I've just been playing around with a friend's Panasonic FZ18 and was very impressed with the whole package. Read lots of nice reviews so I've just been down to my local camera shop to part with some cash when the assistant pointed out the Olympus 570UZ and the Nikon P80...
So does anyone have any opinions/first hand experience of their relative merits. It would be used as a general all purpose camera, birds, other wildlife, holiday snaps, taking up mountains, weddings, parties etc.
I know they will all be more noisy, less sharp and slower than a DSLR, but that would be no good for dragging up a crag and cost more for the 28 -500mm experience.
My first thoughts.
FZ18 Plus:- Cheaper, Lots of modes, Light, RAW Minus:- Less Pixels, Too many modes!
570UZ Plus:- More Pixels, 26-520mm, RAW, AA Batteries Minus:- More Money, heavier, Average reviews
P80 Plus:- Simpler to use, More Pixels Minus:- No RAW, Less Zoomage, More Money,
The specs are here.
So what does the world think?
I do think you should see it as a negative is someone has put in additional pixels in a chip with the same surface area as the FZ18 has; all the reviews say it has too many pixels already resulting in additional noice. Only if you go bigger, with heavier body and lens, should you want additional pixels.
take also a look at this http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=114218 thread
Niels
I don't think you can have a 'do it all' camera like that. You certainly can't have a camera that's excellent for birding, wildlife and holiday snaps that just fits in your pocket.
Compacts have shutter lag which renders them almost useless for birding and wildlife unless you're very lucky.
A friend of mine works for Mamiya and has said that having all these MP's in compacts is largely pointless because the lenses cannot record the detail and the sensors are too small. It's not about number of MP's, it's about quality. The performance of a 6mp DSLR will pulverise that of a 10mp compact.
Think of it this way, if there was a camera that could fit in your pocket and be an excellent birding/wildlife/landscape/wedding/portrait camera, we'd all have one - simply, it doesn't exist. Decide where your main priority lies and buy a camera accordingly.
For what it's worth, the best compromise will either be a Canon G9 or a Leica Digilux.