Travel Camera: I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality...

HG Law

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

EdJames81

I bought a Canon G1X for a jolly around Europe, and I have to say I am very impressed with it. The G1X has aperture priority mode, shutter priority mode and full manual mode in addition to the standard automatic modes, so it is more than a point and shoot. The G1X has the articulated screen and focal length of 24mm - 120mm (35mm effective). The image quality is superb too. May be worth a look?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

I recommend you pony up for the Sony RX10III ......

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

I think you are going to be hard pressed to find an interchangeable lense that is 25X. Those are mostly in the point and shoots. Since you indicated budget is a concern, you might want to look at the used market. That would allow you to buy a body and two lenses covering a reasonable range at a cheaper price than new. I would look at Olympus and Panasonic 4/3rds bodies and lenses.

Just Trying To Focus Loc: Jackson County, Michigan

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

You mention Panasonic FZ series. The FZ300 has a zoom to equivalent of 600mm, and has a steady aperture of F2.8 all across the zoom range, which would be a great feature in lower light. I have a Nikon P900, which has an 83x zoom (2000mm equivalent) but the aperture ranges from F2.8-6.5, so it's not a good performer in low light.

Sandy

HG Law

I am not looking to change lenses as I don't want to carry a lot of lenses with me. I'm looking for a bridge camera which has a decent optical zoom, a large sensor, and a reticulated display. I certainly want to be able to set my aperture size, shutter speed, white balance and my ISO. I often shoot in HDR so I would want to be able to bracket my images. So far, the best that I've seen is the Lumix DMC-FZ2500. Its a new camera by Panasonic that replaces the Lumix DMC-FZ1000. But..... the bucks are way up there. I will keep on looking. I really appreciate all of your responses. They have been very helpful.

Bill_de Loc: US

The Lumix has some nice features. I have a small one, 24 - 72 lens. It can use 4k (not using full 1" sensor) to shoot 11 frames, each focused at a different point. You can select images individually or select a range of in focus images and it will stack them, in camera. It also does the usual in camera HDR and stuff like that. I would at least keep an eye on it. Maybe they will have a special.

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Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

I have the FZ200. It's an older camera, but it fits your requirements, and if you can find one, it won't cost much. It's only drawback, if it really is one, is that it has a smaller sensor--1/2.3." It does well in low light, although the focusing tends to hunt a it in low light. The constant f/2.8 aperture throughout entire focal range serves it well. It also has an articulated screen in addition to an EVF. Google some reviews on it, like Imaging Resource, CNET, Cameralabs, etc. The FZ200 has a good reputation.

Just Trying To Focus Loc: Jackson County, Michigan

Wingpilot wrote:

I have the FZ200. It's an older camera, but it fi... (show quote)

The FZ200 does have a great reputation. I've a friend who has one and gets great photos.

AK Grandpa Loc: Anchorage, AK

I take my Nikon D5500, 18-270mm lens, SD cards, spare battery w/charger, Lens Pen. This all doesn't take up too much room and I still have all the DSLR features and options available to me and don't have to learn a new camera system. The 18-270mm covers just about all the ranges I'm likely to need. If I were to take one more lens, it would be my super wide 11-16mm. All fits easily into my smallish carry on bag leaving room for my tablet, razor & toothbrush, medicines, spare set of clothes. Just my druthers . . .

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

It is unfortunate that that cost has to be a factor. The new Olympus E-M1mrII with the new 12-100 f4 (24-200 in FF angle of view) sounds like a perfect travel match. I've actually seen a 5 second handheld shot from this combination and heard of 10 and 20 second handheld shots. The 5 second shot was actually publishable. Maybe this combination or some other Olympus / Panasonic 4/3rds lense / body combination could be rented for for this trip rather than bought for this trip. This might even give you a better feel for which way you would want to go with a future purchase.

BJW

I use the Panasonic DMCFZ1000 for travel. With a range of 25-400mm @2.8 (up to 200mm)-4.0 from 200-400), I can safely leave the heavy gear at home. You should be able to get a decent discount now that the new model is out. Reviews I have read aren't bowled over with the new model but they rave about the FZ1000.The more I use it, the more I like it. Image quality is excellent. 4K video. Fast burst rate for stills (11 fps). It's not as small as some of the others but its sufficientlycompact and it feels like a real camera. I carry it with a wrist strap and a cross shoulder strap. (They're a hot item for thieves)For a travel spare, an iPhone 7 plus with its new camera is perfect. Articulating screen with very easy to use controls for settings.
Go for it.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

HG Law wrote:

I'm going on a trip to Asia and am looking to acquire a good travel camera as I do not want to carry all of my lenses. I am looking for a camera with good image quality, has at least a 25 X zoom, and an articulated screen. Also, I do not want to break the bank. I do want more than a point and shoot. I have no particular brand preference. I have been looking at the Lumix FZ series. Seems good. Any suggestions?

Sony HX50V mint off ebay, one of the sharpest pocket camera's ever produced.

printer273

I would take a serious look at the Sony RX10III I have one and travel with it, great zoom range, excellent quality photos, video is really great if you need a video sometimes. I just love the camera and it is not a burden to take when traveling on the streets or hiking. I think you would be very happy with your results you get from it. Good Luck!!

Just Trying To Focus Loc: Jackson County, Michigan

billnikon wrote:

Sony HX50V mint off ebay, one of the sharpest pocket camera's ever produced.

I have a Sony HX50V and do like it for outside shots, GREAT for hikes when you don't want to carry alot. The downside is that there is no optical viewfinder. The upside is there is a hotshoe and I have a 3rd party flash I got from Amazon that works on it.

These were taken with the HX50V.

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