Bridge Cameras - Any recommendations?

gonzo127

ukcarper wrote: »

That’s the best advice though not necessarily Jessops try and take some photos with the camera as well.

yep any camera shop will be good, what i would suggest though is take your own SD memory card and pop that in each camera, take a couple of photos on each camera (using your memory card) - make sure you are taking a photo of the same thing if possible, then when you get home pop the memory card in your computer and have a look at the pictures

as the the FZ38 and FZ45 -
the FZ45 is the successor to the FZ38, has more megapixels, bigger zoom and a few tweeks, however due to them having crammed more megapixels into the same size sensor it has meant that low light performance on the FZ45 is actually a bit worse than the FZ38,

really in my mind with those 2 it comes down to either more zoom or better low light performance, if you can decide which is more important to you that would choose which out of them would be best, please note however thatsaying one is better does not meant the other is bad, as they are both very good.

and as stated the Fuji's are very good, but are currently more expensive so that of course will need to be taken into account

david39

I would not recommend that you buy it from QVC, as I'm sure that it is considerably cheaper elsewhere but they do sell the HS20 and there are some extensive reviews of it on :
http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.565268.cm_scid.KeywordSearch

These reviews are by actual Joe Public who have bought the camera from QVC and used it, so there is no reason for the reviews to be biased. As you will see some praise and some don't - several of them have returned the camera to QVC for a refund of their money.

If you plough through them (several pages) you will be able to pick out the problems that niggle ordinary people after they have used it for some days and which a technical reviewer may not notice.

lawrie28

david39 wrote: »

I would not recommend that you buy it from QVC, as I'm sure that it is considerably cheaper elsewhere but they do sell the HS20 and there are some extensive reviews of it on :
http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.565268.cm_scid.KeywordSearch

These reviews are by actual Joe Public who have bought the camera from QVC and used it, so there is no reason for the reviews to be biased. As you will see some praise and some don't - several of them have returned the camera to QVC for a refund of their money.

If you plough through them (several pages) you will be able to pick out the problems that niggle ordinary people after they have used it for some days and which a technical reviewer may not notice.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and everyone can make ptheir own mind. Having read the reviews the critique is that it is slow to focus, it fails to focus and is heavy.

The weight we can do nothing about, but you can change the settings on the camera to continuous focus and also to enlarge the field of focus to ensure you get the shot. These are issues which can be resolved by reading the manual and should not put you off.

Thereis also critique of the video mode. Well if you want top notch video quality, buy a video camera, not a stills camera.

You should also note the reviews saying that it is making them sell their slr systems and also that someones friedn with a £5k DSLR has now bought one.

But I still say go and try the camera for yourself. Some prefer a motorised zoom, some don't. some want video, some don't.

chippy2u

I have a Fuji Finepix S1500 which is a bridge camera with 10.0 megapixel plus 12x optical zoom. It is an easy camera to use and not too big and heavy. I am very happy with the quality of the pictures. Buy online and you will be able to pick one up for around the £130/140 mark. I have just ordered the 'big brother' of this one,the Fuji S4000 (not because I am unhappy with the S1500) but because I wanted the 30X optical zoom. Amazon price for this is £173 or you can go to rip-off Jessops and pay £299!!!!
Hope this helps.
chippy