Need Advice on Camera, Please

[twoatsea]

Hello. I'm new to photo taking, but am really enjoying it. Have been using a point & shoot $130 digital for couple of years. I use my camera for travel photos. I am now ready to buy another camera, but don't want one of the big bulky ones, no multi lens ones, & don't want complex operating ones.

 

I have 2 issues with my current camera -

1. does not take photos at night or in very low light

2. buildings at the sides of the photos, lean inward

otherwise, I'm satisfied with the photos

 

At Best Buy today, I found the following:

$320, Panasonic Lumix, model #DMC-TZ5S, digital, 9 megapixels, 10x optical zoom, 3.0" color LCD screen, SDHC memory card, rechargable lithium ion battery.

 

Anyone know if this camera will satisfy the 2 issues I listed above? The salesperson said it will take pictures very well at night & in low light. Also, my camera's photos retain detail very well when the photos are enlarged; will this one?

 

Thanks.

[pierces]

Hello. I'm new to photo taking, but am really enjoying it. Have been using a point & shoot $130 digital for couple of years. I use my camera for travel photos. I am now ready to buy another camera, but don't want one of the big bulky ones, no multi lens ones, & don't want complex operating ones.

 

I have 2 issues with my current camera -

1. does not take photos at night or in very low light

2. buildings at the sides of the photos, lean inward

otherwise, I'm satisfied with the photos

 

At Best Buy today, I found the following:

$320, Panasonic Lumix, model #DMC-TZ5S, digital, 9 megapixels, 10x optical zoom, 3.0" color LCD screen, SDHC memory card, rechargable lithium ion battery.

 

Anyone know if this camera will satisfy the 2 issues I listed above? The salesperson said it will take pictures very well at night & in low light. Also, my camera's photos retain detail very well when the photos are enlarged; will this one?

 

Thanks.

 

 

No compact camera or superzoom performs well in low light, but the Lumix series does better than most. Night photography is mostly technique and choosing your subject, more than equipment. The angles sides of buildings are an effect of perspective and that is normal for a wide angle lens unless you point it straight ahead and not up or down at an angle. The effect is called "keystoning", FYI (probably because more people knew what a keystone was than a trapezoid). If your camera makes the building lines curve (barrel or pincushion distortion is not uncommon on inexpensive cameras), then the panasonic will eliminate most, if not all of that as it has a very well-corrected lens.

 

The images feom the Lumix will enlarge far past what a low-end point & shoot can manage since the base image size will probably be larger and, because of the improved optics, sharper.

 

Hope that answered the questions.

 

Dave

[MeadMkr]

The only thing negative thing I've read about the Panny Lumix cameras are that the battery life was significantly lower than expected. This was true for earlier model a co-worker had but I suspect they have addressed this in newer models. Simple enough solution - just make sure you have at least 1 spare battery!

 

Panny has also been doing a lot of work with Leica and Olympus. Their stuff gets better and better every year. I know a lot of Oly (4/3rds) shooters that lust after the Leica lens that comes with the Panny L1.

 

Cheers

Chris in VA

[SakeDad]

I have the Panasonic FZ20 and am very happy with it. You can see my pics at the links below. If you look at my Theatrical Portfolio gallery you'll see alot of low-light pics, no tripod, no flash....you just have to know what settings to use....oh and you also need to post-process in the computer. But as you can see the FZ20 is a real workhorse and I'm only as limited as my knowledge.

Also, if you haven't discovered it yet, there is a website called www.dpreview.com that is a forum format like CC and every type camera has it's own forum and it's real users like you and me. Great place to learn about all the different cameras and to hear what people using them really think.

[twoatsea]

Great info, thanks so much everyone.

 

One last question - do you think there is a camera in that price range that is just as good or better? One that you would prefer for whatever reason?

 

Thanks again.

[pierces]

Great info, thanks so much everyone.

 

One last question - do you think there is a camera in that price range that is just as good or better? One that you would prefer for whatever reason?

 

Thanks again.

 

The Canon S5IS and the Sony DSC-H3, in that order, would be a bracket around the TZ5.

 

A good option would be to go somewhere to handle several models, navigate the menus and see what "feels" right.

 

Dave

[deadzone1003]

The TZ-5 is a great daylight travel camera. It is what you call a noisy camera at higher iso. Therefore, it is not a very good low-light camera. If you want a point and shoot lowlight camera, your best bet is the Fujifilm

F100fd. It just came out so there is not very much discount on it yet and it is not cheap. However, you can pick up any of the Fuji's Fxx cameras that may do the job at a lot lower cost. Advantage of the F100fd is that the zoom is 5x and the range is 28-140 plus it has image stabilization.

[Tater1800]

There is a very inexpensive cure for the distortion. I have used this product for several years.

 

http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

[Cruisin Rick]

The TZ5 seems to offer a lot of good features that I'd be interested in. It's a high tech automatic camera with a Leica wide angle lens ,10X zoom, HD movies and you can carry it in your pants pocket, jacket or purse. Looks like a great travel camera.

[twoatsea]

More great info, thanks.

 

Tater, I'm not sure how your suggestion would help; probably because I am too camera illiterate! But my low lite problems is a dark and/or invisible photo, not just a distorted one.

 

pierces & deadzone, thanks for the camera suggestions. I'll look them all up on the net & check them out at the store.

 

Great website. Glad I found.

[deadzone1003]

When we say low-light, we are talking about situations where there is insufficent light without using a flash. For example, taking pictures in a museum without flash is a common occurrence due to prohibition of flash. DSLR's have no problem with them. Taking pictures of your fellow cruisers during dinner is a problem since you really don't want to use a flash to disturb all the other fellow cruisers in the dining room. It is a totally different situation if you wish to take pictures of anything where there is very little light. From taking pictures of not well-lighted street scenes at night to taking pictures of fireworks takes alot of practice and patience. Are these latter situations where your pictures come out "dark and/or invisible" or the former?

[Tater1800]

More great info, thanks.

 

Tater, I'm not sure how your suggestion would help; probably because I am too camera illiterate! But my low lite problems is a dark and/or invisible photo, not just a distorted one....

 

 

The software can reduce any distortion caused by the lens such as your "issue #2".