3 cameras to choose from...

[M3CSL]

I'm looking for a superzoom with atleast 10x zoom, and I've narrowed my decision to 3 cameras. The Kodak P850, the Fuji S5200 and the Sony H1. They all have there + and - points but which is the best? Most of my photos will be normal outside photos and of course using the zoom, macro of flowers, diecast vehicles and such, and low light photos inside without flash, moon, etc.

I have some questions about the cameras that I can't find answers to, if you don't mind

Are the P850's images really that much noisier than the others? Is this good or bad for image detail and colors? And how good are low light photos? I've also heard that in sunlight, the exposure washes out the photos, is there a firmware upgrade or something that could fix this?

The Fuji's lens is 38mm while the other two have 36mm lenses. Would this be very noticable? How good is the Fuji in low light compared to others? Because the fstop is smaller than the other two so using a higher ISO than the others would be needed which causes more noise, right?


Thank you for any help in advance!

[M3CSL]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm overwelmed with help!

[swgod98]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm overwelmed with help!

Someone must have deleted all the replies then, because I don't see any! Hmmm...Must be a bug in the forum code...

Anyways, hopefully I won't restate anything already mentioned, but...

The P850 does not have more noise than your average UZ as far as I'm aware of. I don't own the camera though. You probably won't see a difference from 36mm to 38mm unless you did some careful analysis. The Fuji's Fstop is not noticeably higher than the other camera's. At wideangle, it's F3.2...that's less than a stop, which means less than an ISO change.

Unfortunately, since I don't own any of these camera's, I can only give you my opinions, which are based on what I've read.

If I were to buy another UZ camera today, I'd get myself an S5200. But, if you really want the extra zoom, then the H1 and P850 are pretty good in their own right (and have IS).

[maz]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm overwelmed with help!

Aren't we all?

Having not touched any of these cameras, I don't have much help for you, except to say that you might want to wait for Jeff's review of the Kodak P850, which is coming very shortly.

[pas49ras]

The Fuji's lens is 38mm while the other two have 36mm lenses. Would this be very noticable? How good is the Fuji in low light compared to others? Because the fstop is smaller than the other two so using a higher ISO than the others would be needed which causes more noise, right?

Thank you for any help in advance![/QUOTE]



The number you are refering to is the lens focal length,the Fuji 5200 has a focal length of 38 mm..the others 36mm. This is the wide angle focal length for the lens. The Sony and Kodak would offer a sightly wider angle shot with the lens zoomed all the way out..but would not be a really noticable difference between the 3 cameras. I own the Fuji 5200 and my main reason for buying it was the low light preformance and lower noise at higher ISO's that this camera offers. The natural light and anti-shake features of the Fuji produce great shots w/o flash and in low light/moving subject shots. [/QUOTE]

[M3CSL]

Thank you for all the info!


pas49ras: How does the Fuji do during normal daylight photos? I've read the Kodak sometimes washes out colors and mainly white, in sunlight.

[pas49ras]

The pictures look very good and compare well to the pictures taken with my Nikon Coolpix 8800. This camera has really impressed me with the picture quality,fast focus and low light ability. Give it a good look,its a winner

[M3CSL]

Wow, the P850 didn't do so well, did it!?


I'm realy dissapointed in the results from such a promising camera. I guess the Fuji is the better choice for sure!

I did want to ask about the recent problems with the Canon S2 too. I've seen complaints of blue dots appearing in photos. Is this a wide spread issue or do just a few cameras have this problem???

[swgod98]

I did want to ask about the recent problems with the Canon S2 too. I've seen complaints of blue dots appearing in photos. Is this a wide spread issue or do just a few cameras have this problem???

I'm pretty sure it's just a few camera's. Canon is a very popular camera manufacturer and they hold a majority of the market share. So, I'd be willing to bet there are much more S2's out there than the other UZ models...which in turn leads to more problems being spoken about.

[M3CSL]

I can get the Sony H1 for $399, which seems like pretty good price. I've been looking at the Fuji's images, and they just don't look right to me (to me grain). And the Canon has the most features and highest price, but has features I don't need, such as good video.


The Sony seems to have good image quality for a superzoom, despite some CA in high contrasts areas, but I can rid that with photoshop. It has good macro, good noise control up to ISO400, and even those are still usable for 5x7 or 4x6 prints. I'll let you know how it turns out!