Digital camera with good optical zoom and little lag

[Eman3gt]

Hi everyone! It's time for me to upgrade my digital camera. :whee: Here are things I like in a camera, besides nice quality pics...

1. Good optical zoom (at least 10x)
2. Little lag between shots. I have a doggie and a 6 month old. Lag blows. :shake:
3. Decent MP's...isn't 8MP standard these days?

That's about it. The camera doesn't have to be super small or light. I'm not into manual details and playing games with it. Point and shoot is for me. Price range? Eh, no more than $200 or less if possible.

I currently have a 4MP, 10x optical zoom, Kodak camera from...I don't remember how many years ago. Lag on it sucks...like at least 5-6 seconds between shots. :vomit:

Thanks in advance for your help in finding the best deal! Reps will be given. :)

[kyzen]

Unless you're going to be routinely printing 8x10" images or larger, don't even concern yourself with megapixels :)

Check out the Canon SX series - the SX110 is a great combination of features and price; the SX10 is currently, in my opinion, the best superzoom on the market. And there's an SX1 coming out later this year that should be even better, and incorporate a decent amount of manual controls; however you can expect the price to be a little unrealistic for mainstream users.

The SX10, while a fantastic camera, unfortunately falls well outside your price range.

The SX110 can be had for around $200 though. Right now on newegg you can get an SX110 with a 4GB SD card and a cheapo case for $205.

Aside from Canon, Panasonic's TZ series is pretty solid. They're going to get you better wide angle shots (when you're zoomed all the way out), as their lenses start at 28mm instead of 36. Of course, this also means that when zoomed all the way in you're looking at 280mm instead of the SX110's 360mm.

The Panasonic TZ4 can be had for around $200.

The Panasonic TZ5 can be had for around $250, and with that you're going to get a much nicer screen than any of the other cameras I've listed, and the ability to record 720p HD movies.

If I had to rank them, I'd say:

First place: Panasonic TZ5 or Canon SX10 - depending on if you'd prefer 20x zoom or 720p video
Second: whichever one you don't pick above
Third: Canon SX110
Fourth: Panasonix TZ4

[damnyou]

Just wanted to add this

In case you are going for SX110, then Dell has usually a coupon for it now and then

It can be purchased for around $175 at Dell

[JohnHenry]

Just ordered a TZ5 for $220 at Amazon. Great reviews on dpreview.com and other sites. Hopefully it can do double duty and replace both my SD450 Elph and S2IS megazoom. Will update.

[Eman3gt]

Thanks for all the input! That TZ5 sounds great and $220 with free shipping isn't bad either for what you get. The $18 in Amazon tax discourages me. :ranting:
I'm pretty sure I'll go with the TZ5 in blue...it's just a matter of where.:)

[JohnHenry]

Thanks for all the input! That TZ5 sounds great and $220 with free shipping isn't bad either for what you get. The $18 in Amazon tax discourages me. :ranting:
I'm pretty sure I'll go with the TZ5 in blue...it's just a matter of where.:)

I ended up with the blue TZ5 for $200 from Amazon. I had hemmed and hawed and finally decided to order it 3 days before a weekend in Vegas, and pay overnight shipping. It didn't show up until a week later, and after harassing a few Amazon CSR's they took a few dollars off.

My initial impressions with the camera were so-so. It was a little bigger than I was expecting (compared to my SD450 it has about the same body size, but the lens and the grip stick out more than I hoped) and it didn't do great on the default settings.

That being said, I just got back from a weekend in New York and I was absolutely blown away! I tried out most of the settings while visiting the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and various sites around NYC. My wife is uploading the pictures on our laptop right now, and I will try to post a couple on here.

I would recommend the TZ5 as the absolute best all-around camera I have owned. It has made obsolete both my SD450 and S2IS. The zoom lens is phenomenal. While it doesn't have much manual control (limited to exposure settings and forced flash on/off), there are a ton of presets that can handle everything. Don't take the presets at face value - try each mode in different lighting settings to see what "baby mode" and "candle light" really do.

I also picked up 2 spare batteries at RadioShack for $.97 each on clearance.

Couldn't recommend it more! I will also update after I get a chance to go through the pictures and see how they really turned out.