II is a 16MP sensor in a full 35mm sized sensor (about 4X the APS-C sensor), but costs around $8000, and there are medium format (larger still) digital camera backs from companies like Phase One that are 22MP and cost in excess of $25,000. As you can imagine, these are very low noise and closely match professional film in quality.

Hope that helps put things in perspective. ;)

[dzikson]

K, thanks for info.

One more noob question. Can you explain the lense "f" thing :o . If I remember correctly it has something to do with light right. Also is there a good site anywhere to get a bit more educated about photography and taking decent pictures?

[D70FAN]

K, thanks for info.

One more noob question. Can you explain the lense "f" thing :o . If I remember correctly it has something to do with light right. Also is there a good site anywhere to get a bit more educated about photography and taking decent pictures?

f is the aperture, and you are correct as it sets the amount of light available to the film/sensor and works with shutter speed for varying effects, like DOF Depth Of Field.

Here is Jeffs tutorial FAQ page that should help explain a lot:

http://www.dcresource.com/faq/faq.html

Here is a good place for books on the subject:

http://www.shortcourses.com/bookstore/book.htm

You can also try the library... or Google your querry.

[dzikson]

Thank you!