Point and Shoot Digital Camera vs High-end Digital Camera
 

I am looking at the following cameras which have very close specs and feature sets:
Coolpix P100
Lumix DMC-FZ35
Kodak Z981
Cyber Shot HX1
Powrshot SX20

Can anyone tell me the difference between a Point and Shoot Digital Camera and a High-end Digital Camera? Some of the above cameras are Point and Shoot and others High End.
Any specific opinions or experience with any model is also welcomed
Thank you

Stonefred-

Welcome to the Forum. We're pleased that you dropped by.

The cameras in your list a generically called super zoom cameras. They are a part of the P+S line-up that feature fixed lenses with long zoom lenses. From your group there is one clear winner: the Panasonic FZ-35.

I own and use a FZ-35/38 and we have a large group of FZ-35/38 users in out Panasonic P+S folder. There you will also find lots of tips and photo samples.

The Nikon P-100 has received poor user and professional reviews. The Kodak Z981(I own one) is a good camera with a great macro and super macro modes. However, beyond 15X the image quality beginning to deteriorate rapidly. The Sony HX-1 is another good camera that just does not quite make it. The colors from the HX1 (I own one) are not vibrant and sort of bleached out. The SX-20 ( I owned one, but finally sold it) is a very dated design that is way too large. It also has excessive noise above ISO 200.

Sarah Joyce

Sarah,
Thank you for the valuable feedback

you may also want to consider the fuji HS10. It has a heck of a zoom, and very high grade images in the fuji forum here.