Super Zoom or ????

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Which Camera Should I Buy?

This short questionnaire will help the members of this forum make good camera recommendations for you. Please copy the questions into a new post, and provide brief answers.

Camera Type

• Are you looking for a compact point & shoot camera, a DSLR, or something in between? (Or perhaps you haven't decided yet — that's okay!) Most likely a super zoom or a high-end compact with 16x or more, preferably 16 to 18MP, with Viewfinder. Video not important.

• Is this your first camera? First ever, or first digital?
Have had plenty of digitals including dslr
• Are you interested in a high level of control, or would you prefer to let the camera do as much "thinking" as possible?
Prefer some manual capability like shutter speed, bracketing, continuous shooting
• If you had to choose, would you prefer a more versatile (large "×") zoom lens, or top-notch image quality with no zoom at all?
Image quality is very important (I print a lot up to 16x20) but I want more zoom than, for instance, a Canon G12 (5x) would provide
• What size of camera do you want? To what degree would you be willing to sacrifice other features for compactness?
Am used to dslr size so compactness not that important. Am just tired of having to change lenses and losing good shots in the interim.
Budget

• What budget have you allocated for buying this camera? Please be as specific as possible.
$400
• Do you plan to spend more on additional accessories now or in the future? (Lenses, lighting, tripods, batteries, memory cards, camera bags... it adds up!)
Have most accessories so NO
• How long do you plan on keeping this new camera?
2 years
Usage

• What will you generally use the camera for?
travel, landscapes, beach scenes, sunsets, some portraits, some flash but mostly outdoors including wildlife
• Are you going to photograph sports? What sport, and from how far away?
Seldom, but sometimes tennis from high up in the stands.
• Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos, or other low-light photos?
Low-light such as sunsets not too much indoors
• Will you make prints, or primarily view and share images on a computer screen? If you make prints, will they typically be small (up to 5×7") or medium sized (8×10"), or are you interested in larger sizes as well?
Yes. Lots of prints from 5x7 to 16x20
• Are you interested in spending time post-processing to make an image "perfect", or would you prefer to use images basically straight from the camera?
I like to post-process
Miscellaneous

• Are there particular lenses or technical features that are interesting or important to you?
Wide-angle zoom ideally 25-500, Viewfinder, Good zoom control
• Are there particular brands or models you already have in mind?
Fuji HS30EXR (love the zoom barrel control) Pana FZ150 are the 2 main ones but open to suggestion. Also like Sony Cybershot DSC HX30V but it doesn't have a viewfinder and CanonG12 but not enough zoom.
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