I agree with havoc315 on the Canon sx260, which I just saw at BestBuy for $199 and probably would be my pick of I were in the market for a mega zoom. I just bought my brother the Panasonic Lumix ZS20, which has a 20x zoom, GPS, touch screen, etc., and he has been happy with it so far. You also may want to look at a variety of cameras in the 10 a 12x range.
You do need to keep in mind the more you zoom, the more likely your shots will appear "blurry" or out of focus. Outdoor you would probably be fine, but if you fully zoom you may need a tripod, monopod, or try to keep it propped for better stability. Indoors I would keep away from zooming in more than 8x.
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photo_chick said:Saying that zooming out makes images blurry is like saying that pushing the gas pedal on a car makes you speed. There's more to it. A basic understanding of how camera shake and shutter speed relate to each other can help someone overcome this problem fairly easily.
Of course it does, but many casual shooters, and this is not aimed at the OP, do not understand that. I could have gone into more detail about how the aperture # tends to go up the more the zoom, or how the shutter speed needs to go up also, I just didn't want to go into that much detail. Maybe I "dumbed" it down too much, I just wanted to bring it to the attention of the OP or anyone else looking into a mega zoom p&s. In the case of the Nikon that he listed, if you read the reviews on it, or some other mega zooms, "blurry" photos are a common complaint.
I just bought my brother a Panasonic Lumix ZS20, to replace his two year old Nikon 9100, the biggest problem he had with that camera was blurry photos and speed. I've discussed shake and shutter speed and it has never really stuck. He, like many other photographers, will never take a camera out of auto and just want zoom in and shoot. That's why I would have preferred getting him a 8-12x camera, but he wanted 16 - 20x.
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photo_chick said:Burry photos are a common complaint with many cameras. It's about a lot more than the zoom. I don't think it's a reason to stay away from a super zoom point and shoot. Just because you know one person who has a certain type of camera that might not be the best choice for doesn't mean that type of camera wouldn't be perfect for someone else.
Hey photo_chick, I've only been back on the DIS boards for a week now but have enjoyed reading your posts and useful advice during that time, but I thing you misread my original post. It was in no way meant to try and talk him out of a mega zoom, I thing they are great p&s's! I just wanted to point out that the super zooms greatest strength can, in some occasions, be a weakness. Of course blurry photos are a common complaint for many cameras, I just thing it is more common for super zooms (when zoomed in more). There's a reason why you see a monopod attached to the lens of sports photographers.
As far as my brothers camera goes, he does get great shoots from his camera, and loves the super zoom. It's just so easy to zoom in all the way, that people can forget some of the tradoffs. It just gets him in trouble sometimes
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I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread! I hope it's been as helpful to ThePinGuy as it has been for me. I have actually been trying to decide between the Canon sx260 and the Panasonic Lumix ZS20. I like them both, but I wonder which one has better results in low light. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?
I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread! I hope it's been as helpful to ThePinGuy as it has been for me. I have actually been trying to decide between the Canon sx260 and the Panasonic Lumix ZS20. I like them both, but I wonder which one has better results in low light. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?
Crew-JTA said:I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread! I hope it's been as helpful to ThePinGuy as it has been for me. I have actually been trying to decide between the Canon sx260 and the Panasonic Lumix ZS20. I like them both, but I wonder which one has better results in low light. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?
photo_chick said:It is hard to tell sometimes what people mean in text. when we have no intonation or body language things don't always come across.
Yeah, what I got from your post was a message that said "don't buy super zooms because they will have camera shake problems that cause blurry photos."
That zoom can make things a little more challenging, especially if you don't know why you're having problems. And not just with super zooms, but with a telephoto zoom on a DSLR as well.
The fact that the notification ding for your post woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep also didn't help.
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