Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I am in the market for a travel camera. My current camera is the Canon A720 IS and although the image quality is decent, it lacks a good LCD Screen, Wide Lens, and HD Video.

Here are some things I am looking for in my next camera:

- Great optics and low noise
- LCD screen that works well in very bright sun
- Reasonable zoom range 6x
- Wide Angle Lens (28mm or less)
- HD Video (in stereo if possible)
- Compact in size

I was considering the Panasonic ZS3 or ZR1, but a friend of mine used her ZS3 in the Caribbean and had a heck of a time looking at the screen (even with the brightest setting). I figure something with a viewfinder would be good but these days thats hard to find in point and shoot cameras.

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks

No idea how good it would be as it's not out yet but you may want to keep an eye out for the Sony DSC-HX5V

25-250mm
GPS
EXMOR R CMOS sensor (for low light)
AVCHD HD video (1080i) with stereo sound
10.2mp
Panoramic stitching facility
10 fps bursts mode

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4gFMGzevT8

If the IQ is any good, this one may be a winner, and this coming from someone who generally has thus far ignored Sony cameras. Course their previous compacts with EXMOR didn't do as well as it was hyped to do...but yet, on paper this camera seems to tick all the right boxes...

Thanks for the link and info.

I saw some info about this on dcresource and it seems decent. Glad to see that Sony FINALLY is going SDHC. If the reviews are decent, it may be THE travel camera.

it may be out of your budget/size range, but I am going to get a micro4/3 system body - either the Olympus EP2 or Panasonic GF1 - for a travel camera. Love the retro-styling, performance far better than any point-and-shoot and interchangeable lens options. I dont want to carry my 5D SLR rig around for traveling and don't think I'd be satisfied with the IQ of any point-and-shoot, so the m43 stuff looks perfect. Just waiting to see if anything new comes on the market before I take my next trip.

Thanks for the info chromewaves.

I don't really have a price point and will consider the micro 4/3 market.

I have the GF1 and it's a great camera. Any m43 is definitely better than any compacts out there. IQ wise think of them being comparable to DSLR's, albeit it can't compete with the full frames and other high-end DSLR's. But it is expensive and they are much bigger than most compacts. Size wise, think G11 but with a lens protruding out. If you can afford them, and it's relative large compact size is within your tolerance, I would recommend them also.

How is the GF1 compared to the EP2 in terms of features, etc. Only review I found was this but I can't read Japanese:

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/revi ... 35256.html

I haven't handled an EP-2 so can't really say but as far as I have read it goes like this:

EP-2
- Has the exact same photographic features as the EP-1 (latest patched version that is). Thus any review for the EP-1 can be used for EP-2 when it comes to performance and IQ.
- Can connect an EVF to it that is far superior to the GF1. Comparable to the G1/GH1 though there are differences. EP-2 EVF is much bigger than the GF1's though. Could be concern for some.

So with that said, differences between EP-x and GF1 goes like this:

EP-2 advantages:
- Olympus jpg colours which in some circles is thought to be one of the better if not the best jpg engines around. This is of course a subjective topic though so you'll have to decide for yourself. Personally, although EP-x colours are really nice, the GF1 colours are pretty good also. Besides, if we talk RAW, well, the differences go away.
- EP-x has good IQ up to ISO 1600 and usable at 3200, though this of course is highly debated. GF1 is thought to be good till ISO800 and usable to 1600 (which is what I find myself)
- Retro body style (if you are into that kind of thing...I am )
- Smaller kit zoom lens
- and of course in body image stabilizer as opposed to Pany's in lens stabilizers.

GF1 advantages
- much greater AF speed and reliability (in low light), comparable to any entry level DSLR
- has a flash (of course some would say it's useless but personally I rather have a weak non-tilting flash than no flash at all).
- Much higher resolution LCD (though some people swears that the Oly LCD is better in bright sunshine)
- seems more people favours Pany's interface/ergonomics but of course this is meaningless. You'll have to decide for yourself.
- 720p AVCHD (lite) HD video which can be turned on with a simple button press. Oly only has 720p HD motion jpeg.
- 20mm f1.7 kit lens (though of course you can put this on an EP-x and use it's in body IS)
- The less superior optional EVF (though perfectly usable) is much much smaller than the EP-2's EVF

I think that's about it.
It really amounts to
1) Do you want in body IS? If so, go Oly
2) Do you want the big but superior EVF? If so Oly
3) Want Oly colours? Go Oly.
4) Do you want much faster/reliable AF? If so go Pany.
5) Want on board flash? Go Pany.

Personally I went with Pany for several reasons which is purely from my requirements/wants.
1) I didn't want to be caught one day without a flash when I really needed one (assuming I didn't bring an external one for whatever reason).
2) AF though I probably would be able to live with Oly's AF (though it would bug me)
3) 20mm 1.7 kit lens. At the time I could only afford one lens so the 20mm was it.
4) I found manual focus with lenses to be easier with high res LCD compared to the Pens low res one. Course EP-2 does have a high res EVF you can use.
5) The EVF for the EP-2 was just too large for me.

Again, these are just my reasons though. Both are fine cameras but just different.