Turning to the pros...

[3happydancers]

for information on zooms and cameras. I am interested in two cameras, one has a 5x zoom the other an 8x zoom. These 2 cameras are your typical point and shoot (I would not know what to do with the beautiful DSLR's).

I like both cameras. The one with 5x zoom has a touch screen, sleek, easy to use, and nothing jutts out of the camera. The other is the 8x zoom, more traditional looking, but has the piece that protrudes out of the camera (See don't even know what you call it). Anyhow, they both seem to take nice pictures, plenty good for me.

What I need to know is whether or not the difference in the zoom would be noticable when taking pictures (especially at WDW-shows, parades) from a distance.

One camera is a Panasonic Lumix FH20 the other is a Fuji z700exr.


Any and all responses welcome, PLEASE!!!

 

[saturndb]

The Panasonic Lumix FH20 has a longer optical zoom compared to the other one, good for shows or taking pics of objects farther away. It looks like both are about the same price. Have you tried both yet? Sometimes when you try them out you will lean to a certain one, because of how it feels in you hands or the layout of the buttons, etc.
The Fuji z700exr seems to really focus on the touch screen as it's selling feature, so in terms of navigating the options or viewing pics, they view that as making it easier for the user. Also the Image stabilization with it, though I doubt it works very well.

Let me ask what features do you like best between the two?

 

[3happydancers]

The Panasonic Lumix FH20 has a longer optical zoom compared to the other one, good for shows or taking pics of objects farther away. It looks like both are about the same price. Have you tried both yet? Sometimes when you try them out you will lean to a certain one, because of how it feels in you hands or the layout of the buttons, etc.
The Fuji z700exr seems to really focus on the touch screen as it's selling feature, so in terms of navigating the options or viewing pics, they view that as making it easier for the user. Also the Image stabilization with it, though I doubt it works very well.

Let me ask what features do you like best between the two?

Thanks for responding.

First, I like the Fuji for its sleekness and navigating the camera is easy. The night time pictures are great as are day time pictures. And, the LCD screen is a nice 3.5 in size (I rely on corrective lens to see and reading glasses so this is a plus). I disliked the zoom because sometimes it was a bit fuzzy and took extra time to focus in on subject matter. I am concerned that I will not get close enough shots when it comes to stage shows, parades and other distant shots. This camera is a 12 mp w/5x zoom.

I like the Panasonic for the 8x zoom. The rest, is like any other with buttons and sometimes a bit time consuming if you need to switch out modes but pretty easy to navigate. What I don't like is that I cannot seem to get great night time photos. No matter which mode it is in (IA-Intelligent Auto, night scenery, flash burst, starry sky) I found the pictures to be on the dark side. I am not sure if it is me, or just that the camera does not compensate for the additional MP's.

What do you think?

 

[AlbertZeroK]

Panasonic has done a good job with camera's lately and I agree with 3happydancers, the Fuji seems to focus on the touch screen.

Last time I bought a camera because of a feature, the Samsung Dual View, I got everything I wanted and nothing more. Horrible image quality and a horrible camera in general. I would expect more from Fuji, but that touch screen costs more or suffer with less features.

The Panasonic would be my pick.

 

[3happydancers]

Panasonic has done a good job with camera's lately and I agree with 3happydancers, the Fuji seems to focus on the touch screen.

Last time I bought a camera because of a feature, the Samsung Dual View, I got everything I wanted and nothing more. Horrible image quality and a horrible camera in general. I would expect more from Fuji, but that touch screen costs more or suffer with less features.

The Panasonic would be my pick.

AlbertZerok, I agree that I would like to stick with the Panasonic, but I do not like the night pictures. No matter what mode I use, including the Intelligent Auto, they still come out rather dark. The Fuji, believe it or not, takes great night photos (as well as day photos-but it does not have the 8x zoom). I was wondering if you had any insight to my problem, perhaps it is something I am doing wrong. Right now I am leaning toward the Fuji because of this issue. Any help is appreciated.

 

[DisDan09]

Thanks for responding.

What I don't like is that I cannot seem to get great night time photos. No matter which mode it is in (IA-Intelligent Auto, night scenery, flash burst, starry sky) I found the pictures to be on the dark side. I am not sure if it is me, or just that the camera does not compensate for the additional MP's.

What do you think?

At what distance are you taking the night shots? With my Lumex the modes are optimized for a fairly close distance. I have noticed as you zoom out in these modes they will begin to become grainy as the camera compensates in pre-set mode settings. (Except for my fireworks shots, those tend to come out ok in mode) My best night shots come from manual mode and manipulating the settings just as you would a SLR. Hope that helps

 

[AlbertZeroK]

AlbertZerok, I agree that I would like to stick with the Panasonic, but I do not like the night pictures. No matter what mode I use, including the Intelligent Auto, they still come out rather dark. The Fuji, believe it or not, takes great night photos (as well as day photos-but it does not have the 8x zoom). I was wondering if you had any insight to my problem, perhaps it is something I am doing wrong. Right now I am leaning toward the Fuji because of this issue. Any help is appreciated.

I am a canon geek, but I can try putting some light on it. Camera's have something called metering modes, it is how the light is detected. If you have a night shot and there are say street lamps, it can throw off your metering, making the rest of the shot short. A few things that can fix it, you can adjust your exposure, sometimes noted as EV by a stop. Your camera may also do spot metering which means your camera will look only at the center of the picture to evaluate exposure. I don't like the second method unless their is a way to lock exposure then frame your shot.

Some cameras also do bracketing, where you can say take 3 pictures, each at different stops or exposure levels (levels of light and darkness). So you could take one at -1 Stop, normal and +1 stop. This would give you normally a light, regular and dark shot - but you have to take 3 pictures.

 

[3happydancers]

I am a canon geek, but I can try putting some light on it. Camera's have something called metering modes, it is how the light is detected. If you have a night shot and there are say street lamps, it can throw off your metering, making the rest of the shot short. A few things that can fix it, you can adjust your exposure, sometimes noted as EV by a stop. Your camera may also do spot metering which means your camera will look only at the center of the picture to evaluate exposure. I don't like the second method unless their is a way to lock exposure then frame your shot.

Some cameras also do bracketing, where you can say take 3 pictures, each at different stops or exposure levels (levels of light and darkness). So you could take one at -1 Stop, normal and +1 stop. This would give you normally a light, regular and dark shot - but you have to take 3 pictures.

Thanks for this information, but I do not think the Panasonic PnS has this capability. The camera has different scenes/modes but does not allow for adjusting metering. I believe this is an automatic (so, not that good).