Money is no object. Size and Quality are.. which camera?

[Sergep]

Hi there,

I do a lot of travelling, and as many of you might know, they are limiting carry on weights on many airlines.. sometimes to 5 KG! With my laptop, Canon Rebel XT, 2 lenses, Camcorder, power cables, mini DVD player etc.. I am frequently at 12 KG or more.

Question is, what the heck is a guy to do? I love the quality of my Canon L lenses, but, need to go much lighter. I can ditch the laptop on vacation trips, buy a smaller camcorder, give the DVD player to my daughter to carry (she watches it).. but the camera is a problem.

I am looking at the 12Optical Zoomall in ones... such as the Canon S3 IS, or Sony DSCH5 (6 and 7 MP respectively).

I realize that there are trade offs here. Here is what is important and not important to me:

1. Quality of the picture. Ability to get in focus, quality shots.. mostly outdoors, but sometimes indoors.

2. Being able to use multiple lenses is not important

3. 6 MP is enough for me, all things considered.

4. I need to have lighter equipment, ideally... but not at the expense of 1.

5. I will pay what I need to to get Quality, but not 'at any weight'.

I am keen to chat with anyone and everyone who has gone the route of the mega zoom all in's vs a DSLR... and visa vera so that I can make an informed decision.

I had initially looked at buying additional long zoom lenses for a trip to South Africa we are doing next year, but .. I want to relook at everthing again.

Thanks very much for any response!

Serge

[rodo]

My 2 mp Panasonic FZ 2 takes as sharp maybe sharper Photos than my wifes Panasonic Fz 30 so its not all about MP. Any panasonic long zoom will be as good as you need and as good as any other make ive tried a few others but my FZ 2 is special they are the best i believe,i know strange isnt it but thats what im seeing ,FZ 30 same but imo not better photos, better handling maybe ?but huge ,but you can print biggeri never do just my own point of view .:-x

[msantos]

For that dilema, I really suggest the Panasonic FZ-50 / FZ-30.

The qualty of pictures is really great (check Panasonic forum to see a lot of examples) and it will give you a DSLR feel you use to have with your canon.

Advantages... a lot:

• 35-420 mm[/*]
• Leica Lens f2.8-3.7[/*]
• Image Stabilization[/*]
• swivel hi-res LCD[/*]
• fast start-up[/*]
• Zoom and focus ring[/*]
• etc...

[/*]
Disadvantages

• Smaller sensor -> Noise at low ligth. (For may people it is not an issue during traveling)

[/*]
I own a DSLR and a bunch of lenses + FZ-30. For travleing, I personally prefer the FZ-30.

[peripatetic]

Well, I don't mean to be funny, but how much does the XT + 2 lenses weigh compared to an ultra-zoom?

Because the rest of your 12kg is made up of other stuff. How much weight will you be saving by ditching the DSLR?

[msantos]

Today I'm selling my FZ-30. For traveling I'm considering buying a 28-300 lens or 18-200.

My KM DSLR with 28-300 will give me almost the same superzoom range and almost the same size and weight than the FZ-30. And I really enjoy using the manual mode. That´s Why I'm selling the Panasonic.

I prefer to carry my DSLR.

However, If you want something much smaller and ligther, check it out:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasoniclz2/

Panasonic LZ2, 5MP, 35-210mm zoom, AA Batteries, great pictures. That is what I use for travelling really realy ligth.

[kenbalbari]

This sounds kind of like the purpose of the new Olympus E-400. A shame it hasn't been released here in the US (yet).

But with the 2 new lenses:
E400 - 380g
14-42 - 190g
40-150 - 220g

The camera alone weighs less than an S3 or H5. The camera and one lens will weigh only 570-600g, still less than a FZ30 or FZ50. The Camera and 2 lenses, covering a 28m-300mm EFL range, weighs a combined 790g. With battery (maybe 70g?), I'd guess that would be maybe 860g. That's quite a bit lighter than an R1, which is 926 g before adding the battery.

[dr88keyz]

I've been very happy with my Canon S3 IS...the bodyweighs only 410g. With a camera bag, 2 sets ofbatteries, USB cable, AV cable, 2 memory cards, etc. it's still very light and easy to travel with... haven't weighed everything but I'm sure it'snot much morethan 1.0Kg... and I've been pretty pleased with the picture quality too.

[mtclimber]

I have been very happy with my Sony H-5, it is an excellent camera. The attached photo was taken without flash, using ISO 400 and a shutter speed of 1/100 at F 4.0with just the stage lighting. The IS on the H-5 made this an excellent photo, considering that it was taken at a distance of 90 feet.

You S-3 users may want to post some similar photo examples, I have shot a lot with the S-3 and S-2and the Panny Fz series cameras and cannot equal the performance of the Sony H-5.

MT

[Wirraway]

Actually MT your H5 did better than that according to the exif data onyour photo:

Shutter: 100th sec

Aperture: f/4

exposure bios: -2

Not bad considering you shot on automatic.