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Panasonic Lumix or SLR camera
xc runner
06-12-2007
Advice please - do I buy a Panasonic Lumix for £399 plus or a basic Nikon or Canon SLR for a similar price ?

Can someone give me some advice, advantages, disadvantages etc

Thanks
clh84
07-12-2007
Which Lumix? One of the hybrid cameras that 'looks' like an SLR?

To be honest, at that price you may as well be looking at getting the SLR. Much more versatile, and a lot better quality. The SLRs have bigger sensors which means the images are less noisy, and of course you have interchangable lenses which are much better quality than an all-in-one 10/12/18x zoom lens (though of course they come at a price!)...

If you want to learn and develop your photography skills, then an SLR might be the better option. Remember also that the lens is the most important part of the camera, so spend most of the money on a good quality lens. And don't fall for the 'more megapixels the better' cr@p. A 6/8MP sensor is more than enough on an SLR, because as I said before the sensor is physically bigger than on a compact camera.
skrjones
07-12-2007
THe Lumix FZ8 is a perfect hybrid and can be got for about £170, so which one are you looking at.

A DSLR may cost the same for the body but you need to factor in the cost of the lenses you will want/need.
anna42hmr
08-12-2007
i have the panasonic lumix TZ3 hybrid digital camera(10x optical zoom,, 7.2 mega pixels, 3 inch lcd) and i am happy with it so far (have had it for about a month, and i only paid £184 on amazon (i think it is now £188 on amazon)
nathanbrazil
08-12-2007
I too have the Panasonic Lumix TZ3, and it is a delight. The intelligent ISO works very well, as does the excellent 10x optical zoom. Other cameras have a higher pixel count, but as a bit of research will tell you, unless you go to DSLR, which has a different, better type of sensor, the results from the TZ3 are as good or better than the 10mp 'snappers' with far less features.

FWIW, the better sensor on a good DSLR will produce better pictures, but only if you get everything right. The trade of is that the DSLR is much bulkier, you need to change lenses, and it's much more expensive. So unless you are intending to produce professional quality photographs for magazines, the Panasonic TZ3 will be just the job!
anna42hmr
08-12-2007
if you do consider the tz3, you may also want to read these reveiws on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com (there is over 200 consumer reveiws on these 2 sites alone from people who have bought the camera,

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMC-...7109756&sr=8-1

and

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Lu...ustomerReviews

and it has also been discussed on here :
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=688105

and you can read other reviews/info on the tz3 on these sites:
http://www.photographyblog.com/revie...ix_dmc_tz3.php
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/pa...ew/index.shtml
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonictz3/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/TZ3/TZ3A.HTM

a
Tibsy
08-12-2007
It all comes down to what you want to use the camera for, and more to the point, how much control you want to have over the shots your taking.

I'm pretty sure the TZ3 doesn't have any manual controls, so what you point at, is what you will shoot.

If you get a camera with manual cotrols, that you can adjust all sorts from focus, aperture, shutter speeds and so on...

If you're just taking shots on days out and stuff, then I would say go with a TZ3, but if you want to get more into photography, and experiment more, then an SLR is the way to go - but you msut bear in mind that lenses for them cost alot of money..usually the same price as the camera itself
sancheeez
08-12-2007
Originally Posted by Tibsy:
“It all comes down to what you want to use the camera for, and more to the point, how much control you want to have over the shots your taking.

I'm pretty sure the TZ3 doesn't have any manual controls, so what you point at, is what you will shoot.

If you get a camera with manual cotrols, that you can adjust all sorts from focus, aperture, shutter speeds and so on...

If you're just taking shots on days out and stuff, then I would say go with a TZ3, but if you want to get more into photography, and experiment more, then an SLR is the way to go - but you msut bear in mind that lenses for them cost alot of money..usually the same price as the camera itself”

The TZ3 doesn't offer much in the way of manual control, no.

But ...... I don't think thats the camera he's referring to. I suspect it's something more along the lines of the FZ50.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_..._fz50_pg2.html

That does give you a lot of manual control.

Steves digicams loved it! (Skip to the conclusion page to see what I mean) and reading up on it, I'm not surprised. It sounds like an excellent camera. The manual zoom control is the icing on the cake for a pro-sumer camera.

If you need the long term flexability and massive in-depth control of a dSLR then go down that route ..... but it'll be more expensive long term.

The FZ50 does almost everything a dSLR does, and it does it damn well by the sound of it. I use a similar, but slightly lower specced, Canon and it's a fantastic camera. The FZ50 sounds like it's even better.

Certainly wouldn't be a bad choice if you ask me ....
xc runner
08-12-2007
Thanks for the comments, I was looking at the FZ50 and am attracted to it by it's zoom lens - if I bought an SLR I would need several lenses to compete
sancheeez
08-12-2007
Does look like a fantastic camera.

£399 seems a bit steep though?

Can be had for £250 here ...

http://www.thehifistore.co.uk/eshop/...DMCFZ50EBS.htm

.... and for under £300 in plenty other places.

I bought my Canon pro-sumer from this lot ....

http://www.buyacamera.co.uk/

Would happily use them again.

They do the FZ50 for £299.
anna42hmr
08-12-2007
amazon have the camera from £289

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-DM...7146125&sr=8-1
skrjones
09-12-2007
Not to want to turn this into a camera price hunt but I have used camerabox and their sales are fine, but their service less so, I had to get my FZ7 fixed when the lens wouldn't extend, and I ended up simply sending to the repair centre rather than dealing with them. Two year warranty but I am not sure if that is standard with panasonic cameras.

Anyway, they have the black one coming in on Tuesday for £269.99, make sure you buy a large SD card though.
dunfallinover
09-12-2007
Also interested to find out which models xcrunner is comparing , 7.2 megapixel are fine for me and pixel/sensor size debates remind me with a smile of lengthy discussions about pros and cons of film ISO speed in the 60's and 70's .

I believe the limiting factor in the quality of the wide range of shots I take on travel and for work is the lens quality . Thats why I stopped lugging SLR accessories and eventually chose a Lumix TZ3 which produces superb pictures with some fine-tuning of its rather confusing range of adjustments available .

http://*************.com/tz3tippages/ helped me a lot , I find Picasa easier to use than Lightroom for post-processing work . This camera produces shots comparable to the Pentax and Olympus SLRS I used for years without the need to carry quite so much ' male jewellery ' around .
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