Dillema...advice sought

mjw123 · 13-08-2005, 8:13 AM

Guys,

I currently own an FZ3 which has given me good results consistently, however i'm feeling as good as the camera is it may be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

What has caught me eye is the excellent Olympus 7070 which I think for day to day shots will give me better results, especially indoors of my young Daughter.

For outdoors will the 7070 give better results ?....obviuosly for long zoom and probably sporting action the FZ3 will come out on top. So i'd probably keep both cameras.

I know a lot of you guys swear by DSLR's but i'm not really wanting to buy all the associated paraphanalia...

Another factor is that I may be able to get a colleague is our U.S. office to buy one for me and ship it over for about £200....big saving on the £320 price in the UK.

What do you guys think - are there others I should consider instead of the 7070.....i'm tempted just to move to the better Pani FZ20 and sell my FZ3

The bottom line is am i going to notice much difference in picture quality on the 7070 over the FZ3 ?

Cheers,
Mike.

RobertP · 13-08-2005, 8:33 AM

I am still a member of a Oly user group I joined when I got my C5050 - it now covers all Oly cameras. I don't see much bad said about the 7070. Focus problems in low light is the only comment I've seen recently.

The user groups web page is here with a bunch of 7070 info and review links. (left nav bar - camera resources)

If you join the Yahoo group (free) referenced on the site you can ask questions of owners and search through all the old messages.

longleyc · 14-08-2005, 3:07 AM

FZ30, Its all you ever need in a prosumer.
Cracking lens and if 19x optical zoom at 3mp mode isnt enough than you can get a x1.5 converter.
12x zoom at 8mp mode.
Oh the list is endless.........................

mjw123 · 14-08-2005, 8:33 AM

Just the price longley - I reckon it'll be about £400+ the FZ30.

With exchange rates and a good U.S. price I reckon I can get the 7070 for around £200.

mr jones · 14-08-2005, 12:04 PM

get a Dslr............................

kenlynch · 14-08-2005, 1:01 PM

Quote:

I currently own an FZ3 which has given me good results consistently, however i'm feeling as good as the camera is it may be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

That's because it's a compact.

I don't know what you mean about your camera giving you consistently good results, I've had a look at your Barbados stuff and the image quality is terrible. You are shooting in bright sunlight and getting the kind of noise I only begin to see when I shoot ISO1600 in low light.

mr jones · 14-08-2005, 1:18 PM

afraid i have to agree with the above, thats the downfall of compacts (jack off all trades) and sensor size.

we'll convert you yet!

RobertP · 14-08-2005, 2:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenlynch

That's because it's a compact.

I don't know what you mean about your camera giving you consistently good results, I've had a look at your Barbados stuff and the image quality is terrible. You are shooting in bright sunlight and getting the kind of noise I only begin to see when I shoot ISO1600 in low light.

Speaking as a DSLR owner that strikes me as an unfair assesment. I have plenty of shots taken with my Oly 5050 in bright sunlight that are equal to what I now get with the 20D. I looked at the Barbados shots too and agree they are not as clean as they could be but that could easily be down to the compression applied for the display site.

I know my old c5050 with its f1.8 lens would do a fair job in lowish light so with the recent improvement in sensors the 7070 might be the answer.

mjw123 · 14-08-2005, 6:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenlynch

That's because it's a compact.

I don't know what you mean about your camera giving you consistently good results, I've had a look at your Barbados stuff and the image quality is terrible. You are shooting in bright sunlight and getting the kind of noise I only begin to see when I shoot ISO1600 in low light.

Steady on Ken boy !!!

Those pics were taken 2 years ago with a Nikon Coolpix 885 and well compressed - quite a bit different to my FZ3

.......I think terrible is a bit strong as well....unless of course you are David Bailey

I think the 7070 will in most instances (low light excepted) give DSLR rivalling results - just read the reviews by the professionals who state this.

Maybe i'll get to a DSLR one day but I still see the bulkiness and extra kit a nuisance.

JayCee · 14-08-2005, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjw123

Guys,

I currently own an FZ3 which has given me good results consistently, however i'm feeling as good as the camera is it may be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

I think it's bad practice to shorten a model no or omit the manufacturer.
I know the make/model but a newcomer to this forum possibly wouldn't

kenlynch · 15-08-2005, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjw123

Steady on Ken boy !!!

Those pics were taken 2 years ago with a Nikon Coolpix 885 and well compressed - quite a bit different to my FZ3

.......I think terrible is a bit strong as well....unless of course you are David Bailey

I think the 7070 will in most instances (low light excepted) give DSLR rivalling results - just read the reviews by the professionals who state this.

Maybe i'll get to a DSLR one day but I still see the bulkiness and extra kit a nuisance.

Please bear in mind that I was talking about image quality (noise, artefacts, sharpness) and they are terrible with respect to image quality. I assumed they were recent as they are under recent additions (July 2005) and there is no exif info to be able to determine the camera, so sorry for making an incorrect assumption.

I've noticed a few people are saying "DSLR rivalling results", well prove it. Show me something and state why you think it is of DSLR beating quality.

seany · 15-08-2005, 1:26 PM

I'm a big fan of the olympus 7070 Mike. Really well featured camera, and wider then most which is one of the main things i love about it.

I think you'd love it mate

Lets keep on topic here and help Mike out with his question rather then starting yet another dslr V compact debate, which has been done to death.

MattB1 · 15-08-2005, 1:37 PM

Kenlynch - I think the term MJW used was :

"(low light excepted) give DSLR rivalling results"

Not DSLR beating quality.

These aren't bad :

http://myolympus.org/document.php?id=3301

http://myolympus.org/document.php?id=3167

I agree with Seany for once

Lets not get into another compact Vs DSLR argument.

If you can get the C7070 for £200 then it's a no brainer in my opinion. You'll generally get better results than the FZ3. You could always use the FZ3 if and when a long zoom is required or buy one of these :

http://www.normancamera.com/shop/Sea...odStock=200330

I've heard the cheaper telephoto coverters are rubbish but I'd have thought Olympus's would be pretty good.

Matt.

mjw123 · 15-08-2005, 4:02 PM

None too shabby those Matt - obviusly not a patch on Ken's results

It must be doing something right to get pics like that....time to see what my friend in the U.S. can do.

Worst case scenario - I don't get on with it and flog it on Ebay for £280...still saving someone £220 on the ridiculous price in Jessops.

I'm having an extension built at the moment and am handing out money left, right and centre to various people.....what's a couple of hundred quid for something for my enjoyment instead of a soil pipe, drain or load of bricks

Will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
Mike.