Photography advice

[tomjimtom]

Hi,
looking at the photo competition I can see there are some pretty good photographers on here
(flattery over, advice needed) 

I'm looking for a new camera to take on a 6 month jaunt round New Zealand in September.
My mother and brother have agreed to buy me one for my birthday, at around £150.
I'm looking at this type of thing:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-S4000-Digital-Camera/dp/B004G8Q60K/ref=dp_cp_ob_ce_title_1
because I like the look of the ridiculous zoom on it.

Can someone that knows what all those little numbers and letters mean have a little look over it and let me know if there's any standout reason why I shouldn't get it please

Is it worth waiting (birthday isn't until early August) for other cameras to come down in price?

Any other recommendations within the price range?

Many thanks

Tom

[breadlord]

Personally, I wouldn't go for this. It's something called a "bridge camera", which means you get all the drawbacks of an SLR (bulky, moving parts) with none of the advantages (no interchangeable lenses, plastic body, generally can't be repaired if you drop it).


Because you're going out for six months you want something that:
a. Doesn't take up any room.
b. Is hardy
c. Is less flashy. Stuff like this marks travellers as a target.


For my money I'd get one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-S9100-Coolpix-Digital-Camera/dp/B004LRO72K/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336494279&sr=1-1 Although some of this may be due to me being a big old whore for Nikon.


Zoom doesn't mean an awful lot when travelling, since most of the time you're going to want the wider end of the range. Megapixels don't mean shit until you're spending £600-£700 for a body only, you're just getting the same image but bigger.

[Phil]

Good advice above. If you are using a long zoom you need a fast shutter spead to go with it otherwise you get camera shake. As a general rule if you need a minimum of the focal length as the shutter speed. So if you zoom to 150mm you need a shutter speed of 1/200th second, if you use a wider shot like 30mm you can get away with a slower shutter speed of say 1/30th second, if you have a steady hand. So if you that Fuji with its 720mm telephoto end you will need a shutter speed of 1/750 and with that lense not letting in much light through you will need a very bright day to get decent pictures. Although these days a lot of cameras have some sort of image stablization to prevent this camera shake.
With high mega pixels on small sensors you will get a lot of 'noise' on the higher ISO settings.
Apologies if this is getting too technical.

I've been to NZ, sadly before I got a digital camera, so used using up film at a fair old rate. Allow a decent amount of money for memory cards so you can take a lot of photos. As you are going for 6 months, I guess you will need of download and write a copy to disc/memory stick or something. 

Try to buy a camera using AA type batteries and buy some rechargeables. If you drain a camera specific non type AA battery and 2nd battery, assuming you buy one, you cant use the camera. If you buy a camera using AA batteries you might be able to buy normal non rechargable batteries.

I think there are some knock proof/showerproof/waterproof cameras on the market. As its NZ, and there are loads of outdoor activities to go on, (not to mention the weather) you might want to go for one of those. You could do a rafting or canoe trip and stuff it under your life jacket and pull it out for a quick picture. I had to faff around with a waterproof container for my compact camera at the time and probably missed a few decent shots.
 
Like this one maybe.  http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-olympus-tough-tg-610-black-digital-camera/p1523697

No idea how it actually peforms, and fails on battery type and the slowest shutter speed is only 1/4. That night shot in Gent in the April competition had a slower shutter speed than that I reckon, I rested the camera on a bridge and used the self timer.

Personally, I've gone for Canon in the past as I like the way they handle. I had a Powershot A620 for years, it had automatic features plus totally manual over-rides which  I like. It also has a close focus of 2cm which is handy for bugs and close up stuff. When the screen on that expired after 6 years, it was well used and I wasnt that careful with it, I got another Canon camera.

I'll have a look around at whats on the market and say which is the one I'd buy. If another 5 people do this, you will probably get 6 to choose from 
 

[Phil]

http://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras   That link gives a useful search. Seems all the waterproof/shockproof cameras dont have the other features I personally like, such as being able to control the shutter speed/lens aperture. They have 'scene modes'  such as landscape or night. Nothing really wrong with that, but I like to know whats going on with shutter speeds/apertures etc  as I'm a bit stuck in my ways

[Phil]

  slowest shutter speed is only 1/4. That night shot in Gent in the April competition had a slower shutter speed than that I reckon, I rested the camera on a bridge and used the self timer.
 

It was 1/2 second. For fireworks I use 2 seconds, and a small tripod.

I'd probably go for one of these Canons in that price range, if I wasnt after something waterproof. I think its a bit larger than some because of the AA batteries would take up a bit more room. I've been caught out on flat batteries before on my old compact. My new one has a camera specific battery which does last a long days snapping but I've got a spare battery just in case (£57 for a Canon one! £22 for a third party).
Canon seem to have dropped the articulate screens (which I find useful as you can swivel them around) on their cheaper compacts, probably due to cost.
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-canon-powershot-sx150-is-black-digital-camera/p1527053

[tomjimtom]

wow thanks for the detailed replies, they got a little bit technical but I think I got it (ISO how sensitive the sensor is to light? kinda like exposure?)
and noise means distortion in the picture? and also noise in terms of zooming whilst filming 

Breadlord, I did deliberately go for a bridge type camera, because I felt that as I'll be keeping it as my main (and only) camera I'd be better off getting one I can play about with a bit. once in NZ, we'll buy a van anyway, so size/attractiveness isn't as much of an issue Although I agree it'll need to be hardy..
But as phil says, the 'sturdy' cameras are all mostly point and click which is annoying because it's a damn good idea...
I feel it might be worth getting one of those disposable waterproof cameras when we're out there, and keeping this camera as a main one?
I think the AA batteries are a good idea too, I've got some rechargeable ones somewhere and will just generally be more travel friendly

Thanks for all the replies, I've tried to do a few searches myself, but the sheer choice makes it very hard, especially as I don't know what I want!

Tom

[ElkWorks]

Ebay is your friend.

I got a canon eos 350dslr with a 27-90 lens and 75-300 lens for 250. Up your budget slightly and you wont regret it

[rustyrider]

Rather than a bridge camera which, as has already been pointed out, is neither one thing or another, buy a proper digital SLR and a couple of lenses.  You can then buy a cheapo point and click to use as a disposable.

[Fazerider]

Tom, I'd agree with pretty much all the advice you've been given here.
A one-in-a-lifetime trip like that deserves to be recorded at the best possible quality. For all their clever facial recognition technology and cunning image processing algorithms that correct for lens aberrations and try to "paint" out the noise in the picture, the results from a compact or bridge camera are pretty poor compared to those from a camera with a decent sized image sensor.
Add some cash of your own to the pot or buy secondhand, but aim for something with a 4/3 sensor.

[ElkWorks]

if you do decide to go point and shoot, i would certainly recommend the canon ixus range. they are brilliant. ive have an ixus 100 (i think) good battery, really good photos, loads of settings, and tiny/very  very light.
 
higher numbers are better models!

[tomjimtom]

Unfortunately I don't have any money to put towards it, I'm saving all of it for when I'm out there

The problem I've got is that there's just so much choice in my price range..
I Think I've narrowed it down a bit, what does everyone think:

http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=oly_sp810uz&products=fujifilm_s4000&products=panasonic_dmczs8&products=canon_sx150is&sortDir=ascending

To be honest, I think I'll need the advanced zoom after the trip, my girlfriend (who I'm going with) has a panasonic FZ8 (coincidence??) which has the 12x zoom, and will be similar to any camera I get with regard to the other statistics. So I feel like the extra zoom will be useful to both of us, there's no point us taking identical cameras...

Sorry if it looks like I've completely ignored some advice here, I've taken it into account

Thanks again everyone, some really good ideas coming up

[Fazerider]

I suppose a useful question to ask might be "What do you intend to photograph?".
Ultra long focal lengths aren't particularly useful in my experience. Unless you're a paparazzi photographer or intending to specialise in taking grainy images of shy wildlife I doubt you'll make much use of lengths greater than 100mm (35mm equivalent).
From a personal point of view, I'd go for the Canon or Panasonic amongst your shortlist. They're lighter and have the ability to take longer exposures... if I had to pick one over the other it would be the Canon for the ability to focus manually.

[Phil]

  it would be the Canon for the ability to focus manually.

Now thats a very good point. Auto focus on campacts isnt anywhere as near quick as SLRs. No even for taking pictures of your mates coming past on pushbikes. By the time the camera has worked out whats going on they've gone by. Put it on manual focus at around 4 metres and with an aperture of f8 everything from the fair distance to 3 metres will be in focus. 

[bigfootpete]

DPreview is a good site for reviews - very detailed.


Personally I prefer the Fuji point and shoots - I've taken some excellent shots that I can't seem to replicate or better with my SLR (probably due to my 'skills' or lack there of).


It's pretty hard to buy a rubbish camera these days, the digital processors do most of the work for you.


Unless you are taking a lot of low light shots or fast action then fast auto focus isn't that much of a worry.


Canon I would say probably make the best point and shoots going by the pro reviews, but I haven't tried PAS since I bought an SLR.


SLR's are bulky and expensive, but I gladly pay that price for the quality of shots I get.

[Phil]

I Think I've narrowed it down a bit, what does everyone think:

http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=oly_sp810uz&products=fujifilm_s4000&products=panasonic_dmczs8&products=canon_sx150is&sortDir=ascending

 

Interestingly, in the review for the Panasonic it has a link to a group test for 'compact travel zoom cameras. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q311travelzoomgrouptest/17

A friend who is a semi professional photographer has said that the DPreview people know what they are on about.  Ignore any user reviews as sometimes they dont 

Any of those will be capable of taking decent pics, its how you use it as much as anything else and you need the time to experiment with it before going to get used to it.   

[bigfootpete]

c. Is less flashy. Stuff like this marks travellers as a target.

Not a factor in NZ really...It's one of the safest places in the world... Although the possibility is still there you're less
likely to get mugged.

[solorider]

i have had fuji bridge cameras fora few years now,im om my third .i only changed them to get higher specs,for size most are slightly smaller than a slr,yes they are bulkier than a normal camera but you do gain better zoom etc,the fuji bridge camera uses aa batteries which is usefull if you are travelling as that means you can get replacement batteries nearly anywhere,the other advantage with a bridge camera over a smaller camera is you can hold onto the grip a lot easier

[tomjimtom]

So has anyone had one of these large zoom, small sensor type cameras?

Talking to my family, my birthday's not until August, so I'll probably leave it for now and have another look closer to the time

Thanks for all the advice though
(by the way, new fav: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-S9100-Coolpix-Digital-Camera/dp/B004LRO72K/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336494279&sr=1-1

Yes, it was one of the first ones recommended to me in this thread 

[The Rocketeer]

Look at everything that's available for £150 and go for the one with the biggest numbers 

[clanadam]

I've just bought a Panasonic TZ20 from Jessops - comes with 16x Optical Zoom, GPS, 3D etc - there is a newer version out (TZ30) but it's a fair bit more expensive.


Now I need to decide whether to buy a helmet cam for touring - leaving next Wed so not much time to decide!