Camera Labs

Hiya..

I'm a n00b here and I have a question.

I'm currently going to be living in Europe for a year and I need and want a digital camera to document my experience...ie lots of pics and some possible video usage. I don't want to spend more than $250 on a camera, considering I'm a student and finances are getting tight when I do the math of living abroad.

I'm looking for major zoom 10x and at least 7-8 pixels are fine as well. I'm planning on spending more time taking still shots than actions shots. Although action shots will definitely be taken also I'm not a fan of indoor pictures but from time to time they will be the case (so I guess I won't have low-light problems).

I realize this is not a manual...or I have been told it's not. I'm not sure how important having something manual and I don't even know if point & shoots have such programs considering I'm looking at point and shoots. I'm not big on if it's compact or not so it's not something I'll be considering.

Image quality is really key for me and although I've been recommended the canon I do seem to feel the TZ5 might be best but I'd like some more expert opinions and thoughts.

Recommendations welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Hi - I own a Tz5 and its by far the best compact camera I have ever owned. It takes great consistent pictures.

My only gripes:
- No manual setting
- Audio is HORRIBLE / un-useable during movies

The only time I really felt I needed the manual setting is when I was taking pictures of waterfalls and wanted to control the aperture & shutter. You can set the minimum shutter speed and trick the camera by focusing on something dark but I got mixed results. The many scene settings

All in all great camera. Love the zoom range, image stabilizer, zoom during movies, HD video etc. I wont be letting go of my Tz5 until I have the zs3 in my hands thats for sure!

I have to say I'm very tempted by the TZ5, the TZ7 seems too steep.

I think its still in special order stage so price might drop some time.

_________________
Sony W110 7MP, 4x
Fuji s5600. 5MP, 10x.

Thanks for the response and I think this is the one I needed to make my decision. That's one of the things I'd like to do is take some awesome pics of waterfalls but it's not life or death. I won't be around too many waterfalls to take those pics..it will probably be more architectural and nature (trees, flowers, wildlife) than of waterfalls.

So the TZ5 it is, if and until the TZ7 drops in price by $50.


That's the problem I'm having. I'm not leaving for another 4 months or so...so if the price drops to something I find more reasonable maybe I'll go for the TZ7 since it's the newer model. However, if it doesn't fall I don't see too much of a difference with the TZ5, that I couldn't be happy.

Hi vaberella, I've compared the features between the TZ5 and TZ7 in the verdict page of my TZ7 review, and as you'll see, the TZ5 remains a very compelling alternative. I think it's a great travel compact, and even better now that prices are falling on it.

I just read your review which was excellent and I appreciate the time you took out to do such a great and indepth review. If my mind was not made up for the TZ5, you're review would be the last straw before I purchase this camera. I saw some of the shots in sample and they were gorgeous and just what I was looking for.

None of the enhancements made are going to affect my decision making considering I don't know what half of them mean. Thanks for the review one last time because it was most important.

You're very welcome vaberella! Don't forget if you're shopping from any of the stores we have affiliations with, please go through to them via our page here:

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Affil ... ping.shtml

I was playing around, I have a vista. In WMM I could run the .movs from a TZ6 but not from a TZ5.

I found I could drop mov files into WMM but not import them.

_________________
Sony W110 7MP, 4x
Fuji s5600. 5MP, 10x.