New camera for work, mirrorless?

[yh125d]

I need to buy a new camera for my company. We go out to various field locations to take photos of existing equipment and such for use in the office. A few samples are below. This is 99% outdoors, well lit open areas, though there are some areas with a large sunny/shade contrast.

Currently we have a ~7-8 year old Kodak Easyshare Z740 that is dying (5MP, 10x zoom), decent camera but really showing its age.

I don’t know very much about cameras but I did some research and it sounds like one of the new “mirrorless” cameras might be a good route, or what I've seen called "SLR-like", for higher IQ than a standard P&S while cheaper and simpler than dSLR. I don’t need a full dSLR with a ton of options, as the people using it won’t be that well versed. But I do need good IQ and some basic features.

What I need:
10x or more optical zoom
OIS
Decent size (2.5”+ pref) LCD
Basic flash, nothing fancy needed
Good AF
Easy to learn/use

What I want:
15x+ zoom (auto preferred, but manual is acceptable)
AA or other standard battery type (possible? it seems everything now is proprietary)
Good hand grip
Good battery life (especially if proprietary battery)


What I don’t need/care about:
Video capture
Burst modes
Good motion capture
Removable/upgradeable lenses
Fancy flash
Red eye, face detection, etc
RAW shooting


It literally just needs to take pictures like these as good as possible with a decent zoom for hard to reach places and that’s about it

What I'm unsure of is how easy to use the mirrorless cameras are. The people using it will not really know much, and I've heard some mirrorless cameras are pretty bare on "auto" mode. If you really have to know what you're doing to get a good picture, I guess I'd be best sticking to a good P&S


Budget: I’d like to stay around $3-400, but could probably get up to $500 or so if it’s really worth it


Ideas on where I should start looking? Am I off-base or leaving something important out?


Edit: forgot samples

 

[CuriousMike]

For what you're doing, I think getting a good superzoom (P&S) would be a fine choice.

Unfortunately, dpreview.com hasn't done a superzoom group test in awhile.

I know the Panasonic FZ200 gets good reviews; it's 24x zoom plus a fairly fast lens.
Their FZ60 is similar but not as fast of a lens... but it's cheaper.

Some of these newer SuperZooms have craaazy zoom ranges which may just be overkill for you.

 

[yh125d]

Yeah I had come across the Canon PowerShot SX50, 50x zoom holy crap!

I figured it'd be crappy at full zoom but then I saw these two pictures, which were a big wow factor for me.

 

[yh125d]

Ok so looking into the superzooms got me this:

Canon Powershot SX50 - ~$380
Panasonic Lumix FZ60 - ~$350
Panasonic Lumix FZ200 - ~$550
Nikon Coolpix P510/520 - ~$375
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX300 - ~$430

Which using the comparison here - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/studio-compare - all seem to be pretty comparable to my eye (by the way, that's a pretty awesome tool they have there). The FZ200 and maybe the sony are pretty high for me, I think I'd prefer one of the cheaper ones with some extra left to get a couple spare batteries/etc.

I read the DPreview of the Nikon, which I liked, and seems to have a great grip and good IQ, but it's only rated at 200 photos/charge? That's pretty weak, we often take upwards of 5-600 a day when we use it so we'd need to juggle a lot of batteries. I know I'm not gonna get all that on one battery but the Canon gets 300 and The Panny gets 450 (supposedly).

So, I'm liking the Canon or the FZ60. I like the size, battery life, and price of the Panny, but I like the screen of the Canon, which also seems a little simpler to use.



Thoughts?

 

[Imp]

Got an SX50 about two months ago. Have used it a bit, not that much, but love it. The thing can go up to 200x zoom digitally. Just note that it doesn't come with threads to put on a filter, hood, or any other attachment. I found a pretty good 58mm adapter though for $25 at LensMate (edit: to clarify, you can get Canon branded attachments that go right on the base camera).

I think it's starting to go on clearance. There have been a lot more sales recently. new model coming soon?

Personally, I'd say to hell with picture quality if it's for work and go for pure survivability with no extending lens. Tough/ Life-proof cameras advertise drop, water, dust, and crush resistance.

 

[corkyg]

I can echo what imp says about the SX50. It is now my traveling camera - I leave the 5D MII and lenses at home - and the SX50 does a great job. It has a fully articulated LCD - good for odd angles, and a good grip - can be shot one handed.

 

[JohnnyRebel]

Nikon P-520 (Refurbished by Nikon) $289 shipped.

http://www.adorama.com/INKCPP520BR.html

 

[jaedaliu]

At 500 - 600 shots (or more) all of the cameras will need at least 1 extra battery. Probably 2 for most of them because you don't want to be worrying about running out of juice at the end of the day.

Does the cost really matter to you? (is it important to save $100-200 on camera, memory cards, batteries, bag?) Or do you care more about how easy the camera is to hold and how quickly it turns on (size matters too, but a little less because you're carrying extra batteries with you in the field, so the whole package is going to be the size of your bag)?

I would figure out your price point, then go to a camera store and handle the ones that work for you. Then go showrooming (or have them price match)