Best Ulktra Zoom Camera - Sony, Panasonic or other?

mutamist · 19-03-2006, 9:26 AM

At the moment I have a HP Photosmart R817 which is a nice little camera but I have no decided that being able to 'fit in my pocket' is not the top priority - I'd much rather have a digital camera with a decent optical zoom.

The two I have thought about are the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5. I was wondering what people thought was the better camera or if there are any others that are better than the both? These are 12x Optical Zoom cameras and are around the £250ish mark.

EDIT: add in the Canon PowerShot S2 and also the Panasonic FZ7 - though that's more expensive, I think!

many thanks

FeiJi Fancier · 19-03-2006, 4:32 PM

I think the best Prosumer with regards to optical zoom has almost certainly got to be the 8 megapixel Samsung Pro815. It has an unprecedented X15 OPTICAL zoom.

Personally, however, I use a Fuji Finepix S5500 (10x) with a telephoto additon (1.5x) which combine to give me a similar performance, but with more glass. The Samsung is somewhat more expensive, though.

ush flynn · 19-03-2006, 4:35 PM

that doesnt in anyway make it the best ultra zoom camera

FeiJi Fancier · 19-03-2006, 5:04 PM

Well, as that's always going to be a subjective issue, my point is that both are worth considering.

There's no such thing as "best" anything - because a horse for one course maybe a donkey for another (of course, you may prefer a donkey - it's steady, and carries a heavy weight - although stubborn).

However, having read my reply, I take your point - I did say "best" - I take that back - I should have said that "worth considering is".

cu3ed · 19-03-2006, 7:49 PM

either of the Panasonics, the FZ7 is alittle berter IMO, though not a huge cahnge, but the larger screen is nice,

heres alink to a thread i took some tests shots with.

Dont like the Sony..way too big.......Canon is way to expensive plus its just been replaced by the s3.

We wont be selling the new Sony H2 as jessops will have a specail Black version going for around 250.

But the Panny wins by a mile for me.

The "new" camera thread.... (Updated regularly)

beachy · 19-03-2006, 8:33 PM

am i right in thinking the samsung 815 has'ent got an image stabilizer,as having a 15x optical zoom i would have thought you would definately need one, unless you have an extremely steady hand or are going to carry a tripod around with you.

Pink Fairy · 19-03-2006, 9:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachy

am i right in thinking the samsung 815 has'ent got an image stabilizer,as having a 15x optical zoom i would have thought you would definately need one, unless you have an extremely steady hand or are going to carry a tripod around with you.

I.S. is worth a lot, but don't get zoom figures confused with actual reach... the Samsung doesn't get you any closer than most competitors, it's 420mm (35mm equiv.) at maximum, and that's par for the course for similar 'big zoom; cameras.

midtones · 19-03-2006, 10:30 PM

The UltraZ's are quite fun. Below is one from my moon set, taken with FZ5, handheld.

http://static.flickr.com/29/97132921_9ee61f1da7.jpg

The I.S is excellent.

K.

cu3ed · 19-03-2006, 11:16 PM

You have to bear in mind that the Samsung starts at 28mm, unlike most of the others.

Yes the Samsung has what they call a Handshake Stability system in the lens.

petrolhead · 20-03-2006, 5:24 PM

I will be selling a Finepix S5500 ( still under warranty) very soon and also have the TCON17 Tele

mutamist · 20-03-2006, 5:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kavster

The UltraZ's are quite fun. Below is one from my moon set, taken with FZ5, handheld.

http://static.flickr.com/29/97132921_9ee61f1da7.jpg

The I.S is excellent.

K.

That's an awesome photo - thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the replies people - I think the FZ7 is the one Ill go for but I have a couple of weeks until i will be buying it so I can still be persuaded otherwise!

midtones · 20-03-2006, 6:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mutamist

That's an awesome photo - thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the replies people - I think the FZ7 is the one Ill go for but I have a couple of weeks until i will be buying it so I can still be persuaded otherwise!

Cool

Pop on over to the DPreview forums, link to Panasonic forum below:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1033

There are a ton of photos with all the FZs in there, macros with the Oly MCONs, Nikon 4T/6T, and TCONs so you can see a wide variety of shots, also standard

The Sony and Canon forums on there are useful too.

Hope that helps,

K.

FeiJi Fancier · 20-03-2006, 7:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pink Fairy

I.S. is worth a lot, but don't get zoom figures confused with actual reach... the Samsung doesn't get you any closer than most competitors, it's 420mm (35mm equiv.) at maximum, and that's par for the course for similar 'big zoom; cameras.

Interesting, not being a photography expert (just an educated point and shooter really), I'd not really considered the thought that lens reach might be anything other than 15 times closer than no zoom at all.

Am I right in believing that what you're saying is that this camera (the Pro815) starts with a wider angle view than most, and therefore the lens may be more flexible than many, giving it good telephoto reach, but a noticeably better wide angle starting point with no zoom applied?

SeanT · 20-03-2006, 8:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petrolhead

I will be selling a Finepix S5500 ( still under warranty) very soon and also have the TCON17 Tele

will the tele adaptor fit my s9(5)000?

Pink Fairy · 20-03-2006, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeiJi Fancier

Interesting, not being a photography expert (just an educated point and shooter really), I'd not really considered the thought that lens reach might be anything other than 15 times closer than no zoom at all.

Am I right in believing that what you're saying is that this camera (the Pro815) starts with a wider angle view than most, and therefore the lens may be more flexible than many, giving it good telephoto reach, but a noticeably better wide angle starting point with no zoom applied?

Yep, the zoom figure 8x, 10x , 12x or whatever just describes the focal length coverage of the lens, not how much closer the subject will be in the final image compared to your standard view of it (by which i mean your naked eye or about 50mm focal length in 35mm film equivillant).

If you are buying a camera for it's telephoto capabilities, always look at the quoted 35mm equivillant figure for the lens, not the zoom figure like 10x.

15x is quite dramatic coverage, giving a good spread from genuine wide angle to good telephoto... but there's often an optical compromise with increased zoom coverage.

mutamist · 21-03-2006, 8:09 AM

I very naively did think that the higher the zoom number the closer I could get to the things I am photography. On this review of the Panasonic FZ7 where do I look to see how good it's telephoto capabilities are?

many thanks

Noggin1980 · 21-03-2006, 8:12 AM

Quote:

The two I have thought about are the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1

The next version to that camera is due out in 2 or 3 weeks. I think its going to be 230 pounds on april 14th.

http://www.digicamreview.com/2006/02...announced.html

Pink Fairy · 21-03-2006, 9:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mutamist

I very naively did think that the higher the zoom number the closer I could get to the things I am photography. On this review of the Panasonic FZ7 where do I look to see how good it's telephoto capabilities are?

many thanks

Look at lens specification bit
Lens • 36 - 432mm equiv.

432mm is the key figure here if you're interested in getting the subject as large as possible. So although this camera only has a 12x zoom vs the Samsungs Pro815's 15x (420mm at max) ... it actually gets you fractionally closer.

cheers

mutamist · 21-03-2006, 9:37 AM

Thanks for that info. - glad I didn't rush into buying anything without checking here first. I've found new cameras to compare and important data to compare too!