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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / ZLR Cameras / January 2005Buying my first ZLR (entry level)
Hi everyone!! Glad to see the group up and running. :) My first digital camera (a Canon S230 point & shoot) is great, but I'm ready to buy something with a bigger zoom range than my current 2X, more user control settings, and a camera that is easier to hold on to. I've narrowed it down to five models-- Minolta Z3 Canon S1 IS Olympus C-765 Lumix FZ3 Fuji S5100 I am open to any opinions, suggestions, comparisons, comments, praises, and complaints about any or all of these models. Hope to hear from you. Susan McGee > I've narrowed it down to five models-- > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Lumix FZ3 > Fuji S5100 In that class, you should also look at the Nikon Coolpix 4800 ... http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/nikon4800.html > > I've narrowed it down to five models-- > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/nikon4800.html Have a look at a side-by-side comparison of those six models by DPreview- http://tinyurl.com/3jl8j  SignatureThaddeus Lipshitz > I've narrowed it down to five models-- > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Hope to hear from you. I was in much the same situation and read everything I found about similar cameras. Finally I narrowed the list down to S1IS and FZ3. I ended up buying the Canon, and just received it today. I have only tried the camera for a few hours, and so far it seems very good. What made me go for the Canon was the swivel LCD, better video mode, AA batteries and CF card as I already have a few NIMH batteries and CF cards. After trying the camera I wouldn't buy a ZLR without image stabilizer. It really helps! My suggestion is to get the Canon or the Panasonic. SignatureJan Otto > After trying the camera I wouldn't buy a ZLR without image stabilizer. > It really helps! > > My suggestion is to get the Canon or the Panasonic. The Minolta Z3 also has IS (AS), and an extra megapixel of resolution. SignatureBill >> After trying the camera I wouldn't buy a ZLR without image stabilizer. >> It really helps! >> >> My suggestion is to get the Canon or the Panasonic. > > The Minolta Z3 also has IS (AS), and an extra megapixel of resolution. I know, and I liked it a lot from reading the specs. However from checking forums and reviews there seems to be quite a few problems with it, and the picture quality is not the best. SignatureJan Otto >> After trying the camera I wouldn't buy a ZLR without image >> stabilizer. It really helps! >> >> My suggestion is to get the Canon or the Panasonic. > > The Minolta Z3 also has IS (AS), and an extra megapixel of resolution. But the image quality from the 4MP Panasonic FZ20 beats the image quality from the 8MP Minolta A2 (to quote two off-original-list cameras!). [I took the same picture with both cameras, I'm not quoting from reviews]. David > Hi everyone!! Glad to see the group up and running. :) > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Lumix FZ3 > Fuji S5100 Go with the Olympus. If you can spend a little extra then get the C-770, as it has a flash shoe and more features. > Go with the Olympus. If you can spend a little extra then get the > C-770, as it has a flash shoe and more features. The 770 is a nice camera, but I think its lack of IS means that you can only exploit its excellent lens in favourable conditions. It was one of my final shortlist of three (FZ10, C770 and S1 IS). Resolution is the limiting problem with the S1 for me - 3.2 megapixels lags the field a little. What I really wanted was the lens and stabiliser of an S1 IS with the 'back end' of a Powershot G5. Alas that's not a camera Canon have yet seen fit to market -- so I bought the FZ10. ;) pete Signaturepete@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas" >> Go with the Olympus. If you can spend a little extra then get the >> C-770, as it has a flash shoe and more features. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > 'back end' of a Powershot G5. Alas that's not a camera Canon have yet seen > fit to market -- so I bought the FZ10. ;) I have a C-750. My biggest complaint is the poor low light focus, and the lack of any AF assist. You can work around this somewhat by saving one of the "my modes" to have a manual focus (about 6 feet) and force flash on. I don't know how the other cameras compare in this area, some reviews have low-light focus tests others don't. Otherwise it is very nice, and I do not see the lack of IS as a major drawback, though it is hard to compare without actually having used a camera with IS, and I'm sure there are better pictures I could have captured if I had it. I try to take extra shots and hold the camera as still as possible. The 4MP is also a plus compared to the (?) Canon. -- Patrick Mansfield > I have a C-750. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I don't know how the other cameras compare in this area, some reviews have > low-light focus tests others don't. That is about the same problem as my new S1IS has with low light. But manual focus and the possibility to save a custom setting helps a lot. The FZ3 has a focus assist light so it's propably a bit better in low light, but I don't think it has manual focus so that might also be a problem. I think all ZLR cameras in the $3-400 range have quite a few compromises. You just have to read reviews and figure what is important to you. There is no perfect ZLR camera available. After trying the S1IS for a few shots I would just like to repeat that image stablizer a valuable feature if you take handheld pictures at full zoom. I would not buy a ZLR camera without stabilizer. I sure would like better low light focusing, higher resolution and bigger LCD than the S1IS offers, but I think it was the right camera for me considering wnat is available today. SignatureJan Otto [] > Otherwise it is very nice, and I do not see the lack of IS as a major > drawback, though it is hard to compare without actually having used a > camera with IS, and I'm sure there are better pictures I could have > captured if I had it. > > I try to take extra shots and hold the camera as still as possible. Once you have used IS you really don't want to go back. My wife has a Panasonic FZ20 (with IS), and really miss it on my Nikon 8400 - having those extra two - three stops exposure in less than ideal lighting is invaluable! Cheers, David > Hi everyone!! Glad to see the group up and running. :) > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Lumix FZ3 > Fuji S5100 Oh Yeah ... whichever model you decide to purchase, avoid the Fuji like the plague! > > Hi everyone!! Glad to see the group up and running. :) > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Lumix FZ3 > > Fuji S5100 We've had the Canon since it hit the market and we're tickled to death with it. Unless you do enlargements bigger than 8x10 or a lot of cropping, you'll never miss a couple megapixels with the advantage of IS. I almost never print anything since I have several programs to create slide show CD's that I hand out to all the relatives who either have computers or DVD players that display them. I just got an 8x10 back from Wal Mart that looks as good as anything I ever shot with my Nikon FG and that came from a 2 megapixel Kodak with no IS. The main reasons we chose the Canon were IS, AA batteries and CF memory. We had a Kodak 3600 which used both so we had no need to buy memory cards or batteries if we stayed with the same format. That's no longer as big a consideration with memory being much cheaper in the last several months. I just got a 512 meg SD card for under fifty dollars. I think the first 64 meg CF card we bought for the Kodak was $65 and we thought we got a great buy at the time. ;o) As someone else said in this thread, it will depend a lot on your needs and preferences. If you want poster sized prints, get all the megapixels you can and use a tripod. If you're like me and want the best shot you can get from the hip, get IS. Other factors will decide which one. Another point with the Canon, I see it's now under $400 most places, so it's getting more reasonable. Don't doubt for a moment that three weeks after you buy it, Canon will come out with a six megapixel version of it or Panasonic will cut prices by $150. Do what I've done. Start a collection. I just bought a Panasonic FZ3, having chosen from much the same list you post. I'm happy with my choice, so far, but then I didn't buy any of the others, so I can't make a proper comparison, can I? ;-) For me, what sold me on the FZ3 was apparently better resolution (and lower low-light noise) than the 4Mp KM Dimage Z3, much lighter and smaller than the Panasonic FZ20, cheaper than the Canon S1, and the others don't have IS. Pattern-chaser "Who cares, wins" I didn't hear about the Panasonics till after I'd purchased the Canon or I might have gone that way. Regardless, we have a *lot* of good pictures from the last five or six years since we went digital. Our collection consists of a little Gateway 2mp pocket video/still camera that I carry everywhere, a Fuji 2mp, the Kodak 2mp and lastly, the Canon S1. They are all now history. I gave them to my wife. ;o) I got my D70 for Christmas and I'm in heaven. What a machine! Anyway, my point is this. To the OP I'd say, just buy something and start shooting. You won't regret the pictures you get, even if you do wish you'd done this or that differently. If you wait for the perfect choice in cameras, you'll never get any pictures. This thread should certainly give you some great ideas or confuse you completely. Good luck! |
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