cactus jim

I have a question for the camera bods out there......

i already have a basic 2mP digital camera, and a cine camera for video and i wanted to get into taking some nicer photos of cars etc that i could blow up bigger in size.

i saw an ad in the times for the new Panasonic FZ10 with Leica lens, 12 x zoom and 5MP. Spoke to a mate in the office who said, well i wouldnt rate Pansonic however Leica only make **** hot lenses so for £350 it sounds like a really good camera. Reviews on the net seem to agree.

The guy in dixons siad pana...who? and told me i shoudl look at the £600 Sony one with x10 zoom and 6MP

anyone got any ideas or am i being too vague about what i want.

IWatkins

First thing. Do not go to Dixons/Currys/other retail part outfit for a camera.

Go to a good camera shop, e.g. Jessops, London Camera Exchange etc. You will get good advice there rather than Dixons where they only shift boxes and couldn't care less if it meets your requirements (all IMHO of course).

Lets do the requirements thing then:

1. What is your budget ?
2. You say take pictures of cars. Do you mean static (i.e. at meets/motorshows) or moving, i.e. track days/motorsport ?
3. What else will the camera be used for ?

Cheers

Ian

zoog

I did the same, Cactus - most high street outlets haven't heard of em theyre so new. Leica lenses are the best so i am sorely tempted too. 5 mpixels and a reasonable sensor.

However Leica do the same camera in effect but with their own much better built magnesium alloy body: the DIGILUX 2, and it looks unbelievably cool but costs £1200.

However, EPSON in league with COSINA, are making a high end rangefinder digital with ability to take the whole range of interchangeable leica lenses, and it'll be called the RD1 with 6 megapixels. not released yet but will retail at £2000+ body only apparently.

Expect Leica to retaliate in about 12 months time with an 8 mpixel version...choices choices!

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

A few things:

- Whatever you do, don't take advice from any retailer that doesn't specialise in cameras. Jessops are pretty good in my experience, and you won't go wrong with one of the independent specialists like Park Cameras, Mifsuds, Ffordes and so on.

- I did actually buy my EOS 33 from Dixons, but only because it was cheap - the conversation went something like:
Me: "I'd like to buy the EOS 33 with lens kit please"
Asst: "Would you like an extended warranty with that?"
Me: "No thanks".

If the conversation goes into any more detail than that, you're in the wrong place!

- I'm not sure how I feel about high-end lens manufacturers lending their names to all-in-one packages like the Panasonic and Sony cameras you mention. On the one hand, most cameras are indeed limited by their lenses, so spending a bit more on the lens is a good thing. On the other hand, don't be fooled into thinking that any 10X zoom lens coupled with a small sensor will automatically give fabulous results - there have to be design compromises somewhere. Read reviews and judge image quality with your own eyes.

- More important still is that your chosen camera feels comfortable in your hands, that you can find and operate all the controls easily (even in the dark), and that it will be capable of capturing the images you want. Ten megapixels are no good at all if the camera can't focus in time, or if the shutter lag is so bad you miss the shot completely.

- Have a read of the camera reviews on DPReview and use them to narrow down choices to a shortlist. You can then go out and play with a few to make your final decision.

I'm surprised that a company like Epson would attempt to break into the serious money camera market when they have no experience at all in that area. Nobody spends that sort of money on a one-off camera - at that level you want to buy into a complete system of camera bodies, lenses, flashguns, teleconverters and other accessories. Canon and Nikon are the big players here, Pentax is making a belated entry into the DSLR arena, Sigma have some interesting sensor technology, while Olympus are making a serious (though less than entirely successful) attempt at introducing a complete system designed specifically for digital. As you may already know I'm a Canon fan.

What's your budget, and what do you want the camera for?

cactus jim

Cheers guys.

I have no real requirements for a digital camera, as i mentioned i already have a basic one to take "going out" or standard photos, however i thought i would treat myself to a nice one that may take photos that i could blow up to poster size or perhaps just larger pictures of cars, i am off to lemans in the summer and hoped that having a nice camera i could get some good photos of the car on the track and on the road to and from.

that is my only real requirement for the camera.

obviously i dont want to spend money unnecessarily, but a budget of about £300 -£400 would be good.

i understand fully that i dont want to listen to dixons!!

i saw an ad quite by chance for the panasonic which "looked" quite good, seemed to have a fairly good lens, and very very good write-ups on the net, so i thought i would see if dixons had it in a sale or anything.

their response was to go for the Sony, if only because it was the only one they sold in that range.

as you may have gathered i am not in this professionally and would love but wont stretch to DSLR, so i am mid-range, good lens territory. I take on board the feel, size colour comments.

i think i will read more reviews!

cactus jim

sorry that reply may seem quite curt or short, i am in the office today, always grumpy.

i really appreciate the advice that has been given and i will post up what my findings are.......

r32

My recommendation is go for a camera made by a camera company, any Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Olympus will be good ergonomicaly, rather than a camera made by an electronics company. I know some will jump down my throat at this, but they do have years of experience of how to make a camera handle, what is important to a photograpgher and where all the buttons need to be placed, the controls tend to be placed more logically and they are not cramed full of rarely used features operated by the tiniest buttons. There are some good deals on outgoing models at the moment like the Nikon coolpix 4300 for little money...... like £199.99 from Jessops, this has had excellent reviews and this used to be around £350 (and still is at some places). At the end of the day handle the cameras and see what you suits you sir!
STEVE.....................