cucharared Loc: Texas, Colorado

Here's my take on this. I'm almost in the same position, having moved from a point&shoot Canon to a Sony HX200V bridge. I was blown away with how much better and more capable the HX200V was than anything I had experienced before. I just knew it was the last camera I would buy. Photos looked great and on auto the camera simply rocked. Or so I thought.

It DOES do an excellent job, and the 30X optical zoom allowed me to reach out and touch animals and birds I only dreamed about earlier. It can double that 30X with some Sony magic that looks pretty good too, and then you can go into pure digital zoom up to 120X (with a LOT of image degradation). In good light it takes super landscapes I think. At low ISO's it takes really nice photos (again, I think). Above ISO 400 they begin to get a lot of noise.

I've discovered a few things it won't do that I'm now wanting. It will not do RAW. It has no provisions for a remote shutter release. The tracking focus would seem to be a farce, or I'm simply still too inept to use it right. The multishot choices are 2/sec or 10/sec for 10 shots total, then it takes the camera a loonng time to dump those shots (small buffer??). Single shots are slow due to processing time, so I seem to spend a lot of time wishing it would finish so I can take another shot (not real good when shooting animals and birds). No way to set up a back-button focus. While it does let me have manual control, I find it very frustrating to get it to whatever aperture or shutter speed I want and it simply won't go beyond whatever limits Sony has set up (and these seem to vary with conditions). I can manually focus to selectively isolate the object I want, but it's not slick and the magnified image never does seem to really sharpen up, and there's a lot of movement involved as I try to zero in on proper focus. I'm sure there are numerous other things I'll wish it did, or didn't do, that I simply don't have enough experience to know about yet.

However, it still is the best thing since sliced bread for me at this point. If nothing else, I'm getting good shots that I like (and even got in our local calendar), and it's letting me discover what I want in my NEXT camera. See, it wasn't the do-all to end-all I thought it was. I'm thinking my next camera will be my last, but who knows. I will say this - the bridge camera's zoom lenses will really spoil you. I'm wishing the mirrorless/DSLRs had something with those capabilities, but I'm reading enough to just begin understanding the physical limitations of lenses with the larger sensors. So, I'm not expecting to find anything once I move up in sensor size (which I'm really wanting to do to get away from this itty-bitty sensor in my trusty Sony).

Still, for $400-$500 range, the bridge superzooms offer a lot of capabilities in one package. Not having to buy and carry multiple lenses is great. But, the more I look at my images the more I want better IQ.

Sorry about the long windiness. Hope my ramblings may help you in some small measure. If not, their easy to skip over.

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

With many others say N or C; Sony is producing some great cameras with technology the the others are not. As David is saying look at Sony and compare it against the others. If you want a crop sensor look at the Sony A77M2 or the A6000. If you want full-frame then look at the A7M2 or the A99. With any camera there is a learning curve. If you want a bridge camera the Sony RX100III or the HX400 are good choices.

blankmange Loc: down on the farm...

gotcha - I'll keep the faith...

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

Please give me your opinions, I don't have anyone to advise me except a salesman....lol help 😱[/quote]

If I were you, just starting out, with a limited budget, I would report to the nearest Costco and get a Canon T5 kit with two lenses, bag, sd card for $750. The good thing about Costco, is, if you don't like it, you have 90 days to return it. The next model up is the Canon T5i which is also a kit will cost you $1,150. But my choice would be the T5. Good luck

baboosh44

A big Thank You to all of you for some great advice. I like the idea of a bridge camera for me. Still can't decide on a brand, going to go to consumer reports. Thanks again, very helpful.😊🎥

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Great suggestions so far, but if you are serious about photography, read up on sensor sizes. Yes these mega zooms are great, but 1 - too noisy, not very good in low light, not very fast, so be aware that you may not be very satisfied with some/most shots. The larger the sensor size the better. Doesn't mean you should go for Full Frame right away, but if quality really matters, and you are a natural, you may like the finished results better with a larger sensor and different lenses.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

don't let anyone pull your leg! you can get stunning photos from the new bridge cameras.Give my fz200 good lighting and iso 200 and she will pull her weightwith the big boys. And the sensors are getting larger. did you know the new lumix fz1000 has a 1" sensor and the new LX 100 has a m4/3 sized sensor. with the cannon sx50 and the new fuj bridge cameras you can be a very serious photographer the photos will stun your family friends for years to come

tdekany Loc: Oregon

What if there is no good lighting?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Nothing against consumer reports, I'm a member. It may help identify brands / models to avoid, and also things to consider, but their target audience is typically less sophisticated than your proposed use. I would read up on the more detailed and specialized online reviews before buying .

Mr Google should help you find useful reviews easily.


Good luck .

mariak Loc: Las Cruces, New Mexico USA

I just read this thread and you're right. After years of Oly Canon, and Nikon, all wonderful cameras, I finally found the best camera I have ever used. The Pentax K-3.
Actually, any Pentax camera is really nice. But, I would never knock any brand, now days, they're all pretty good.
mariak

tdekany Loc: Oregon

You are correct with M4/3 sensor size. However I read her full post and she is on a budget.

How about this: Total cost with 1 year warranty: a little over $500

http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-D3300-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body-Black-Factory-Refurbished-82766.cfm

http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6G-VR-AF-S-DX-Zoom-Nikkor-Lens-Factory-Refurbished-35479.cfm

http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-55-200mm-f-4-5-6G-DX-AF-S-ED-Zoom-Nikkor-Lens-Factory-Refurbished-17241.cfm

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Nikon D7100
Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 SP Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD
Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM

cucharared Loc: Texas, Colorado

It's been less than a month since my initial reply and in that time I've become reacquainted with my Sony HX200V. I feel even stronger about the negatives I mentioned earlier. As mentioned, the sensor size is simply too small. Yes, it does a great job on a clear day but when the light is less than ideal the little sensor just can't keep up its end of the deal. There's just no substitute for acreage. I really don't want something with less that an APS-C sized sensor for my next camera. I'm never going to be a real photographer but I don't want to get an opportunity for a great shot and not have the equipment to pull it off. I want whatever equipment I have to be more capable that myself. Nothing I dislike more than zooming in on a photo and it not being sharp and I get way too much of that experience with my bridge. Time for something much better.

cntry Loc: Colorado

Consumer Reports does excellent unbiased reviews, it's a great reference. We all have "our" brands and preferences and most of what we like or prefer won't mean diddly to you right now - you just want a camera that takes good pictures and that you can learn on. You aren't likely to pixel peep, nor are you a post processing expert. Many consider PP a necessity, I'm not one of them. IF you plan on selling your photos or working as a professional photographer - you best start learning Photoshop now - the learning curve is l-o-n-g. If you plan on taking pictures of family and beautiful places for your own use, concentrate on learning the basics of photography first, anything more than the very basics of PP can wait.

Brian Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" is a great place to start and should be your first purchase.

A class at the local community college would be good too if it's within your budget (our local community college has delusions of grandeur, you could buy a really nice camera for the price of one class :().

As for which camera, I'll let you in on a secret - ALL the new cameras take good pictures. RAW is for those who want to or just enjoy post processing - I wouldn't worry about that to begin with. Chances are, once you get into it you will either decide it's not for you or you'll want a better camera and lenses - that's when you need to worry about RAW.

A good thing to keep in mind, if you decide it's not for you, you don't want $1000 or more worth of equipment sitting on the top shelf in closet while you use your cell phone. Buy accordingly. And another secret - if you do get into it - there's never "one" perfect camera/lens combo, they keep coming out with new ones :) so don't be fooled into thinking buying the bestest and greatest now will stop you from wanting something better a year from now.

I have 3 bridge cameras...
A Fuji S8300 that I bought new on sale for $130, currently about $250 new.
A Sony HX300 that I bought used for $279
A Canon SX50 that I bought used for $229
Unless you know what camera took which picture, you can't tell one from the other. If you zoom in a little, you'll immediately know which is the Canon - its only 12mp and you lose sharpness pretty quick. Next to go would be the Fuji with only 16mp, and last would be the Sony with 20mp. That doesn't mean any brand is better - the results would be the same comparing any 12mp, 16mp, 20mp camera regardless of brand as long as they have the same size sensor.

If you go to flickr.com, you can enter a camera in the search feature and it will bring up photos taken with that camera - you'll see I'm right, they ALL take great pictures. The biggest difference is who's holding it...

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

You are going to read a whole lot of enthusiastic, well-intentioned opinions (?) in response to your quest. Read it with a grain of salt, and realize how brand-loyal photography enthusiasts can be. THEN call Carter Bouslaugh (MTShooter here on the Hog) at Carter's Camera Cottage and explain your situation. After hearing what you want he will be the best advice you can locate at this time. The man is a wealth of knowledge obtained via experience. You are absorbing lots of information. Carter will help make sense of it for you. Think of it as "tech support BEFORE you buy". GL