Should I buy a Nikon L120 or a Nikon P500 or something completely different?

Ciel_Rouge

I had already made my switch from a phone camera to a point-and-shoot and now wish to venture into something more serious. I can afford a Nikon L120 or Nikon P500 and anything close to their price range. I like to go to events and take images from different perspectives so I need a rather decent range of possible zoom. But: I noticed that image quality rapidly decreases at the maximum zoom setting. Furthermore, in a review that I found somebody claimed that the P500 actually has image quality which is rather inferior to the L120 due to technical problems with such a large zoom range. Also, it supposedly has some kind of noice removal algorithm which also removes fine details along the way

Switching to a higher-end camera seems a logical step for me but I am not sure if I want to make the step of choosing a system and investing in a DSLR body and a couple of expensive lenses so I assume I should rather buy a superzoom but which one? I want my new camera to give me as much detail as possible and a sharp image, I wish to steer clear off all artificial noise issues etc. Apart from event photography I would also like to do some portraits. Therefore - I humbly request some advice from you.

DsrtVW

I have the Nikon P100 Which is the earlier Version of the P500 , Nikon's Mega Zoom P&S.
You do have quality issues when you try to cover that zoom range. Biggest killer of picture quality with the far end of the zoom range is keeping it still enough to eliminate blur, the IS helps but with that much zoom in that short of a body any shake or movement is amplified greatly.
I really like the P100 but you do need to keep in mind its limitations just because you have a great zoom range you still have to practice long lens techniques you would use on any full size camera.
Might be better deal if you got a use DSLR and a Tamron 18-270mm Lens or even 55-300 you will get much better performance than any superzoom P&S. Or even the new Sony systems NEX3 or the A35 or A55. The larger sensors will have less problems with noise in general.
The Auto Focus area of most DSLR will be far superior and faster and more satisfying speed. I still hate using my P&S just because I have to wait for it to focus and then wait till it process the last shot until it is ready to go again.
My Old 6MP D50 DSLR Nikon blows any of my P&S cameras away

Ciel_Rouge

Hi Chris, getting my gear to focus quickly was actually one of my concerns regarding a dSLR, I thought I would miss my best shots while tempering and fiddling with my settings or a setting ring but from what I see here this is not the case Another concern was having a gaping hole in the camera body when having to change my lens - with all those insects, dust and leaves and what not happily flying around in the wind. But if the focus lag and processing lag are less severe in a dSLR, maybe this is a way to go for me? Also, I actually read about depth of field last night and do like the effect of having a sharp foreground subject backdropped against some creative blurring or bokeh

Molotov Everything

I suggest going to a store and messing around with some demo models of some DSLRs, point it at something close to you, press the shutter half way to focus, then point it at something far away and do the same thing. Compare them to the point and shoots and I think you'll immediately appreciate the difference. And yea, if you don't want to be messing around with settings and dials DSLRs all have full automatic modes where the camera does all the fiddling for you. And if you want to do portraits, having that depth of field control you read about is pretty clutch.
I'm not going to say "yes you should definitely go buy a dslr" but I would suggest trying to find a store with some demo models to try or you have to have at least a few friends that own dslrs that might loan it to you for a day. What I wouldn't want you to do is go out and buy a P&S now, then a few months from now realize you really wanted a dslr.
I'm reading up on the p500 and it looks pretty fancy, so maybe after testing it out you determine it does everything you feel like you need and you end up getting it (or something like it) anyways, but I recommend at least getting your hands on a few different cameras to test a bit.

ThatCanonGuy

Depending on what kind of events you do, if you want to take anything more than a "snapshot" I think you'll want a DSLR. Yes, I would go into a store and try some cameras (both point&shoot and DSLR). DSLRs have much faster focusing (depends on the lens though) and general response time. When you take a photo with a point&shoot, how long is the gap between pressing the shutter button and the shutter actually firing? Maybe a second or half a second? On a DSLR, it's instantaneous.

You may be concerned about changing lenses, but: I have 3 lenses. I find that I use the 70-200 99.9% of the time. I hardly ever bring my other lenses along with me to events. I will bring them if I think there is a chance I will use them (rare). That said, I'm keeping them because I think I should have the 28-70 and 200-300 ranges covered, just in case. The 70-200 is much higher quality than the other two, yes; but I don't need killer lenses in those ranges because I hardly ever use the ones I have! So for me, changing lenses is not much of a problem because I'm almost always using only one! Who knows, maybe you'll be the same way.

I highly recommend a DSLR for any serious shooting; with DOF control and the other features of DSLRs, your images, if taken carefully, can have a "WOW" factor that P&S cameras just can't produce. Depends on your uses, though. For portraits and moving things, a DSLR is ideal.

Ciel_Rouge

Well, I am rather sure I do not want the P500 after all since it apparently has some "compromise in image quality" issues and its cost is pretty close to some of the dSLRs. Therefore, even though I might still get the L120 as it is cheaper (in my country's local currency units the L120 would cost me 900 and the P500 would cost me 1500, the typical monthly income from day jobs in my country is about 2000). But I am not at all convinced if I really want a superzoom also. I guess the zoom value is an easy marketing tool since an average Joe may not have much idea how to tell a good camera from a weak camera so putting a huge "24x Optical Zoom" label on the side of the lens could accelerate the mass client's decision making process ;-) So I guess in the future such cameras will have "240x" or "2400x" on them and the image quality will really suck, but they will still be sold quickly and efficiently based on the magic number alone ;-)

I would really appreciate some additional info on the performance of the L120 or its predecessors and consider the rest of my issues solved, for which I am immensely thankful to all contributors to this thread I am now going to start my dSLR thread and invite you there since I intend to make my decions taking into account your recommendations over in the new dSLR thread.