New camera coming soon

I have been trying to make up my mind for some time now about what to upgrade to as my Panasonic fz7 although a good 'bridge' just doesn't do what I want. I have looked at he fz38, fz45 and fz100 via youtube reviews and others but as far as I can tell they all suffer from shutter lag as my fz7 does.
I have now seen there is a new Nikon Coolpix p500 36xzoom bridge which I like the look of but there aren't many reviews of it yet.
Are you aware of it Woo?

 

Some reviews here (not including the Panasonic, but that was reviewed by the site earlier)

'Super Zoom' Camera Group Test (Q2 2010) Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

Since then the Canon Powershot SX20 IS has been superseded by the "SX30 IS"
Canon PowerShot SX30 IS - Digital Compact Camera - Canon UK

Perhaps I should open the Piggy Bank and see how much is in there? !!

 

Bridge v DSLR V Compact.
Been there done it, got the tee shirt. And here’s my take on the current state of play.
Compact cameras –
Current high end models are very good indeed. If portability is an issue these are the ones to go for. Image quality is excellent from long distance to close-up though menu driven manual ‘tweaking, can be a bit fiddly. Also the motor driven zoom eats batteries and can be a bit difficult to manage with precision. Having said that, the full auto options can work very well.
Bridge cameras –
Virtually a cheaper version of a much more expensive DSLR with additional and expensive lenses. More flexible than the above particularly if you want to exercise more manual control, much lighter than a DSLR with lenses of equivalent range. Not far off the final image quality from a DSLR but much more portable and versatile.
DSLR -
Very versatile though you need to use full manual control to fully realise this. Expensive, particularly if you want to get the range that a good bridge camera offers as you’ll need to buy additional lenses which will cost at least as much as a compact camera.

Curently shooting with a Sony compact which produces super images and videos and slips into a shirt pocket and Canon DSLR + a lot of lenses which weigh a ton and produce very slightly better images.

 

Thanks for that Woo and your imput Kristen and Dave, I had seriously thought about the fz45 untill the Nikon came up but I need to know how good the stills are (not bothered so much about video). Woo, have you used the 45?

 

Hs10

I did read some reviews on the HS 10.. not exactly glowing comments.

 

I'm glad this thread was started. I've been thinking I need to upgrade my camera for a while and as a result of this thread I've just ordered a FZ45.

 

You will not be disappointed. Its got an even larger focal range than the 38.
Looking forward to you views on it.

 

Woo, the focal length is not enough, you can't zoom on video, slow shutter, loss of depth of colour in landscape pics.
I will stay with a 'bridge' as I don't want to go back to carrying a large bag with extra lenses again. I think it will be between the fz45 and the Nikon p500. Whichever one it is, I won't be getting it for a while yet.

Hope to see some of your pics Naylor when you have had a play around with it.

 

I sold my Fuji 'bridge' to finance a DSLR and while the DSLR (with additional lenses) wins on final image quality over the 'bridge', the weight is a significant disadvantage in many situations.
We do quite a bit of walking, some of it in quite hilly/mountainous environments and carry quite a bit of 'gear' with us and a DSLR plus a couple of lenses can be a significant extra load.
Last year I decided that unless I had a specific photographic 'target' in mind I'd be better with something small and light during our ramblings and bought a shirt pocket size Sony Cyber-shot - 10.2 Mp with pretty good range from 28mm to about 300mm and with good video too.
Advantages - small, weighs next to nowt, easily carried and accessed. A 'snap happy' camera that produces good images. Burst mode is very fast.
Disadvantages - (over DSLR or 'Bridge') - a fiddle to use if you like to exercise control over exposure, doesn't take in RAW format which slightly reduces processing options and final image quality. Shutter lag is significant. So easy to use you may find OH has commandeerd it :-)

Wide angle >

Zoom from same spot>

Macro (though I'd not got used to it here)>

One frame 'grabbed' from a video>

 

Nice crisp picture there Dave. I would quite happy with those on a ramble.