Bridge cameras

H

Herbie

Messages
3
Edit My Images
Yes
I am looking to buy a camera for general purpose shots with some sport action, can anyone recomend a good alrounder camera my budget is around £200, was considering Canon S5is, Fuji finepix S9600, or a Panasonic Lumix FZ18 any sugestions or advice on which one to choose would be brill.
 
Although I am a Canon fan, I have an Olympus C-5050 as well, which is an excellent camera. The latest family of Olympus "creative" cameras are very good value for money (IMPO); the SP-550 goes for around the £200 mark.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_SP-550_UZ.htm

There are others from other manufacturers that will probably be just as good. There is a great deal of choice in the £200 - £50 bracket.

Steve
 
Looks ok with a masive zoom.
Does any one know much about the canon S5is as someone told me the video is very good on it, any down sides etc?
 
I was looking at the Panasonic FZ18 and also the 9600 but I ended up going for the Fuji 6500fd. Great picture quality at higher ISO for a bridge camera and its £50 cheaper than all those others you mention so you can buy yourself lots of goodies to go with it.
 
i have the panasonic dmc-fz30, has 35-420 zoom. great camera. dont know how much they go for now, had mine 2 years ish
 
i have the fuji s8000 i find it very good although i am still learning the settings i think i have some fairly good photos, check out my gallery for some samples
good luck
 
Hello Herbie,

I have The S3is, which is essentially the same camera as the S5, and the video is very good. I've used it much more than I expected & its a bonus that you can take a full res photo at the same time.

I guess the downsides are, no Raw & not a very wide lens, but it's other abilities more than make up for it. It has lots of slr type functions & the articulated screen is so useful for macros & espescially taking shots of people without them noticing.

I don't have hands-on experience of the other cameras you mentioned but I have been very pleased with mine.
 
I'm using a Fuji S8000fd. Excellent camera, got awesome auto modes if u just want to P&S, and then the more DSLR type settings are easy to use. Iv had mine about 2 months now, and its becoming an extension of my arm. If only i had more oppurtunity to take shots of interesting subjects!!! It cost me 200 down from 300 in the sales, not sure what it is now, but well worth the money. I was toying with going DSLR but then decided It would be more sensible to buy a bridge for 200 rather than spend 3 times as much and then never use it.
 
For high iso the Fujis are the best of the bridge cameras, Panasonic generally being the noisiest. However in good lighting the Panasonic cameras have very good IQ & good feature set too. The canon/sony superzooms also do very well in good lighting. The Olympus doesn't get great reviews.

Its worth having a read through a few reviews too, here's a couple of good places...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/cameraList.php

http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html
 
ive just sold a Fuji S9500 as i wanted to get a DSLR but i also use Fuji underwater and can not recommend them enough.. the 6500, 9500, 9600 are all excellent bridge cameras and well worth a look
 
A good all rounder is a Sony H series, ive got the old H1 with IS very good images
 
I've got the S5 and am keeping it mainly for video - preferring instead to use a compact point and shoot (Nikon) for stills since the IQ seems better even with one megapixel less. The S5 however, is a real deal for someone interested in amateur filmmaking since it's the only possibility (both digital cameras and camcorders) to record in full stereo for under 1,600.00 dollars. It's not HD of course, but for great 640 X 480 online clips you just can't beat it. And the zoom is both smooth and quiet - great pluses. Matter of fact, here's a video I made for a client. Link.
 
excuse me .... (speaks quietly as it his first post) I have a S9600 as a back up camera and really enjoy using it. It makes you work hard but you can get some good pictures from it and I would suggest its best for landscapes and night shots (have a look at my web blogg most of the stuff on there was taken using the s9600). The shutter speed is a bit slow for sport etc but all in all its a good camera for the money.
http://bridgecamerausers.co.uk/wp/photoblogs/cyb/?page_id=3
HTH
Cyb
 
I borrowed a S5 IS to take on holiday last year, I was really impressed with it, the lens produced some really sharp pictures.
 
My journey into digital photography as a rewarding hobby started with a Panasonic FZ18. A great start, a great camera, plenty of highly favourable reviews. 18xoptical zoom (leave the digizoom out of it) and intelligent ISO.

Unfortunately, for me with the desire to photograph animals at 50 yards plus it wasn't quite the right tool and I jumped/slipped/fell/ran down the slippery slope of full-blown DSLR and a lens for every day of the week.

So, I keep the FZ18 for rare occasions when I don't wish to be burdened with a DSLR & lens, occasions which don't happen quite frequently enough. The trouble for me is that I regard myself as still a novice with the dslr so 97% of the time that's what I reach for.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great little camera with all the operator controlled settings of a dslr and, I'm sure, capable of providing stiff competition, not only if yo u want a point and shoot. It's pocketable, shoots macro, provides live view, has intelligent ISO.

I ought to let it go but I haven't yet been brave enough... it's something of a friend!

Bridge cameras then? Depends what you see yourself doing. Good luck:clap:
 
I have the FZ8 and love it - I've no doubt the FZ18 is an improved version and wouldn't hesitate to recommend either of them.

Good luck with whichever you pick - TBH there is a bit too much choice IMO and you can procrastinate over which is best forever. I say just pick one and start having fun taking photo's!

Maybe get yourself to a shop that sells a few of your options and see which feels the best and seems most intuitive for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top