Thouhts on superzoom bridge cameras?

[pstruck]

I'm looking for a slightly smaller, lighter, do-it-all stable mate for my Canon 40D and have been reading a bit about the latest crop of 'superzoom' cameras. The like of Panasonics Lumix DMC-FZ38, Nikons Coolpix P100 and a few others have been catching my eye.

Would I be unimpressed with the image quality from this type of camera and am I better given that so much focal range is on offer (compromises somewhere surely)? Any experience or thoughts on these camera?

[jimmy156]

Yeah i had the Panasonic FZ-28, and loved it. Great little camera, can produce some nice shots. Its achiles heel is low-light capability, as is the problem with all bridge camera's. I Used it until i decided i was serious enough about photography to upradge to a dSLR set up.

ETA an example or 2.

Edited by jimmy156 on Friday 28th May 19:02

[Juicetin1]

The super-zoom bridge cameras can shoot RAW which is a plus, the Panasonic bundled software is pretty good, my mate has produced excellent photos processed into JPEGS.

[GreigM]

Does the sony R1 fall into this category? Its a bit older now, but it as close to a SLR with a fixed lens as anything I have seen - IQ was superb.

[Simpo Two]

jimmy156 said:

upradge to a dSLR

We haven't had such a good typo since the 'Nikon Owner's Clud' back in '54...

Must upradge my stuff

[Lord Pikey]

I was in exactly the same boat as Jimmy156

I have had my FZ28 for two years and I love it, but I have recently treated myself to a 50D

As an example all the shots taken in this album of mine were taken with my FZ28.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/kieranpage...

Realised that that album is a little bland on colours, so here is another

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s121/kieranpage...

Edited by Lord Pikey on Friday 28th May 20:04

[CivicMan]

I have a Panasonic FZ28 in addition to a clutch of Nikons, and I must admit it's the one I grab for a day out. Hell of a zoom and good stabilisation.

The low level light isn't too bad - this is a handheld shot, f2.8 at 1/30.

[jimmy156]

Simpo Two said:

jimmy156 said:

upradge to a dSLR

We haven't had such a good typo since the 'Nikon Owner's Clud' back in '54...

Must upradge my stuff

i think i must be missing something here

[pstruck]

Thanks for the replies guys. So I guess a long as I accept that image quality will not quite be up to DSLR (already having one of these) standards, the range and functions provided by these cameras should meet my needs (smaller, lighter, less expensive, etc than DSLR).

There are quite few available and each has pros and cons. I've read numerous reviews online and one site will favour one camera and another will slate it (nothing new there then).