which wide angle lens compact camera to get..

zapster

Hi All,

I'm after some advice on which wide angle compact camera to buy. I went to the shops today and had a look at the panasonic TZ5 which is 9mega pixels and 10 optical zoom and films @720p. However its a bit bulky when looking at the other cameras.. I didnt have time to talk to the sales staff to ask them but I would like to know what other cameras have a wide angle lens on them / what are the other main features. or is the panasonic Tz5 the best camera I can get and it will last me some time for £177.

any makes models I should look at or just good and bad points about the tz5 will be appreciated

thanks
zapster

buglawton

Any camera with a good optical zoom e.g. 10x at one end and wide (e.g. 28mm equiv.) at the other is going to be a bit bulky.

abulhasnat

I have been looking at this myself. A smaller alternative to the panasonic is the ricoh caplio 8. Got a best buy recomendation from which and last I looked was about 130 pounds from Jacobs. However did see on other sites that problems with indoor pics.
Also there is a fujifilm (s8000 I think) but again maybe a bit bulky?

SteveeeP

Start with at least Olympus or Sony as ther picture quality is far better than the others.

darich

you'll be struggling to get a really wide angle lens on a compact due to the smaller sensors they use. The focal length they quote is normally a lot shorter than a DSLR equivalent because the DSLR sensors are larger.
Some compacts will quote an equivalent focal length aswell as the actual focal length.

The smaller sensor "crops" the image i comparison to a 35mm negative and is similar to zooming in a bit on the centre. By zooming in it is therefore more difficult to get a wider angle.

In general if you stick to a familiar brand eg Canon, Nikon, Samsung, etc then most cameras in a similar price bracket will be of a similar quality. It would then be a case of deciding which features you require and which camera has them.

dunfallinover

:cool: I chose the Panasonic TZ3 eighteen months ago after sound advice from forums on dpreview.com . Still delighted after several thousand shots and miles . Wide angle excellent for land/seascapes , macro great for underwater/nature .

TZ5 rated much better for video , TZ3 never let me down on indoor flash shots after much trial and error . Would definitely buy again after checking what Canon and Fuji have to offer . Incidentally Pannys lens is Leica " certified " hence the badge on the front ,please have a look at comparometer via google to see what I mean .

buglawton

We nearly got a TZ3 but decided it was not quite pocketable enough so got both an FX33 (has wide angle & 3 times zoom, pocket sized) and FZ18 (wide to 18x tele in one lens), his'n'hers really. Perfect cameras for the purpose, if there's one innovation I would desire today it is GPS location info embedded in the photo files.

BillScarab

Another happy TZ3 owner here. I don't find mine bulky and would be surprised if the TZ5 was significantly bigger. The Z series are excellent cameras, I'd recommend one to anyone.