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Bridge Camera
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Oct 9, 2018 10:10:22   #
drdcs0025
 
We are all getting older whether we like it or not. I find that my hands don't work as well as they used to and I am not using my DSLR. I need to decrease weight and decrease the need to make lens changes. I have looked at the mirrorless options and they either don't fit in my hand or when paired with a zoom lens with my most often used focal lengths, they are to heavy. I am thinking about going to a bridge camera. Although it is a move backwards in flexibility, sensor size and available megapixels, it is much better than a phone camera which is what I find myself using now. I am considering the Nikon P1000, the Canon SX70 and the Sony RX10 IV. I would appreciate your advise and any other options that I should consider. Money is not a consideration; being able to enjoy photography again is.

Thanks

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Oct 9, 2018 10:39:49   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
The long-zoom bridge cameras are very hard to hold steady. What subjects do you like to shoot and are you for or against tripods?

How many mirrorless brands did you try holding? I have a Panasonic G7 and an Olympus D10 and they are shaped very differently from each other + lenses are excellent quality and the EVF's are fantastic. The 14-140 mm lens (equiv 28 - 280 in FF) I use on the G7 is nearly weightless

For my D10 I bought a 75-300 mm lens (double that for equiv FF view). The D10 has a great digital zoom function too.

.

An edited jpg shot with digital zoom, making it equiv to nearly 1200 mm.
An edited jpg shot with digital zoom, making it eq...
(Download)

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Oct 9, 2018 12:57:44   #
rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA
 
Some bridge cameras have a viewfinder, others do not. If a viewfinder is important to you, make sure you get the right bridge camera.

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Oct 9, 2018 14:49:31   #
PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA
 
Of those you mentioned, the Sony is the only one with a 1" sensor, the rest have a 1/2.3, all are CMOS.
All have "mega-zooms", but of different focal lengths.

The Canon has the widest (35 equiv: 21mm), The Nikon has the longest (35 equiv: 3000). I have no experience at this long a tele, I expect hand holding is problematic.

The Nikon P900 has a 1/2.3" sensor and a 35mm equiv of 24-2000mm putting it in a more comparable price range.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V has a 1/2.3mm sensor with a 50X zoom, making it more comparable.

The Sony and Nikon have hot shoes; I'm not sure but think not for the SX70 HS. The SX60 HS does, however.

The Canon screen is "vari-angle", the Sony has a touch screen, the Nikons are fixed.

The Canon is the lightest: 1.35 lb, then the Sony: 2.41 lb, the Nikon is the heaviest: 3.12 lb (The P900 is ~2 lb.)

I'm not sure of your priorities, but this is a rough comparison. If you want to compare all 1", or all Micro Four Thirds, that is another exercise.

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Oct 9, 2018 20:10:52   #
Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA
 
If the P1000 is too heavy or expensive, consider the Coolpix B700. Like the P1000 it shoots raw and 4K video. But it is less than half the price and only 40% of the weight. The zoom goes out to 1440mm (optical zoom) instead of 3000mm (optical zoom), but is easy to hold and shoot handheld.

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Oct 10, 2018 07:23:33   #
alphonso49uk
 
If money is no object then the sony rx10m4 is a no brainer. Fantastic image quality......it has a wealth of features...some you may never use and the menu system is cumbersome.....but the positives far outway any negatives.

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Oct 10, 2018 07:37:09   #
markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ
 
I highly recommend the Sony RX10 IV. I purchased one in July for a river cruise for many of the same reasons. It's a fabulous camera. I will PM you with a link to some of my images from the trip. It does have a steep leaning curve.
Mark
drdcs0025 wrote:
We are all getting older whether we like it or not. I find that my hands don't work as well as they used to and I am not using my DSLR. I need to decrease weight and decrease the need to make lens changes. I have looked at the mirrorless options and they either don't fit in my hand or when paired with a zoom lens with my most often used focal lengths, they are to heavy. I am thinking about going to a bridge camera. Although it is a move backwards in flexibility, sensor size and available megapixels, it is much be tter than a phone camera which is what I find myself using now. I am considering the Nikon P1000, the Canon SX70 and the Sony RX10 IV. I would appreciate your advise and any other options that I should consider. Money is not a consideration; being able to enjoy photography again is.

Thanks
We are all getting older whether we like it or not... (show quote)

Reply
 
 
Oct 10, 2018 08:14:27   #
pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY
 
drdcs0025 wrote:
We are all getting older whether we like it or not. I find that my hands don't work as well as they used to and I am not using my DSLR. I need to decrease weight and decrease the need to make lens changes. I have looked at the mirrorless options and they either don't fit in my hand or when paired with a zoom lens with my most often used focal lengths, they are to heavy. I am thinking about going to a bridge camera. Although it is a move backwards in flexibility, sensor size and available megapixels, it is much better than a phone camera which is what I find myself using now. I am considering the Nikon P1000, the Canon SX70 and the Sony RX10 IV. I would appreciate your advise and any other options that I should consider. Money is not a consideration; being able to enjoy photography again is.

Thanks
We are all getting older whether we like it or not... (show quote)


I shoot with a friend that uses the RX10 with the Zeiss 24-600 lens. Takes phenomenal photo from 24 through 600. Not cheap but worth every cent. I'm sweapping out my lens and just zooms and fires.

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Oct 10, 2018 08:44:37   #
popheizz Loc: berks co., pennsylvania
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
The long-zoom bridge cameras are very hard to hold steady. What subjects do you like to shoot and are you for or against tripods?

How many mirrorless brands did you try holding? I have a Panasonic G7 and an Olympus D10 and they are shaped very differently from each other + lenses are excellent quality and the EVF's are fantastic. The 14-140 mm lens (equiv 28 - 280 in FF) I use on the G7 is nearly weightless

For my D10 I bought a 75-300 mm lens (double that for equiv FF view). The D10 has a great digital zoom function too.

.
The long-zoom bridge cameras are very hard to hold... (show quote)


Linda, you had me confused as to what an Olympus D10 is. I finally uploaded to Google Photos to see the camera info. For anyone that cares it is an OM-D EM10 II. Keep up your thoughtful answers to a variety of topics Linda.

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Oct 10, 2018 08:47:30   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
I would get (and I just might) the Nikon P1000. I used to shoot with a Fuji bridge camera before I knew what a bridge camera was, and I was amazed at the zoom capability.

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Oct 10, 2018 08:48:08   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
popheizz wrote:
Linda, you had me confused as to what an Olympus D10 is. I finally uploaded to Google Photos to see the camera info. For anyone that cares it is an OM-D EM10 II.
Oopsie, sorry! I usually just say EM-10 and ignore the rest, but D10 is definitely confusing

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Oct 10, 2018 09:05:11   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
Robert Kincaid's bridge camera was a Nikon.
--Bob

drdcs0025 wrote:
We are all getting older whether we like it or not. I find that my hands don't work as well as they used to and I am not using my DSLR. I need to decrease weight and decrease the need to make lens changes. I have looked at the mirrorless options and they either don't fit in my hand or when paired with a zoom lens with my most often used focal lengths, they are to heavy. I am thinking about going to a bridge camera. Although it is a move backwards in flexibility, sensor size and available megapixels, it is much better than a phone camera which is what I find myself using now. I am considering the Nikon P1000, the Canon SX70 and the Sony RX10 IV. I would appreciate your advise and any other options that I should consider. Money is not a consideration; being able to enjoy photography again is.

Thanks
We are all getting older whether we like it or not... (show quote)

Reply
Oct 10, 2018 09:21:11   #
markwilliam1
 
I own the Sony RX10 M4. It’s the most amazing camera I’ve ever owned. Been reviewed as the best bridge camera ever made. Highly recommended!

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Oct 10, 2018 09:28:32   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
markwilliam1 wrote:
I own the Sony RX10 M4. It’s the most amazing camera I’ve ever owned. Been reviewed as the best bridge camera ever made. Highly recommended!
Wowsa, for $1700 it should be amazing! To think that my Canon SX50 cost $375 in 2013

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Oct 10, 2018 09:29:34   #
Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL
 
I recently went through this exercise for my travel photography. I ended up with a Panasonic G9 4/3 camera with a 12-60 f2.8-4 lens (24-120mm equiv) and a Sigma 16mm (32mm equiv.) f/1.4 for low light situations. The G9 & 12-60 mm weighed only 34.5 ozs and the 2.8 at the wide end almost negated the need for my prime. The photos are stunning and hard to discern from my D750 with a 16-35 f/4 lens I used on the same trip to Italy. I believe the Sony RX10 weighs a total of 39 ozs but you do get that 24-600 lens. I found for my needs the 24-120mm equiv is ideal for 80% of what I shoot. I also want to emphasize that the in body stabilization is outstanding and when joined with the stabilized 12-60 lens I was shooting at 3200 ISO in fairly dark scenes with no ill affect. I also found the G9 size just as comfortable as my D750 but without the almost doubled weight over the the D750 combo. Olympus has an excellent OMD 1 M2 with a 12-100 f/4 lens (24-200 equiv) that it’s owners rave about. The Olympus combo weighs 40 ozs. I haven’t tried the Sony RX10 so I can’t say how they compare and I’m sure you would be happy with it as well. You could buy either the G9 or the OMD 1 M2 with above lenses and never take the lens off and be happy as a clam and have the advantages of a larger sensor and still be able to change lenses if you ever desired. The G9 & OMD 1 M2 combos costs $2300 & $2800 -$2900 vs. $1700 for the Sony RX10. Good luck!

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