Help choosing bridge/hybrid camera + lenses

Jimwah

Jimwah

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Jim
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Hi,

Complete newbie here, so be gentle :)

My girlfriend & I spending an increasing amount of time taking photo's, she has a new little Lumix point & shoot thing, and I have an old Kodak 5mp point & shoot but with zoom & a viewfinder.

We mainly shoot:
Landscapes
Macro shots of bugs & flowers
Potraits of each other
A little architecture

So pretty varied really - we are looking at getting a decent replacement camera & lens to suit our needs & don't really want to spend anything more than £500 all in. I need to have a viewfinder, but other than that I am at a bit of a loss as to what I should look for. I feel I want to avoid the complexity of DSLR; we take a lot of pictures and roam about quite a bit, I don't want to feel bogged down by the weight & technicalities of it all!

The Panasonic G1 is looking like a sensible option, with money spare for a suitable lens or two then, or a package like so:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-PANASONIC...Cameras_DigitalCameras_JN&hash=item2c5500c380

What are thoughts on package deals, & what should we look for in terms of lenses? Will one general purpose & one macro lens suffice for now?

Appreciate any help that can be offered - we are a bit lost!

Jim
 
the G1 is a greaat camera, if i was you i would get the 14-45mm, 45-200mm and try and get the 20mm f1.7.

you could also hunt out old lenses and mount them using an adapter however manual focus, manual aperture and manual exposure is required.
 
hi Jim,

Forget about these hybrids, they neither here not there.
as u have decided on a interchangeable lens system u might as well go with a SLR system. the level of complexity is the same between the 2 system i.e they both have an 'Auto' mode the lets u 'Point and Shoot' as well as the program, aperture, shutter and manual mode.

the price is usually the same but u tend to get much more for your money with a dslr :-
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod636.html
 
The G1 is a great camera - not convinced by those package deals though tbh - the wide angle and telephoto adapters are unlikely to be that great quality.

You can get the G1 from Currys for not much more than £300 with the excellent 14-45mm lens inc cashback and quidco.

I use loads of old manual focus lenses on mine too, some of which are amazing quality and very cheap. You can use the camera in Aperture Priority with these lenses so you set the aperture yourself and focus yourself but the camera sets the shutter speed for correct exposure. Works really well.
 
grum said:
The G1 is a great camera - not convinced by those package deals though tbh - the wide angle and telephoto adapters are unlikely to be that great quality.
.
Click to expand...

The wide angle and telephoto Adapter lenses will be total junk. Along with most of the other extras they bundle on Ebay.
 
I would strongly advise you to get a dslr. I went through the same thing as you and wasted time and money on super zooms and bridge cameras that I was never happy with. The best thing I did was get an slr, just stick it in auto until you get to grips and you'll be amazed how good your photos can be.
 
The D5000 is a superb choice. Its very compact, but offers everything a bridge would give you - HD video, face recognition, pull out screen - but, at its hear beats a stunning DSLR sensor that kicks any bridge's ass. Its probably a bit more expensive (with lens etc) than you wanted to spend, but its a helluva camera. TBH, its the best one I've had ever - and I've had about 10 DSLRs! :lol:
 
Think il suggest a bridge camera to you here, You say your looking for flexibility and that you want to avoid complexity. So I Suggest the Panasonic DMC-FZ38. It is about half the price of your budget £250~, but doesnt have interchangeable lenses.
It does however takes fantastic images, on par with entry level DSLRs. The interface will be familiar to your wife and yourself, as it is part of the lumix family.
It also shoots HD video if thats of any interest to you.Other specs obviously are 12mp, Image stabilisation and an 18x optical zoom. which should cater to majority of your photographic needs.
 
My opinion on bridge cameras is one that doesn't bear repeating here - suffice it to say (after owning one, as well) that they are just expensive compact cameras. DONT buy into the fact that it looks a little like an SLR, they don't perform any better than small compacts.
 
I totally agree with lawrencots, get a d5000. It's the camera I eventually settled on and is a world apart from any of the other compacts and bridge camera's i've used.
 
Thanks for your responses peeps, much appreciated :)

I'll steer clear of the ebay lenses & junk then! I am still drawn to the G1 and the idea of trawling for old manual lenses really appeals to me (and my wallet) at the moment.

Grum, are your recent shots in flickr with a G1? The macro shots on page 2 look great & are what I hope to achieve.

Jim
 
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