My Conclusions on the Best Super Zoom (IQ)

[prelude]

I started my research on Super Zooms in order to buy a new camera , IQ was my primary concern

I confined myself to the following super zooms
Fuji HS20 exr
Fuji HS10
Panasonic FZ40
Canon sx30
Nikon P500
Sony HX100v
Fuji s100
FUJI S200 EXR

After a lot of research my conclusion are:

1 Fuji HS 20 has the best overall still image quality among all the super zooms above 20x zoom under manual settings (considering it takes far better low light pics than any other super zoom )
BUT the drawbacks of this camera are
1 Not so good EVF (I wont call it poor )
2 Poor auto focus in Video
3 Average Auto mode
4 Tendency to overexpose


2 The super zoom to have the best IQ is Fuji S 100 but it has 15x zoom and is no more manufactured (though still available in Amazon)...Fuji s 200 follows

3 There is very little visible difference in IQ of HS10 and HS20 in bright light but when it comes to lowlight the HS20 rules

4 The closest competitors of the Fuji HS20 are Panasonic FZ40 and Canon Sx30 Its a matter of debate if these cams produce better IQ than the HS20 in bright light but almost every reviewer accepts that Fuji wins in low light ..although both the cams have better auto mode, focusing and video quality than the Fuji .
In bright light there is very little (if any) difference in IQ of these three super zooms(fuji,canon,panasonic)
However the Fuji has the best manual control among the three.

5 Its too early to say anything about the new Sony 100v super zoom ....but initial reports say it looses to HS 20 in low light

6 It takes more time to master the Fuji HS20 to produce the best IQ possible than the Canon or Panasonic...... as a result Initial pics of HS 20 are generally of poor IQ than the Canon or Panasonic .....unless taken by a user who has previously used the HS10

7 Nikon P500 gives the worst IQ among the lot

let me know what do you think.......

[FiveO]

It is certainly a matter of debate, but nearly every professional reviewer puts the FZ40 or SX30 at #1. Regardless of the "best" IQ, Panasonic and Canon easily offer the best overall packages which so is why they sell far more superzooms than any of the other companies and have done so for many years. I just can't like any of these half-a**ed superzooms that Fuji puts out.

[prelude]

Originally Posted by FiveO

It is certainly a matter of debate, but nearly every professional reviewer puts the FZ40 or SX30 at #1. Regardless of the "best" IQ, Panasonic and Canon easily offer the best overall packages which so is why they sell far more superzooms than any of the other companies and have done so for many years. I just can't like any of these half-a**ed superzooms that Fuji puts out.

True most professionals put Canon and Panasonic ahead ....but most professionals suffer from fixation error as well .....they do so mainly because Canon is Canon and Panasonic uses Leica Lens .... but here i am concerned about Image quality not brand value ....and as far as low light photography is concerned the Fuji is miles ahead of Canon and Panasonic.....Fuji is not popular among professionals because Fuji's DSLRs were never among the top....so Fuji is an outsider to them

[jdnan]

Originally Posted by prelude

True most professionals put Canon and Panasonic ahead ....but most professionals suffer from fixation error as well .....they do so mainly because Canon is Canon and Panasonic uses Leica Lens .... but here i am concerned about Image quality not brand value ....and as far as low light photography is concerned the Fuji is miles ahead of Canon and Panasonic.....Fuji is not popular among professionals because their DSLRs were never among the top....

While there are always going to be high expectations from those who have consistently seen a specific manufacturer produce a quality product it doens't necessarily mean that they loose their objectivity. The bottom line is that when most are evaluating a camera, super zoom or not, they do so based on the overall features & results achieved as compared to cost. It appears to me that the most important criteria for you is low light capabilities, even though you readily admit that both the Canon & Panasonic have better IQ in bright light, better auto mode, better focusing & better video. They outperform the Fuji in 4 of 5 criteria that you mentioned, yet you put so much weight on low light performance that you arbitrarily declare the Fuji as the best super zoom. While that's how you should make a decision on which one is the best fit for your needs, an objective reviewer has to look at the weight of all of the features combined. If Camera A beats Camera B on 4 of 5 major criteria and is in the similar price class, the responsible reviewer would be obligated to rank camera A over Camera B. A more appropriate title for your post would be: "My Conclusions on the best Super Zoom with low light capability"

[prelude]

Originally Posted by jdnan

, even though you readily admit that both the Canon & Panasonic have better IQ in bright light, better auto mode, better focusing & better video. They outperform the Fuji in 4 of 5 criteria that you mentioned,

I never said that the Canon sx30 or Panasonic fz40 has better IQ than the Fuji in bright light......I said its a debatable issue which one has better IQ.......
In fact in bright sunlight even an average pint and shoot can give wonderful results....its low light where these cams struggle

I am so much focused on IQ because that is something that matters the most .....you buy a good cam for good pics...for me its very simple

[prelude]

Originally Posted by jdnan

, yet you put so much weight on low light performance that you arbitrarily declare the Fuji as the best super zoom. "

My asumption of Fuji being the low light chanpion is not "arbitrary"....Ihave done 2 months reasearch...going through sample pics of all individual cams .....Fuji cams have EXR technology which no other manufacturer offer .....this make them champions in low light photography among super zooms

In life sometimes one criteria become so strong that other four criteria doesent matter much....so happen with cams as well....after all camera is a personal thing....so I might have personal preferences ....and the preference was mentioned in the title within brackets "my conclusions about the best super zoom (IQ)"

[CrazyTechie]

Fuji HS20exr : $435 usd, CMOS
Panasonic Fz40: $365 usd, CCD

Consider these facts too :-)

[jdnan]

Originally Posted by prelude

My asumption of Fuji being the low light chanpion is not "arbitrary"....Ihave done 2 months reasearch...going through sample pics of all individual cams .....Fuji cams have EXR technology which no other manufacturer offer .....this make them champions in low light photography among super zooms

I didn't say that "...[your]assumption of Fuji being the low light champion..." was arbitrary. I said that your declaration of Fuji being the champion super zoom was arbitrary because it was based on a single criteria: low light capability.

Originally Posted by prelude

In life sometimes one criteria become so strong that other four criteria doesent matter much....so happen with cams as well....after all camera is a personal thing....so I might have personal preferences ....and the preference was mentioned in the title within brackets "my conclusions about the best super zoom (IQ)"

IQ encompasses more than just low light. It involves focusing algorithms, face detection, color accuracy, etc. etc. If I accept your statement that the bright light IQ is debatable on which camera is better, then the conclusion I would come to is the following: the other cameras win on 3 of 5 criteria, it's a wash or it's debatable on 1 of 5 & Fuji wins on 1 of 5. I stand by my point that ANY responsible viewer would rate the other cameras as generally superior.

[prelude]

Originally Posted by jdnan

IQ encompasses more than just low light. It involves focusing algorithms, face detection, color accuracy, etc. etc. If I accept your statement that the bright light IQ is debatable on which camera is better, then the conclusion I would come to is the following: the other cameras win on 3 of 5 criteria, it's a wash or it's debatable on 1 of 5 & Fuji wins on 1 of 5. I stand by my point that ANY responsible viewer would rate the other cameras as generally superior.

Have you used any of the cams (I haven't ) my conclusions are based on web research......which camera (super zoom ) do you suggest to have better IQ than the fuji hs20.....please discuss so that i may research further on the cam.

[prelude]

I liked the IQ of Fuji HS over Panasonic based upon this comparison and sample pics
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...8150939&page=1

get through the entire thread ....very interesting and informative