Bridge camera recommendations

baby_frogmella

Hi

I'm after a new bridge digital camera with the following specs:

1) MUST take AA batteries. Reason being i always lots of spare AA 2500mh eneloops lying around (have many other gadgets) and i find the 2500 mah eneloops very powerful with low discharge rate.

2) Must have at least 20x optical zoom

3) Should be small as possible taking the above features into account

4) Obviously must have decent photo quality.

5) Must have HD video recording

6) Must take SDHC/SDXC cards

7) Budget is around £300

These are ones i've come across so far. Any other suggestions? Thanks

http://www.simplyelectronics.net/mainproduct.php?pid=13566&setcurrency=gbp&gclid=CObJxqGY3agCFchO4Qodj3rjAQ

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fujifilm-FinePix-HS20EXR-Digital-Camera/dp/B004G8Q61E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305107347&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-Coolpix-L120-Digital-Camera/dp/B004LRO76Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305107327&sr=8-1

WhiteChristmas

I use a Casio Exilim FH20 - now superseded by the FH25 which meets your spec and offers up to 40fps burst for capturing action.

Make sure your choice actually meets your needs. There's a funny import rule about HD video which means that most stills cameras are limited to something like 10minutes video at a time in HD.

If you want to shoot longer HD videos then you'll need to buy an HD camcorder.

WhiteChristmas

Afterthought; another thing to watch out for is the zoom mechanism.

A lot of cameras won't let you film with sound if they have a powered zoom. That Fuji looks like it might be a manual zoom; check it out. In my experience, Fuji's bridge cameras are bloody good.

althas

I have the S1730 (not recommending as only 15X zoom), but one small word of warning on the HD video and zooms:

CHECK before you buy. The zoom on mine is noisy and picked up on the sound recording

baby_frogmella

Thanks for the replies. The casio FH20 also looks good but for around the same price the Fuji has a higher spec...30x zoom and 16mp. The hd video feature i want is just for youtube vids; of course i know for serious video i will need a dedicated camcorder. Looks like I will go for the Fuji as it gets raving reviews everywhere.

gonzo127

just remember mp dont mean anything if the sensor size is not very big, if you cram to many mp onto a small sensor you will (in most cases) get a worse picture. also remember if you are not printing above A4 you dont really need any more than 6mp unless you plan on doing lots of zooming and cropping of the pictures once taken

ahmjt

Panasonic Lumix FZ45
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-Lumix-14-1MP-Digital-Camera/dp/B003WOKU4W/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1305130202&sr=8-5


Panasonic Lumix G10
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-12-1MP-Compact-System-Camera/dp/B003B20STW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305130371&sr=8-2