Upgrading My Camera

gldno1

18 years ago

I am torn between Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ18 and the Canon S3 or S5 IS.

Any good advice? I use am no expert, just love good nature shots and of course family pictures.

Please don't get real technical with your response; I won't understand it anyway.

TIA.

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Comments (9)

JoanMN
18 years ago
Boy, you do have a dilemma. Stevesdigicams.com list the Panasonic and the S5 as two of the best super zooms there are.
And also a Sony H9 and H7! I think they both have even more zoom than the Canon. I think you'll probably be happy with whichever one you get. Read their ratings on:
dpreivew.com
and stevesdigicams.com
JoanMN
JoanMN
18 years ago
Wow, the Lumix has x18 optical zoom. Amazing. If I were you, I'd also read the user forums on those 2 sites above, and see what the people who have those cams actually think of them!
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I felt just like you do when I got my 20D in May 2005. I thought it would take me a year to learn how to use it. I started with the kit lens and P mode. In no time I was shooting aperture priority AV, and when the 4th of July came, that did it, I had to try some fireworks. I read and read what people had posted on another forum, can't mention that here, and did my homework before I got there. And I had some duds, but some keepers, too. It's by far the best to go full manual. It takes some experimentation. If you want twinkle lights, set the aperture to f8 to f14 and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. I usually start with 2 seconds. Usually in most situations 4 seconds to 1 second and sometimes 1/2 sec if really bright, so experiment in that range. And, of course, a tripod. A remote release helps with camera shake. You can get a cheap knockoff on ebay that works well. I haven't tried mirror lockup yet, but that helps with camera shake, too. I look at the lcd and try to tell if it is going to be a good one, but that is hard at night and the lcd is so small. Does the XT have a histogram feature? That helps but usually night photos bunch to the left so it won't be much help at night except to tell you you when you are totally out of the ballpark. The best thing to do is just set your camera on a tripod and practice, practice, practice on something that doesn't matter. It is not as hard as it sounds. Look at the exif after you have downloaded your photos (you should have gotten some software with your camera, DPP that came with mine or I downloaded it from Canon, can't remember, works well) and decide which ones turned out best and note the aperture and shutter speed. If you don't have a tripod, you can improvise with a bag of beans on something stable and use the timer feature, but it's best in the long run to get a good tripod. Focus can sometimes be an issue, so you may have to switch to manual focus, too, but this class of Canon cameras does a good job with focus in low light. On the 4th photos, I took a test shot in auto focus before it got too dark, it looked good, then switched the button on the lens to manual focus for the rest, but sometimes it will drift off if you point your camera somewhere else. Set your white balance to AWB. I do use custom white balance in the daytime, but haven't tried it at night yet. They say you can take a purposely blurry photo and set your custom white balance to that. I shoot exclusively in RAW now (was sure afraid to break that barrier), but it gives you so many more options, like setting your white balance after the photo has been taken, adjusting the exposure, brightness, etc., then converting to jpg. You have made a big jump. I would not use the icon modes or auto mode ever. The only icon mode I use is the sports one maybe in a pinch go to P if I don't have time to think. Sports mode works very well for moving subjects, wouldn't use it at night. It is going to take some investment in time and energy, but it will pay off in the end if you are serious about getting good photos and don't give up. This one I took when some little kid supposedly saw the Virgin Mary, I went over to see the crowds and reactions. I had the 50mm 1.8 on my 20D. Full manual mode, f10, 4 seconds, exposure bias 0, ISO 800 (don't know why I had it set so high, 400 should be fine), evaluative (pattern) metering (looks like a human eye icon on my cam), auto white balance.
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gldno1
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks. I have read every review I could Google! But haven't read the user's reviews. Guess I missed that.

One review on some photography site thought the S3 took a better picture that the S5. It gets very confusing.
JoanMN
18 years ago
From personal experience, I know Sony and Canon cameras are usually excellent. I'm sure lots of people love the Panosonic, too! Another thing you could do, if there are camera stores or if you have a big WalMart or Best Buy near you, is look at those models, hold them, see which you like. You probably can't really go wrong with any of them.
JoanMN
iowagirl2006
18 years ago
I have the S3 and love it! I love the super zoom and the image stabilization.

It has been a rugged camera for me and gets heavy use. Easy to use on the auto settings, but fun to play with on the other settings also.

I like the continous shooting in Sports Mode.

It also takes fantastic video. I didn't buy the camera for this, but I never get my regular video camera out anymore -ever!

The S5 has the hot shoe for an external flash - that would be nice.

I saw Target has the S5 for $399 this week.

I order all my cameras from NewEgg though.

I have found the user reviews at Steves and other forums very helpful.

Also, the Canon forums are helpful to me now. I have improved my photography by reading them.
gldno1
Original Author
18 years ago
Our closest Wal-Mart doesn't carry much, no Panasonics. The only photography store doesn't carry them either. I haven't tried BestBuy. Most serious shops are about 45 minutes from us which means about a 4-hr trip once you check out many stores...........and I hate shopping.

I wonder about the 18x Zoom as compared to the 12X on the Canons. I have never had extended zoom so can't get my mind around the difference it would make.

Of course anything will be such a step up from my little A60 Canon, which I love.

Then that has led to research on batteries, smart chargers, etc......and it goes on.
bean_counter_z4
18 years ago
In my humble opinion, you won't be unhappy with either one. I have the Panasonic fz20 (older version of the one you are looking at) and it is a very well made camera with an excellent Leica lens and good stabilization. It used to be hard to find tele convertor lenses for Panasonic but not anymore. You can find as many add on lenses, filters, etc as you can for Canon. I've used the Canon S3 and S5 and liked both very much. If I were looking for a Canon, I would choose the S3 because the S5 isn't really that much better.

It comes down to the 18x 28-504mm vs 12x 36-432mm lens and the price. Both have 8mp, basically equal sensors, good stabilization, and similar everything else. Something you can do is go to pbase, put each camera into their search feature and see lots of photos taken with these cameras.

Oh, and if you are interested in nature photography check out the bird forum here on gardenweb. There are some excellent photographers there to give their advise and you can search back and look at some of their bird photos. Something as small as a bird with almost constant movement gives you a good basis for how a camera handles.

Just some thoughts on research.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird forum
gldno1
Original Author
18 years ago
beancounter, thanks very much, I think it was someone named Bob that talked so favorably about the Panasonic and Vann's some time back. He was on the Bird forum I believe.

I also takes lots of shots of my flower beds and garden and the farm, so want a very good macro feature and good color representation.

I am taking my time, because this will be it for me in
digital cameras for a long time!

Off to the bird forum,
iowagirl2006
18 years ago
I do enjoy the macro and super macro settings on my S3. I didn't think I would use it that much - but I do!

This summer's Marigold - up close.

Upgrading My Camera

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