which one Panasonic DMC-FZ8 and Olympus SP-550 UZ

[flipcrab85]

Budget

* What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? 250ish

Size

* What size camera are you looking for? full size

Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you?7

* What optical zoom will you need? Ultrazoom

* How important is “image quality” to you? 10

Do you care for manual controls?YES

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for?everything

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not?no

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos?both

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos?yes

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate?n/a

Are there particular models you already have in mind?yes, Panasonic DMC-FZ8 and Olympus SP-550 UZ

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features?Wide Angle, Image Stabilization, RAW image
__________________________________________________ _______________
ive been doing research, and i believe ive narrowed it down to these two, i want pretty much a "SLR-like" also RAW imaging besides for that i m pretty much open to suggestions, also what i like about these two models, is the optical zoom 12x on FZ8 and 18x on SP-550. also i like the option of filters and tele and wide angle lense attachments, so which of these two, or others should i get

update:
now also considering the FZ18

[stever06]

My vote is for the FZ-18
The SP550 suffers from soft images at the long end and prone to focus hunting. Also you would be stuck with the slowish xD card format with this.
The FZ-18, I'd take the 28mm starting point over the FZ-8's 36mm

just my opinion

[flipcrab85]

My vote is for the FZ-18
The SP550 suffers from soft images at the long end and prone to focus hunting. Also you would be stuck with the slowish xD card format with this.
The FZ-18, I'd take the 28mm starting point over the FZ-8's 36mm

just my opinion

cool deal, well opinions are what im lookin for

[stever06]

I would avoid that site. they are part of The Digital Nerds group, who are scammers. That price is for the camera only, then they charge mega bucks for all the accessories that were supposed to be in the box in the first place. Buy from a reputable site, such as those sponsered here.

Check all your considering purchase sites here:
www.reselleratings.com

[David Metsky]

btw found a good site with imo good prices
http://www.techondigital.com/
$239 for the FZ18

If it seems too good to be true, it is. Stick with reputable retailers that will deliver what they advertise, like B&H, NewEgg, Beach.

[flipcrab85]

thanks for the warning...im going remove the link.....due to pricing otherwise, not using that company, that may bump me back to either the sp550 or fz8....any other cameras out there on that level that do raw images and under $300???

[David Metsky]

Here's the list of cameras that support RAW. The pickings are fairly slim. You've looked at all the major options already.

[flipcrab85]

so based off of what im lookin for which would be the better buy fz8 or sp-550?

[speaklightly]

I own the FZ-7 and have been very pleased with it. I also own the SP-550 and it hunts all over the place attempting to focus, and even then the images appear pretty soft.

So if it were me, I would opt for the FZ-8 camera.

Sarah Joyce

[AndyfromVA]

The FZ18 can be bought for under $300 ($299.95) from a reputable dealer, B&H Photo.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_Camera.html