Considering a new camera...

[nichomach]

I'm seeking a bit of advice (naturally)...

I've finally had it with my old Fuji 2800 Zoom, and am considering a replacement camera. I don't care about compact; I'm not the sort of person that's always wandering around with a camera in my pocket, and in a pinch I'll just use my phone. I don't want to shell out for a D-SLR; I probably wouldn't use the functionality. I do want good image quality, a fast switch on (I could probably conjure up a swift omelette in the time it takes my 2800 to get going) and quite a lot of optical zoom. Image stabilisation would be nice; I'm growing wobbly and decrepit with the ravages of time .

Pixmania are doing the Panasonic Lumix FZ7 for £235 inc VAT, and it looks VERY attractive, but I was wondering whether anyone had experience of Panasonic's cameras and whether they liked the results. I've read some reviews and they've been good, but reviews are just...reviews. Naturally, if anyone has any ideas for a better alternative I'm all ears; but I don't want to spend a lot more than that, so no "but it's GREAT value for £500" suggestions, please...

Anyway, opinions/suggestions gratefully received.

[BenW]

Even though you say size isn't important i'm sure smaller is better? this is meant to be very good, fills all your needs but the zoom in only 4x

[nichomach]

Thanks for the thought, Ben, but at only 4x the zoom doesn't fill my needs - same resolution, only a third as much zoom, more expensive. Actually, I find that smaller ISN'T necessarily better, as I find a lot of compacts fiddly to use. Thanks again.

[shiato storm]

i'd avoid pixmania - french company and often sources grey market goods.

[nichomach]

Hmmm...OK, will look at other suppliers also. Thanks.

edit: Anyone used buyacamera ?

[trashcanmonkey]

Bought a silver FZ7 a week ago, and im very happy...

Pros: great value for money
Mahoosive zoom!!
Lecia lens is out of this world, best colour reproduction ive seen.
Big screen with high angle mode,(and very bright sunshine mode) , 2.5"
The included lens hood is effective in bright sunshine,
A lens adapter is also included so in time you can move into DSLR territory with trying different lenses such as tele, wideangle and fisheye. As well as filters.
Anti shake is good too, or Mega OIS in panasonic speek.
The EVF is funkie to use instead of aiming with the LCD.

size wise, yes its not small. Think of it as a large compact or a small DSLR.

Cons: The chassis feels a bit cheap.
No digital zoom in simple mode ( cant understand this)
Simple mode is too simple, (you can only change 4 things, ie resolution, and only change them a little, 3 res settings?) talk about excessive simplifying... the trouble is that the next step up from simple, ie the other shooting modes are alot more complex, this was very irritating for me as my skills lie inbetween simple and pro. But just mre practice as they say and the complex modes will be fine....

[nichomach]

Thanks for the details! Apparently, my black one should be with me tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it a LOT. The 12x Leica lens attracted me, and I don't use digital zoom anyway, so I'm not that bothered that it's unavailable in simple mode. The info on the accessories is excellent; I'll be visiting Scan for an SD card (yes it WILL be over the exVAT limit - I'd have bought the camera from them if they sold it...). I'm very much an amateur, but one that wants decent quality, and the fact that there's lots of stuff that I can fiddle with when I feel brave is good. The anti-shake was definitely a feature that I wanted, and I'm glad to hear it works well.

Fingers crossed it shall be in my hot little hands tomorrow, which for £240 all in isn't bad going. Of course, assuming that I really like it, and given the availability of accessories, this could be the beginning of a nasty crack-like spending habit..."one more filter...just one...I can stop...I CAN..."

[trashcanmonkey]

this could be the beginning of a nasty crack-like spending habit..."one more filter...just one...I can stop...I CAN..."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, nooooo, have already found self looking at exciting lenses on ebay.....

anyway, hope you like it, black one you say? I guess I just like shiney things!

[nichomach]

Trashcanmonkey, sorry to be nosey, can I ask which SD cards you use with yours? I was going to get Corsair, but there appears to be the odd issue with their cards and Panasonic cameras. By the way, camera's arrived, first thing this morning, perfect condition, UK spec. Wonder what the procedure is for getting a retailer added to Trust, because buyacamera have been great so far.

[BenW]

Sandisk are a pretty safe bet. Go for the Ultra II cards

[trashcanmonkey]

I use some super cheap brandless 1GB SD cards from 7dayshop.com, sounds dodgy but the shop is very good and the cards are made by Toshiba so they cant be to bad quality wise..

1GB cards for £10.99? rock on I say. Theyre probably not very quick, I have been tempted to buy faster, but the saving time for images is quick anyway, (just over a second for most) so I think Ill just stick with the glorious cheap ones...
Are you happy with the camera? tried it yet?

PS How much did buyacamera want for it?

[nichomach]

Well, I'm charging it at the moment, so haven't had a play yet. Of course, I've taken it out for a good look and it feels great, perfect size for me. Thanks for the recommendation on the cards; I've actually gone for a Corsair 2GB 60x from Scan, so I'll see how that goes - if the camera doesn't like it, I'll chuck it in the PDA. Buyacamera were £232.39 inc VAT for the camera and £6.99 for shipping by Citylink, which I reckon is an excellent price.

[shiato storm]

thats a cracking price!

[trashcanmonkey]

Good stuff.. tho I must say I got mine for 40P less! Makes you relise how terrible the likes of Jessops are, its still £300!! unfortuately Jessops and currys are no more than show rooms these days, prices are just not competetive any more.
Tell me how good the cards are, see if its worth moving to something faster...how much did you say they were?

[nichomach]

The 2GB 60x Corsair is £32.30 inc VAT from Scan. They do a 133x as well, but that's £37.54, and I reckoned it was probably overkill.