Looking for a good camera to take to college

[gamerxx13]

I am looking for a new digital camera to take to college. I have been reviewing the p&s types for about a month and still cant decide. I would like to have zoom and go out and take pictures when i take hikes and such but the problem is that the panasonic tz5 seems to not to take good images of people. Also high iso has high noise. I have been reading all that, but how bad are the picture. Everytime I read reviews on people they all say that camera is awesome and works great. Even reviewers that point out the fact that it has high noise still give it good reviews. So is it a good camera or what? Thanks!

 

[corkyg]

For a wide range of capability in a small package at a reasonable price - take a look at the Nikon P80.

P80

This can be had for less than $350 in many places. Some even have it below $300.

 

[jpeyton]

The TZ5 would be a good hiking camera; it's outdoor daytime picture quality is superb. It only seems to falter (not unlike other pocket digicams) when taking nighttime pictures without flash/tripod.

But the lens is top-notch, the build-quality is good, and the 720P HD movie mode is nice.

 

[gamerxx13]

That camera looks great! But it seems to be a little too big for me. I was looking more for a smaller camera. Thanks!

 

[gamerxx13]

Hm the tz5 looks great for the specs, but do you know another camera that has good zoom and can take good pictures indoor without having to go to a SLR?

 

[996GT2]

Have you considered the Panasonic LZ8 or LZ10? They have the newest Venus IV image processor, so noise is OK at ISO400 and acceptable for small 4x6 prints even at ISO800.

They both cost much less than a TZ5, have smaller bodies with 5x image stabilized lenses, and best of all they are among the only compact P&S cameras to have full manual mode and 2.5 FPS burst shooting at full resolution (plus a high speed mode: 5.5-6 FPS at 2.5 megapixels)

 

[Jawo]

Have you looked at the Canon G9 / or the just announced G10? They are supposed to be very powerful cameras in a compact package.

 

[gamerxx13]

Yah I have, the G9 is just totally out of my price range. I am considering the LZ10 because of it having full manual control which the Tz5 does not have at all. Is manual control all that important?

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: gamerxx13
Yah I have, the G9 is just totally out of my price range. I am considering the LZ10 because of it having full manual control which the Tz5 does not have at all. Is manual control all that important?

It's not a huge selling point in a point and shoot, but it's very handy for those tough lighting situations or if you'd like to get into more advanced photography.

I'd recommend you seriously consider the LZ10 though, since it's a very good deal for the $150-160 asking price. No other compact point and shoot in that price range can come close to its level of features. I had an LZ8 myself, and I liked it a lot...however, I moved up to a DSLR for a photography class so I didn't keep the LZ8 for long. It was a great P&S camera, but no P&S can compare to a DSLR in terms of performance and image quality at high ISO.

I posted some ISO noise shots of my LZ8 HERE. Even at ISO 800, the images are still usable for 4x6" prints. Observe the hairs in the rug, since noise reduction algorithms often degrade low contrast detail like hairs most severely.

With point and shoots, the ISO noise issue is basically prevalent with ALL of them, including the very high end point and shoots like the G9 and upcoming G10. For best quality with P&S cameras in ANY price range, keep the ISO at 100 or 200. At ISO 400, you'll start to see noticeable noise increases, and noise is readily apparent by ISO 800. ISO 1600 and 3200 are pretty much a joke on P&S cameras, since even most DSLRs with sensors 5-10x larger show noise at these sensitivities.

 

[Hyperlite]

FZ28? might be bulkier than you'd like. Not much more expensive than the TZ5. http://artzen2.com/artzen2-0097.htm http://forums.dpreview.com/for...=1033&message=29338274 http://forums.dpreview.com/for...=1033&message=29338659 http://picasaweb.google.com/ax...es#5246640215453218962