Looking for an ultra-zoom, I think. IS?

[bastetbabe27]

Budget- around $500, including accessories like batteries and memory card

Size- medium to compact, this is for travel and family gatherings/parties

Features-
Megapixels- 3-5
Optical Zoom- I'm looking at ultra-zooms, but I'm a novice, so are there
major drawbacks to u-z's I'm not aware of?
Image Quality- 8
Manual Controls- I'm not an enthusiast, but there are probably things I'd
like to tweak, like white balance, but nothing too
complicated. You could say I'm neutral.

General Usage
Generally for travel and family gatherings/parties. I do like to take pictures of things I see in museums though, and a lot of those places don't allow flash pictures, so a camera that could take good indoor shots without a flash would be handy. In the travel vein, I also would be mostly taking pictures I don't have a lot of time to set up, so I would want something that takes good pictures without a lot of fiddling necessary, and without a tripod. (You could say I want a camera that will take perfect pictures in any conditions without my having to do anything complicated ;) ).

Big prints are unlikely, though I might make an occasional 8x10 if I get something really good. The flexibility to do that is one reason I want a digicam. But mostly small prints and Internet postings.

About 1/2 would be indoor. I don't know if that counts as low light. Possibly.

Not sports, but I do take pictures of my cats and people that are moving sometimes, and it'd be really nice to capture the moment at those times.

Miscellaneous
I trust the traditional camera makers-- Canon, Nikon, Olympus-- more, partly because of word-of-mouth comments about durability and picture/lens quality, but I'm no expert, nor have I done extensive testing, so i can't say I'm really that well informed.


Bottom Line:
Currently, I'm leaning toward the Canon S1 IS, but I also like the Olympus C-765/770. Looking at this review site, they both take very good quality photos. In deciding between them, what I'm wondering is, how important is IS on an ultra-zoom? And reviews here mentioned these cameras had problems focusing in low light. How big of problems, and what counts as low light? The Canon's been out for a year now. Is it likely Canon will be putting out something like the IS soon, but with 4Mp or something, and I would be better to wait?

[John_Reed]

You seem to feel that the "Panasonic" brand doesn't measure up to your "name brand" requirement, but I can tell you from personal usage of Panasonic cameras (I'm on my 3rd generation now) over the past 2 years, they're rugged, and they deliver more performance for the buck than any competitors. Within your price range are the DMC-FZ3, FZ4, FZ5, and FZ15. I happen to have the FZ15, and can vouch that it is a great camera. 35mm to 420mm effective zoom range, optical image stabilizer in two modes, 4MP, f2.8 lens across the zoom range, the list goes on and on. You can see reviews of some of these cameras here on this site, or check out the "reviews" section over at http://www.dpreview.com, where the new FZ5 just earned a very positive review from them, just as it had previously here. If you want an example of the kind of photograph you can take with an FZ15 (it has manual focus), I just happen to have one here that I shot yesterday:
http://john-reed.smugmug.com/photos/19677832-L.jpg
That's shot at full optical zoom + 2X digital zoom, for a total of 840mm equivalent focal length, handheld.

[bastetbabe27]

I hadn't looked at those yet, although I know I looked at some Panasonics, but they were all too expensive, so they must have been different than the ones you recommended I'll definitely check them out. Can't keep all these numbers straight. So, as picture quality goes, the Panasonics measure up to the Canons? That's a great picture, btw.
And this whole site is awesome, it's really helped me make a better decision about my camera. Keep up the good work.

-bastetbabe27

[John_Reed]

You may notice that it has more posts than any other brand name on this site, nearly twice as many posts as Canon, for one example. It's a very popular camera in these parts.

[herc182]

I EXTENSIVELY researched what you are researching and believe me, for that budget, the best cameras around are the panasonic FZ5 or FZ20 (the latter is bigger than the former, but has more manual controls and maintains an aperture of f2.8 throughout the zoom range (meaning that the shutter is open to its widest all the way through making for bright images)). I bought the fz20, and although people say its a beast, it is smaller than an slr camera (JUST!) and feels very solid. the fz5 is very small (look on this website for the review and you will see its size in relation to the guys hand....i have held it too and it really is that small), but feels too light for me.

Picture quality is fantastic, on the fz20 (noise is very limited except at iso 400, at which it is very noticeable), and the manual focus ring is a fantastic adition which i find myself using all the time. furthermore it has a massive range of manual controls (i dont think there isnt anything you cant change) but also has simple modes for those who want point and shoot.

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?p=27960#post27960

see here for an earlier post i made. all the cameras i was considering. make your own conclusions!!

cheers

[gary_hendricks]

I agree with the rest here ... the Lumix FZ-20 (http://www.basic-digital-photography.com/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz20-review.html) is definitely something you should consider. Love that 12X zoom with IS. ;)

[bastetbabe27]

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I'm sure the FZ20 is a great camera, but I'm looking for something nice and small, that's easy to take with me traveling. I'm not really aiming toward becoming a "serious amateur" even, so it sounds like more camera than I'd really make use of.

I'm getting the camera before going on an archaeological dig in Crete, and will probably be carrying it with to the site during the day, which is rocky and dusty, so I want something that's portable and fairly rugged.


From what people are saying, it sounds like the FZ5 beats the S1 IS. Does the FZ5 focus faster than the Canon S1 IS?

One consideration is, that the FZ5 is at the highest end of my price range, and I'd still have to buy a memory card and and extra battery (too bad the FZ5 doesn't take NiMH AAs). And, though I didn't go into looking for a camera wanting a movie feature, the idea has sortof grown on me, and according to the reviews, S1 IS's feature is quite good, while FZ5's not great.

Sigh, decisions, decisions....Is the FZ5 even in stores yet? It's quite new, isn't it? I'd like to hold it before buying, is all.

[timmciglobal]

The FZ3 is a great small camera can get it online for 365, it's same 12X stabilized lens F 2.8 though just 3 megapixels.

S1 is has a very major focusing issue in the model I tried. Canon droped the ball huge on that front.

The S2 is coming out soon too though, might wanna wait.

Tim

[ibmikie]

The dimensions are about the same as the FZ5, That should give you a good idea of the feel and function. It also has a 2.8 lens through the entire focal range. The FZ4 is also available if you want to lower you budget. I have been looking at the FZ15, but after handling it, The FZ4 will be a better choice for me.

[JTF]

I am almost ready to buy my first digital camera & have spent several weeks reading magazines; reading web site reviews; looking at pictures, & posting in forums. I narrowed it down to the Canon Powershot SI 1S & the Panasonic FZ20. The canon has a really poor lense cap, so when you said your area of work will be dusty the lense cap will be a factor because it doesn't sit on very will as compared to the Panasonic. This may seem a small point, but when you spend your hard earned money on a camera you'll be suprised how crappy it is. You can buy and adaptor & filter which would be better than the kit cap. My choice is the Panasonic which is also out of my price range but because its my first camera purchase I would rather spend a little more for the excellent lecia lense. You would actually be better off buying the FZ3 which should not be much more money if not the same price as the Canon SI IS.

[gary_hendricks]

My thoughts on the Olympus C765.

The biggest bonus to the camera is how adaptable it is. If you are a novice, it can be used as a simple point-and-shoot camera, and it has several scene selections (portrait, landscape, sport, night, etc.). If you are a more advanced user, this camera is great too. It has several levels of customizability: choose one function and allow the camera to determine the rest, or you can select ALL the settings yourself.

The camera has threads on the lens, so it is essentially upgradeable, with more advanced telephoto (not that you need it with a 10X optical zoom built in), macro and other lens attachments available through Olympus. Or you could attach filters. It is as close as you can get to an SLR without paying an arm and a leg.

The C-765 has an electronic viewfinder. thats very bright and clear. It is even manageable in low light settings. It was the brightest EVF of any camera in its class that I tested.