Hi forum photo guru's,
With a pending WA trip on the cards, I'm considering buying a camera for photos and videos. having read a few of the previous threads i've settled on one of the superzooms, the Canon Powershot SX30.
www.canon.com.au
Any other suggestions? I suppose the main feature I think is a bit on the lean side for this camera is the video features, would be nice to be able to record in 1080 or 720 at higher fps? or am I asking too much.
Other question is, is there any accessories I need, and if so can you guys recommend good brands etc? I'm thinking based off what I've read in other threads:
- tripod? this is for travel so something thats pretty compact would probably win over something with heaps of features for me.
- polarizing filter, dunno if the camera supports them?
Cheers
Can't help much on the camera but on the question of the tripod - have you thought about a monopod instead? They usually telescope to something pretty small and unless you're using huge lenses or very low light, you probably don't need the rock-solid stability of a tripod. Something that'll help steady the camera is often enough. I used one on a trip to NZ last year and had no hesitation lugging it along - it even doubled as a walking stick!
My tip would be to test the Autofocusing speed of the camera. Zoom and Megapixels are all good and well but if they don't mean **** if you don't get the shot in focus or worse still miss the shot all together. I often found my point and shoot (Olympus 560) while it took really good photos and had an awesome zoom on it, it took that half a second too long to focus for action stuff.
I have recently purchased a Nikon D7000 whether it's in the your price range I don't know but the Autofocus on this kicks ass to the max!!! I think it's posted as one of the fastest and most accurate autofocusing cameras out there. But this is a DSLR after all.
Have a look at this review of the SX20 compared to some others www.dpreview.com/reviews/q110superzoomgroup It's not the SX30 and I only read the conclusion but it gets the thumbs up. My old Panasonic FZ30 has a thread for filters but not sure of the later Panas, the SX30 doesn't so it needs an adaptor, might pay to google that.
Guys mean well and DSLR's are great cameras (just got a D60 with 15/85) but superzooms have their place. I took the photo below with my old Panasonic FZ30 at 12x zoom, cropped a little with some auto contrast. And before anyone tells me about noisy sensors and sharpness etc, I don't give a poop. Swoosh you'll be happy with your superzoom, learn with it and when you have some bucks (lots) and feel the need, move up to a DSLR.
Oh one other thing with a superzoom, I use the view finder and on my Panasonic it blanks out, so it's a guessing game where you subject is going, also the frame rate is a bit slow. But you'll adapt to it 
Yeah firie, thats exactly what I'm looking at. I got the bucks for a dSLR but doesn't make sense to drop that much money on something I may not even end up using much. And $1000+ vs $350 not even in the same neighbourhood price wise. The superzooms seem like phenomenal value for a first camera.
I did a bit more reading and I think I'm going to go either Nikon P100, or Panasonic Lumix FZ40. I have steered away from the SX30, from the reviews I've read its a fair bit slower shot to shot and in burst, which is something I think would be fairly important for shooting action/sports. Plus while the 35x zoom sounds good on paper I think I'd struggle to get a steady shot anyway, so I dunno how useful it would be. Plus its more expensive at $440 vs 340 for the other two.
At the moment I'm tossing up on:
Nikon P100, has 11fps burst shooting, thou at this speed you only get half a second worth of shots before it needs to stop and save. It also records 720p at 60fps which will be cool for some slowmo action. However it loses out to the panasonic as it doesn't come with any provision for filters etc, thou I suppose I could ghetto mod something on.
Panasonic fz40, has adaptor for filters, e.g. circular polarizers etc. However loses out in that it cant take 1080 vids, and 720p is only at 30 fps, and it shoots slower in burst. It does have continuous shooting at 2.5fps, not really sure if this is adequate, thou gut feeling says its probably adequate? The other thing is that it is 14 vs 10mp of the nikon, thou from everything I have read this matters very little.
So I suppose the main questions are do I need a polarising filter to get good results in the surf? Especially in WA, where I imagine afternoon photos would all be getting a lot of glare from the sun setting over the ocean. And what sort of burst speed is good for capturing action sequences... or is this irrelevant?
I'm in the same boat as you regarding picture quality, at most I'm after some pictures that would make a nice wallpaper on my computer.
it might not be very effective if shooting straight into the WA arvo sun. from my own experience they generally work best at about 90 degrees to the sun and still don't remove the white sun glare off the water, which is what you'll be seeing late WA arvo
Ended up getting the Lumix FZ40 and a CPL Filter. I reckon for a few bucks over $300, it'll be pretty hard to be disappointed.
Can't believe they are so cheap, probably would have got one earlier if I had realised how cheap they are.
Interesting thread. These superzooms look really great for the money. A quick check of eBay shows a new FZ40 can be bought from the USA for $300 including postage.
Let us know how it goes and perhaps post some shots here.
hey,
what would be the better camera to point and shoot of the back of my 'sup ?? often thought if i had the right camera...
Cheers
sal
Awesome shots. Mine arrived a day late for my first wa trip but got another 2 weeks booked end of month so hopefully will have some photos to share soon.
Any tips and tricks you guys figured out so far with this camera?
