Advice needed re super-zoom cameras

sjhpubs

I currently own a Canon A1000 point and shoot (a really nice camera for the purpose, but damaged and not going to get much more use out of it), and a Sony A700 DSLR, which I love. I also have the Konica Minolta 5D dslr.

However, since my canon has a cracked and misaligned battery compartment door, I am figuring that I need to replace it. And at this point, having used the dslr with an 18-200mm lens for the past year (it's so nice not to have to schlep all the lenses), I am looking at the new super-zoom cameras. There is a lot of buzz about the Panasonics, but so far they seem to have real difficulty with low light conditions.

I actually bought a Lumix FZ40 today ($300 at B&H) and have started playing with it. But so far, I am underwhelmed with the images I have taken with it. I would imagine that taking outdoor images will be better, and learning more about how to set it up--the documentation seems to be translated from the Japanese, and is not organized in a way that makes it easy for me to follow. But my indoor pictures are very noisy, and the controls and settings are not at all what I am accustomed to.

The other thing is that the screen on the back is not articulated--which I think I really want at this point.

So, with a pricepoint at about $300-400, does anyone have any suggestions?

The most important things to me are:
good burst shooting
articulated screen
image quality (I don't necessarily need RAW format)
images that can be printed at least up to 13x19
Good onboard flash
ability to use manual settings
good wide angle and telephoto range--I don't have to go crazy with this but I would like to get as close as I can to my 18-200mm Sony lens
I do not want an ultra compact camera--the panasonic actually feels good in my hand (once I get over the fact that it's all plastic--but that's what keeps the weight down and I like the pistol grip)
Image stabilization
I would also like to be able to use filters--particularly a circular polarizer with the camera. The Panasonics allow me to do that.

I think those are the high points.

Any suggestions? Does anyone know about the other panasonic lumix cameras and whether any of them are better in low light?

Thank you in advance for your help,
Sandy

ThatCanonGuy

Point and shoot cameras have much smaller sensors than DSLRs. Image quality is nowhere near that of DSLRs. This is one of the big advantages of DSLRs. Bigger sensors also generally do much better in low light. You probably already knew this, I'm just saying this is why you weren't impressed with the image quality and the noisiness of the images.

The superzoom lens also plays a part in the lower image quality. Lenses that have much more than 3x zoom start to lose quality. Of course, you gain the convenience of not having to change lenses.

The best point-and-shoot I can think of that meets your needs is the Canon G12... you may also want to look at the Nikon P7100, or maybe a mirrorless camera, like the Sony NEX cameras. The G12 and P7100 don't have the long lens though... but their lenses are pretty good.

sjhpubs

Thank you.

ThatCanonGuy wrote: »

Point and shoot cameras have much smaller sensors than DSLRs. Image quality is nowhere near that of DSLRs. This is one of the big advantages of DSLRs. Bigger sensors also generally do much better in low light. You probably already knew this, I'm just saying this is why you weren't impressed with the image quality and the noisiness of the images.

The superzoom lens also plays a part in the lower image quality. Lenses that have much more than 3x zoom start to lose quality. Of course, you gain the convenience of not having to change lenses.

The best point-and-shoot I can think of that meets your needs is the Canon G12... you may also want to look at the Nikon P7100, or maybe a mirrorless camera, like the Sony NEX cameras. The G12 and P7100 don't have the long lens though... but their lenses are pretty good.

Thank you. I do know about all the things you mentioned but I really expected (from all the hype about the lumix cameras) that the results were going to be much better than my old canon A1000. The truth is, the old camera takes much smoother video, although not approaching HD quality, and takes pictures that are almost indistinquishable from the lumix. I will say that I was impressed with the IS on the Lumix and after finding a wonderful review of the FZ35 and FZ100 on Amazon last night that explained all of the settings that I had to find and set, the results were noticeably better. But the truth is that I am looking for a decent zoom capability for an all-around good camera that I can throw into my bag and take everywhere. And I am now used to the interfaces on the sony and canon cameras, which are very intuitive to me at this point.

So I will look at the Canon G12, and also someone recommended looking at the Canon SX230, which does not have the articulated screen which I would love to have, but it does have more of a zoom.

Thank you again for your response and if anyone else wants to chime in with ideas, I am all ears.

Sandy