Battle of the super zoom bridge??

[merlecollins]

As I have stated in my 'Say Hello' thread, I am brand new to the forum and photography

I have been perusing the reviews of a few bridge cameras, i.e. :

Sony H50
Nikon P80
Fuji S2000HD

I need an everday use camera, with decent zoom (wildlife shots,etc.) and good internal photo quality (for my work portfolio, I'm a tiler by trade)

Does anyone have any suggestions as I can't seem to see the wood for the trees at the moment

[Gidders]

You don't say what your budget is but have a look at Dave's picks at Imaging Resource

[merlecollins]

up to £250.

[postcardcv]

you might find this review/comparison useful - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q109superzoomgroup/

[merlecollins]

Thanks postcardcv - very helpful

I hadn't considered a Panasonic, but it gets a good write up on that site

[Birdsnapper]

My wife uses the FZ8 (not quite such a long zoom - 'only' 12x) and has great results, from dragonflies to birds. It's a good all-rounder.

[graham harcombe]

I use a Panasonic FZ30, a bit 'old' tech. now (bought in 2005) but it has done very good service and I am happy with it as long as I accept one or two limitations. A few points that I hope are relevant:

a. It is nicely and strongly assembled; has a positive feel to it.
b. It's good to have a versatile lens fitted all the time.
c. The quality of sharpness, colour reproduction etc. is fine in good light.
d. The light is the main limiting factor, any loss of light and my shots
are dull and grainy.
e. Look out for the available speeds on the camera, mine is a relatively slow
range, sports shots i.e. the moving image are difficult and demand some
panning.

Hope those few comments help.

Graham

[merlecollins]

OK, I think i've narrowed it down to either:

1. Fuji S8100FD
2. Olympus SP565UZ
3. Sony H50
4. Nikon P80

Would have liked to go for the Lumix FZ28 or Canon SX10is, but the costs of each of them is quite a bit more than the 3 above

Has anyone got any advice on my shortlist?

[Nigel G]

Originally Posted by merlecollins

OK, I think i've narrowed it down to either:

1. Fuji S8100FD
2. Olympus SP565UZ
3. Sony H50
4. Nikon P80

Would have liked to go for the Lumix FZ28 or Canon SX10is, but the costs of each of them is quite a bit more than the 3 above

Has anyone got any advice on my shortlist?

If you haven't already I would strongly recommend you have a look at the DP Review comparrison recommended above by Postcardcdv. They give the Oly a recommendation although come out if favour of the Canon and Panny. However I'm not sure were your getting your price comparrisons from. Having just checked warehouseexpress I got the following:

Fuji S8100FD - not listed only S2000 @ £174 but gets an "avoid" from DPReview
Oly 565 - £259
Sony H50 - £239
Nikon P80 - not listed P90 @ £359
Canon SX 10is - £289
Lumix FZ28 - £244

That makes the Lumix only £5 ahead of the Sony but it gets top rating by DPReview and everyone that uses one speaks highly of them.

[Joe]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum.

I would certainly echo Nigel's post above. 'Some' of Fuji's hybrid cameras do suffer big time with hi noice levels, compared to a few others.
The current Panasonic line-up is certainly worth a closer look.
....and, if you don't necessarily want to spend the whole of your £250, don't rule out some near new secondhand bargains.
As an example, we had a s/h Panasonic FZ8 in recently, a good sensor with RAW format capability, with warranty, for £150.