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What is a good camera to buy these days?
Hi everyone, My HX30V wheel started acting up and I got a speck of dust in lens which won't move. I am looking for a compact ultra zoom. What are some good cameras to consider (current or previous generation) ?
My smugmug still under construction & organization with 17,000 images and counting... meanwhile check my Flickr
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The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 series of cameras is a pretty potent combination of features and capabilities.
DSC-RX10
DSC-RX10 II
DSC-RX10 III
The Sony HX90V and HX80 appear to be the direct successors to your HX30V, with the HX90V adding GPS to the HX80 specifications.
If you could detail what you wish to improve upon relating to your current camera (if anything) that would help in providing you further guidance in a selection.
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My biggest complain with Sony was the unpredictable flash recharge rate. One shot would be near instant back to back but majority of ther time it would take a long time to recharge the flash. Any idea why this happens? So quick flash recharge is one of my priorities.
The other issue is the scroll circle. This is why I was thinking about canon which has directional clicks circle instead of scroll. If the scroll didn't act up it would be much more useful but I am really stressed out everyone I try to change settings or view pictures, it just scrolls on its own.
Evf is not needed, neither raw.
GPS is nice to have but not a must.
Sony WiFi was limited. Unless phone can act as a device and connect to existing WiFi in addition to being a source as Hotspot itself like they do now, WiFi is not important either. I see why it's setup that was, outside you don't have WiFi so your phone can connect to camera. But I rather have WiFi access to local network too.
Stereo microphone is something I got used to, I wouldn't want to drop that.
Optical zoom while recording is a must, I don't know about now but some $500 canons did not have this for a while.
I read at dp about cameras having small sensors but big megapixels and big zooms, people were complaining. Any idea why it's important? Zoom is zoom regardless of sensor size, isn't it?
Thanks again.
Most common causes for a longer flash recycle time:
For fastest flash recycle I use an external flash, either with an external high-voltage power supply or one of the newer flash units with lithium rechargeable batteries.
A larger imager is also helpful as it allows higher ISOs until noise becomes a problem. Either an APS-C sized imager or even a Full-Frame 135 Format imager would be best, but I don't think you'll find that in a direct replacement for the HX30V.
A faster lens and ideally one with a large, constant aperture is a great idea to help with flash recycle times. Most compact ultra-zoom cameras will not have this, however.
I haven't used any of these cameras, but, yes, Canon and Nikon do generally have superior human interfaces and controls, based on previous models I have used.
Sorry, I don't use WiFi for my applications. No opinion.
The actual microphone sensitivity and stereo separation, and the ability to zoom while recording video, along with the sound impact from the zoom, are all highly subjective. Study both the professional reviews as well as user reviews for opinions on these aspects of camera operation.
Ideally you would want to test your final picks firsthand before making your purchase. At least I recommend buying from sources which allow easy returns if you are not happy.
Small sensors with many megapixels can lead to more visible noise, although some of that is exaggerated during "pixel peeping", i.e. viewing the image at 1:1 zoom is a much different experience than looking at the printed image or an image scaled for casual viewing at normal computer screen resolutions.
The visible noise is generally more visible at higher ISOs too, although modern Back-Side-Illuminated CMOS imagers do a bit better in this regard and that technology is more suited to smaller imagers.
Relating back to the flash issues mentioned earlier, the smaller apertures of very long effective-focal-lengths can make the entire camera struggle to balance the exposure, potentially forcing higher ISOs and/or longer exposures.
Bottom line, perhaps you should also consider at least a 1" sized imager camera if you want better flash recycle times and better visible noise signatures (versus a 1/2.3 inch imager). If you don't want to use an external flash, then place more emphasis on a faster aperture lens.
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I am going to try and avoid Sony's with spinning dials and try Canon instead this time.
How is something like this, any shortcomings that I may not be seeing? I'll be reading reviews but the comments to reviews are mostly unreasonable, complaining about lack of EVF/OVF, Raw, Small sensor, etc.. I mean at $350-$400 do people expect DSLR performance, while I understand you can get a DSLR for $400 these days, but you cannot slip that in your pocket.
Canon SX720
I was looking at Sony DSCHX80 before that. For some reason I thought Sony had a larger sensor, but they both have 1/2.3". Is this an acceptable size? HX30V had same size sensor.
Edit: Oh, I didn't realize Canon is also using the wheel for controls in this camera..
Not sure that the Canon SX720 will address the "unpredictable flash recharge rate" problem you mentioned. As I mentioned previously, I recommend either (or both) a larger sensor and/or a larger aperture lens. Also, and as I mentioned previously, an external flash can help tremendously with your specific problem.
The Canon SX720 is a good camera, but it probably won't solve your stated problem.
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Sorry.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Thanks, I understand. I'll take a look at that review, it looks like the only camera with 1" sensor in that price range, though.
Because I also have this camera