Compact DSLR or point-and-shoot?

Iristxo

Guys one question for you

I currently have an old panasonic lumix dmc-fx 9 and I'm in the market for a new camera. A lot of you say DSLR is the way to go for good photography but I take the camera everywhere so I need something small and light. Could I get a compact DSLR for less than 500 bucks that would actually give me noticeably better photos than those taken with a point and shoot camera bought for about the same money?

Thanks in advance

CabanSail

I think you have a few terms mixed up here. The SLR part means "Single Lens Reflex" with the D on the front it means it has a Digital sensor as opposed to film. A lot more information here.

When you refer to "Compact DSLR" I think you mean Bridge Cameras. These are so called as they bridge the gap between Point & Shoot compacts and DSLR's. These offer a lot of the control available in DSLR's but in a smaller package. AFAIK you don't see through the lens when looking through the viewfinder in any bridge camera, but I could be wrong here as I'm not up on every model.

The perfect camera has not been designed. They are all compromises. As a photographer you have to weigh up a whole load of factors to arrive at the best camera to suit your needs. This will also include your budget.

So .... back to your requirements. The Lumix you have seems like a reasonable P&S camera. There are many Bridge & DSLR cameras out there but none of them are really going to improve your photography by just buying them. What they will offer over the camera you have now is more control over the image. Having this control puts it more back onto you to use those facilities to craft the image you want. If you do that well then your photographs will improve.

If you are looking for a camera to take everywhere with you then a good Bridge is probably going to be the choice for you. You have not really said what you want to photograph but the advantage of the Bridge cameras is that they are of a size to always have handy. Personally I bought a Canon G9 to fill that requirement. It has limitations but it will allow me to capture high quality RAW images in situations where I would not have a DSLR with me.

Back over to you to refine the choice.

cnocbui

You could get this Olympus Pen EP-1 micro 4/3 system camera: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-Pen-E-P1-Compact-14-42mm/dp/B002CVTA06/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283647069&sr=8-6

Panasonic make something similar and the lenses are interchangeable between brands.

Then there is the Panasonic LX5, which is a premium PS which has just been released. I have seen several comments by people on forums that they have given up lugging a DSLR in favour of the previous version of this, the LX3. There is a review of the LX5 on the Dpreview website

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=panasonic+lx5&x=0&y=0

A micro 4/3 camera next to a DSLR:

Iristxo

Thanks both of you for your responses. Cnocbui, I am going to look into those options that you mention, I actually would not mind at all buying another Panasonic, I have been quite happy with the one I have now.

CabanSail wrote: »

Back over to you to refine the choice.

CabanSail, my bad. I use the camera to photograph my family, mostly the kids. I do not have a lot of time or money to dedicate to photography as a hobby right now. And to be honest a P&S suits me in that, when you're photographing the kids often times you just want to capture the moment and kids will not "wait" untill you "mess around" with the settings in the camera, even if they were posing they would loose they patience if you started changing settings etc.

I will have a look at all the suggestions from both of you and thanks again for taking the time to respond

CabanSail

In that case a newer P&S from Panasonic should suit you fine. That is what they do the best.

cynder

HI


I just (two mins ago) bought online the lumix fz38 (lumix fz35 is the American version) which is supposed to be a good bridge camera, fingers crossed.

I see that lumix also has a newer uptodate version lumix fz45, it was 100€ more at €389.

I read a load of reviews of the fz38 and it gets between 8 out of 10 and 9.9 out of 10, 1 person gave it a 10/10.

i'll let you know how i get on with it if your interested, should be here in 2 days, cant wait.

a dslr would be too advanced for me, if my dad hadn't of died last year he would have loved a dslr and could tell me everything about shutter speeds and iso which i havent got a clue about.

cynder

This is a photo i took only my 3rd shot with my new FZ38, (bridge camera)