I promise this is my last post on the subject, but let me just give you the latest installment:
Ok, so Lan had practically convinced me to get a Fuji Finepix31fd. But then CheersTerry jumped in and promoted the Panasonic Lumic DMC-T2/T3.
I went into a camera shop yesterday to have a look at the Fuji, but it was a small independent shop and the owner made it clear that he wasn't impressed with Fuji and didn't stock them anymore. He said he was "not impressed with the manufacturing", that they'd had a lot of returns, and that they made cheap cameras with good "ingredients", which was a waste. (I'd read something like that on one of the review sites). He strongly recommended Panasonic because of their lense quality.
Now the question is the price: The models Terry recommended (and which look pretty good on paper, I must say, I'm going to a Panasonic shop today to have a closer look) cost a bit more than I was initially willing to spend.
Are there any Panasonic models that are roughly the price of the Finepix that you could recommend? Or is the Finepix really the best value-for-money in that price range?
Thanks a lot!
LizQ
Hi Liz - no experience with the Fuji, but I have a little Panasonic DMC FX01, and it's great. The lens is Leica, the optical zoom is x3,6. The menu and controls are very user-friendly. Image quality is very good, IMO, although I admit never make big prints.
Sorry, I know that doesn't really answer your question, but I'm very happy with a compact Panasonic as a "keep in my purse all the time, grab, point & shoot camera"... (and I'm now lusting after a Nikon D80, but that's a whole other matter!)
The only thing that puts me off getting a T2/T3 is that I read its slightly noisy (but then arent they all)
At the end of the day, the choice is yours. I think the Fuji is head and shoulders above the others at that price point (150gbp) in terms of image quality, and very near the top of the pack in terms of speed too, so I bought one for G at Xmas. She's been happy with it, as have I. When it was stolen, we immediately went out and bought another.
But at the end of the day, buy whatever suits you best. I haven't heard of any problems in terms of reliability, and our local camera store owner still thinks it's excellent, and he claims it was his biggest seller at Xmas. I doubt he would think it was excellent if it had been clocking up significant returns ;)
It's possible it's not the best camera for you though. It's not a long zoom camera, so...
My main concern about the TZ series is the sensor - the lens seems good, but the post processing the camera applies is unpleasant at anything over ISO100. Of course having optical IS (which the F31fd lacks) means you shouldn't need to go above ISO100 often, but when you do bleurgh
TZ3 @ 400 vs F31fd @ 400
Seen the Ricoh R6?
Personally I think it's better than all the cameras mentioned in this thread.
When I recommended the TZ3 I clearly stated it's a camera for normal sunny days. Fuji definitely owns the usable high ISO market, hands down. (And I've never heard of build/reliability issues with Fuji that the camera store owner claimed.)
The Ricoh that Mike mentions is a killer unit too. Super compact and great price. The only reason I'd still go with the Panasonic is you mentioned you wanted a good zoom, and the Panasonic's 28mm - 280mm Leica lens is considerably more formidable than the 28mm - 200mm Ricoh unit.
When it's all said and done though, they're all fine, fairly inexpensive cameras that'll all take wonderful shots. They're not worth getting too anal over. It's not like you're spending thousands on a dSLR system. These are pocket point-and-shoots.
Cheers,
Terry
Terry: Indeed :)
TLQ: Download and print a few samples from DPReview.com at the maximum size you'd be interested in printing at. If you're only looking at 6x4" then practically anything on the market would probably do the job. Do try the cameras though, and try them with a card in to assess write speed etc. It's often a matter of performance and/or ergonomics in the end.
Right, I've decided to stop being so anal and go out and get the Fuji instead ;-)
I think it's the best, inexpensive allround solution for me (129 GBP at Amazon.uk). It's got a few more features (controls) that I'm interested in than the others. I'll just use it as an entry model and see what I like / don't like about it, so if I decide to get a bigger and better model in the future, I know what I'm looking for.
Thanks again for the all the well-informed advice!
129 GBP is (for the UK) an excellent price too.
A new gadget is always such a fun thing... Go crazy!
Cheers,
Terry
Well I'm totally confused now.....
what's the difference between the Fuji Finepix31FD and the Fuji Finepix F30?
I can't see any differences in the specs, the only difference is that it doesnt mention how many photos the battery will last on the 31FD, whereas it says it lasts for 580 shots on the F30
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