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18x superzoom (1 Viewer)

dubs1967

Well-known member
Hi all,i am looking to get into nature photography and for a reasonable price of between 2-300pounds i have seen various cameras that have adopted the 18x super compact.The problem is i am now confused what to go for.It is between the sony dsc 9,panasonic tz18,or the fuji.I can save money going for the panasonic tz8 at 12x .Any advice please.
 
Hi all,i am looking to get into nature photography and for a reasonable price of between 2-300pounds i have seen various cameras that have adopted the 18x super compact.The problem is i am now confused what to go for.It is between the sony dsc 9,panasonic tz18,or the fuji.I can save money going for the panasonic tz8 at 12x .Any advice please.

I cannot answer your question. But you would do a lot better to post this in the Cameras and Photography section not the photo critique section. You should get an answer much faster.
 
Hi I Have Recently Got The Fugi Finepix S5700 For The Same Reasons As You Mentioned, This Only Has The 10x Zoom But Have Managed To Get Some Really Good Results With It Both Using The Zoom And The Macro Faciility. Really Good Clear Photos.
 
well for bird photography you can never have enough reach th 18x zoom sounds interesting
one thing to bear in mind is what the maxium focal lenth is it varies between makes
ie my girlfriend has a lumix with 10x optical zoom which equates to 280mm max
i had a fuji f5600 with 10x zoom but was 350mm max
read plenty of reviews steves digicam web site is good
i would buy from some where u can return the camera if you dont like it
saves you being stuck with something you dont like
 
There was a long thread on this some time ago. I purchased the Olympus SP550 and added a 1.7TC.
The Meadow Pipit attached was with that setup.
 

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well for bird photography you can never have enough reach th 18x zoom sounds interesting
one thing to bear in mind is what the maxium focal lenth is it varies between makes
ie my girlfriend has a lumix with 10x optical zoom which equates to 280mm max
i had a fuji f5600 with 10x zoom but was 350mm max

read plenty of reviews steves digicam web site is good
i would buy from some where u can return the camera if you dont like it
saves you being stuck with something you dont like



This is the same point I made on a thread a while ago discussing the new "18x" Panasonic. When you examine the figures it isn't much better than their own "12x", so the maximum focal length scam doesn't only vary between manufacturers, but even between different models in the same manufacturer's catalogue.

More detail on my figures here;
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=959599&postcount=7
 
This is the same point I made on a thread a while ago discussing the new "18x" Panasonic. When you examine the figures it isn't much better than their own "12x", so the maximum focal length scam doesn't only vary between manufacturers, but even between different models in the same manufacturer's catalogue.

More detail on my figures here;
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=959599&postcount=7
Interesting point that Alan.The novice can be easily fooled by the jargon.
 
Again, it's only a "scam" if all you care about is reach at the tele end and you don't consider the wide-angle end of things. The newest Panasonic goes to a significantly wider angle than did previous models, even if the tele is only a bit longer. In terms of increased angle of view it's quite a big change. For many photographers that's a big deal.
 
I agree with Doug. In this particular case, their specs aren't a scam. If you don't take the time to understand them, it isn't the manufacturer's fault.
 
Hello,

One very useful feature on long-zoom digital cameras is Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). This helps reduce camera movement when hand-holding the camera at the zoom end of the lens. OIS is not to be confused with some manufactures use of merely increasing the ISO to allow for a faster shutter speed. I believe the Sony H9 lacks true OIS:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyh9/

Both the Panasonic FZ18 and Fuji S8000fd have true OIS:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-cameras/review/2007/08/21/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-FZ18/p1

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews_fujifilm_finepix_s8000fd.php
 
Good point, Jobird. Now THIS is an example of a true scam - those manufacturers that call raising the ISO "image stabilization." And it manages to work too - for example, often in a camera comparison list, a camera that uses this bogus stabilization will get a check-mark in the "image stabilization" column, because that is what their specs say. A rip-off!
 
Well, firstly, all of the spec pages will list not just that a camera is 18x or 12x but will list the equivalent focal lenght in 35mm so I would go with that as your guide rather then the former to get a better idea of what the zoom/wide angle is like.

If its any help I shall be purchasing the new Panasonic FZ18 and taking it to India with me, along with my fuji F31 for digiscoping at Bharatpur and Pangot. The reason being, with bins round my neck I don't want to be carting around a big lens DSLR on the days where we are at the tiger reserves in vehicles where I wouldn't be able to use my digiscoping set up but would like to take some pice and might need a bit of zoom.
 
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Just ordered my Panasonic fz18, with a 4gig high speed card, case and spare battery. £328 delivered from UK digital cameras with a 2 year warranty. Could probably have taken a risk and got it cheaper off eBay but, despite having good feedback, the seller didn't reply to my enquiries and I think is based in the states (although ships from Nottingham)..
 
Got a Fuji S8000fd, initial observations.
Tiny, good screen, good controls, locks focus much better than other mini-digitals I've owned.
Image stabilization is excellent, electronic view finder has a weird tunnel vision look but works OK and has good dioptre control.
Auto white balance is very 'blue' or high temperature - selecting 'cloudy' warms the picture up.
Shooting speed is quite good, post processing speed is (as usual) slow....with the good focus lock and shooting speed you think you'll be able to take another pic immediately but you can't as the camera grinds away storing the image, you can use a lower rez high speed mode.
The mode wheel and shooting menus combine to give you fairly good quick access to all manner of shooting modes - the mode wheel doesn't seem to be recognized all the time - I have to tap the top of mine - maybe this is in the manual which I haven't fully read yet.
Initially I'd say noise is a bit higher than my Fuji F30 which is excellent.
Video mode looks the same as the F30, no zoom while shooting - I use video mode far more than I imagined I ever would.
Lens range is pretty amazing, useful wide angle & terrific zoom (made useable by the stabilizer).
Mode wheel has two 'sort of' user memory program positions.
It has a histogram display.
It's got things I'll never use :)

I'm one one hand impressed, the other disappointed - a 'do everything camera' - but it does it slowly (not that bad)

Best hyperzoom I've tried so far and will largely replace my Nikon DSLR plus huge lens collection when I'm out on foot with a scope etc.

PS - it comes with the lens cap from hell - it only fits one way and falls off.
 
Interesting review. Once you have used it some more, I'd be interested to know if the focusing is reasonably fast at high-zoom levels. This seemed to be the big complaint with the very similar Olympus SP550.
 
Thanks for any info i have recieved.I decided to go for the sony dsc h7 at 15x for 188 delivered next day from warehouse express!Cheap enough i think.Still sussing it out though as i am new to this many features.
 
just ordered a Fuji S8000fd for delivery tomorrow, will post my initial impressions early next week after trying it out at the weekend, £208 incl next day delivery
 
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