Hi everyone. I've just had a week in Notre Dame De Bellecombe. Got a fair few pics...none of which were taken on my Nikon SLR, mainly because it's too big to carry around all day and it's too much hassle to set up when all you want to do is ski and get a few pics every so often! So i've sold the Nikon and i'm looking for a digital compact for under £200 to take with me to La Clusaz in March! The panasonic lumix cameras have good reviews, i quite like the look of the tz6 and the tz7, the latter having hd video too.
Any reccomendations for a good compact camera which takes good action shots and portrait/landscapes?
Thanks
Hugh
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
google something like 'compact digital camera site:snowheads.com' The subject's getting to be on a par with helmets, ski carriage charges, and boots in hand luggage.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
If you can stretch your budget a bit I'd say a Powershot G10, pretty much all the functions of an SLR in a compact, even has the same DIGIC 4 processor as the EOS 5D Mk 2!
The Canon - Digital Ixus 90 IS is best compact digital camera under £200 according to 'Which'.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I just lost a TZ7 somewhere between the Mooserwirt and my place, see if one pops up on Ebay!
That said, I wouldn't use anymore a camera without an optical viewfinder. Missed way too many action shots due to screen blackout. (Video on the TZ7 is great, though, and landscapes look good).
Whether you plan to or not you will almost certainly end up taking video. I would make sure whatever you get allows you to zoom while videoing, a lot won't do this which leaves you with black dots on a white background until your friends come into range.
I bought a camera very recently and am already regretting my choice.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Are there any bad small cameras out that there in the £100 - £200 range?
After all it is free
After all it is free
I had a lovely Sony compact which I dropped on the Mer De Glace a couple of years ago. At the current rate of glacier shrinkage it should reappear this summer and you are welcome to it!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
The battery died on my powershot G10 in Canada - despite being in a jacket pocket. Have used an Olympus Muj (not how you spell it but I'm being thick) 790 sw = shock and waterproof. Fatastic camera, tough and very good 7.1 meg pixel.
Used it down to minus 25 and still had great results. Had it in chest pocket when I had a high-speed wipe out and face planted, all I had was a Muj-shaped bruise on my chest!
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Dont touch Sony with a barge pole.\Memory sticks cost a bomb.
Also for SD cards make sure of the speed rating. I use Peak or PNY Class 6 cards for my computer because of the data transfer rate 25Mb/sec is good.
I just bought a panasonic lumix camera RRP £139 and found a shop in London that did it for £99 so John Lewis (in Glasgow) price matched. Always worth going to John Lewis for their service.
Aparently the Ricoh cameras are good as well as panansonic.
In that price bracket, it will be the quality of the lens that counts.
All CCD's will be about 12Mpix but the lens will determine if that is 12Mpix of blur or not. Also a 5Mpix (downsampled, dont know if cameras do that, I do microscopy for a living) through a good lens will be fine.
Cheers
Bob
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
As I wrote here on Snowheads the Canon Ixus 95IS that cost me £129 seems a good camera, I am pleased with its pictures. I think it is similar to the Digital Ixus 90 IS that snowb4ndit mentioned above. And the Canon has a proper viewfinder so you can use it when the ambient light prevents use of the LCD screen.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I'm pleased with my Panasonic DMC-FT1. It's just over the £200 mark but I reckon it's a very good holiday camera; waterproof to 3m, shockproof from 1.5m and works down to -10C. Used it on the beach and snorkelling in Greece last year and skiing at Christmas, including in the hot tub without a problem. Compact enough for the breast pocket of your ski jacket. You can take snaps with gloves on (though you need to take them off to change the settings). "Snow" mode seems to work OK. Oh and it has a HD video mode, too.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Just got a TZ7 myself, and have to say that the picture quality is great. Also very pleased with the video.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
razer_mtb wrote:
Just got a TZ7 myself, and have to say that the picture quality is great.
TZ7?? Must be good. I've got a TZ1 and quite a few pics from that have made it into print magazines.
Quote:
Also very pleased with the video.
Ah. Maybe that's the difference. For video I currrently use a HDC-SD5: excellent video, but the stills are a bit lacking....
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Whatever you do look at the time it takes from switch on to be ready and shoot, as well as multiple shots.
Going to upgrade the compact soon as the current one is too slow on both counts and being used to slr speed is frustrating
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
glasgowcyclops wrote:
Dont touch Sony with a barge pole.\Memory sticks cost a bomb.
The Pentax Optio W series is better then the Mujs and takes pretty good pictures and has a fast continous shot mode.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The must-have feature list for a compact camera for skiing doesn't exist in a single package:
1) optical viewfinder
2) At least 2fps
3) decent zoom (up to 200mm equivalent at least) and ideally a wideangle of at least 28mm equivalent
4) optical zooming while filming
5) image stabilisation
6) HD video
7) good image quality
waterproof (actually, this will make it well-nigh impossible to get all others)
If someone makes a camera with features 1-7, I'll pay a lot for it. Panasonic TZ7 and Canon G10 come closest, but from different angles, and both miss important stuff.
sony memory sticks aren't that expensive compared to sd cards with similar read/write speeds. If you are shooting video you will want a decent card to avoid stutter
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
mate the answer is simple:
I just returned from my trip and I had a TZ7 and I was simply amazed by the pictures and video. I've owned SLR's, a sony and an olympus but they didn't even come close, even when you add them all together. Everything about the TZ7 was the dogs; the zoom, its size, price, performance and the HD video is so clear and crisp I was the toast of our renunion. Forget the rest. I was agonising about a camera for months and I'm so glad I made the right choice. Never had a problem with the extreme temp or that it was constantly snowing. I bought a SD class 10 sandisk card 16gb to optimise the camera with everything set on full and widescreen photos. I will post some shots if you want.
The new camera, rather surprisingly called the Lumix DMC-TZ10, takes the class-leading TZ series to a new level. It incorporates the popular features of the previous model such as a high quality 12x zoom f/3.3-4.9 Leica lens equivalent to 25-300mm, a three-inch 460k monitor and HD video recording in the AVCHD Lite format with stereo audio, and adds a number of new features to help keep the TZ10 at the head of a competitive market. Chief among these is a maximum resolution of 12.1 megapixel from a new 14.5 megapixel multi-aspect ratio CCD sensor.
Other new additions are sure to appeal to fans and critics alike, including built-in GPS that automatically embeds latitude and longitude data in the EXIF data of recorded images, essential for the Geotagging applications that are growing in popularity. Now you can always tell where you were when that picture was taken.
Also sure to be a popular addition, the TZ10 now has optional manual exposure control, with aperture priority, shutter priority and full manual modes. Shutter speeds from 60 seconds to 1/2000th of a second and apertures from f/3.3 to f/8.0 are available. The optical image stabilisation has also been upgraded to Panasonic's new Power OIS system.
The Lumix DMC-TZ10 will be available from March, in red, blue black or silver. No price has yet been confirmed
But no optical viewfinder horizon,
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I've had a TZ-5 for a year or so and a TZ-3 (I think) before that. Both died in circumstances that would have killed any compact camera. By coincidence I spent last night looking into a replacement and have come to the conclusion that I'll either go for the TZ7 or another TZ5 (if I can find one) depending on the price.
I would prefer a camera with an optical viewfinder but find I can normally literally 'point&shoot' and then tidy up any cropping, tilt, off-centre action later.
After all it is free
After all it is free
ricfrench wrote:
glasgowcyclops wrote:
Dont touch Sony with a barge pole.\Memory sticks cost a bomb.
Website says it is happy down to -10, good job I didn't try it in -21 earlier this season
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Thanks for the info and help everyone. I've been having a look around and went to John Lewis today. Had a play with the tz7 and tz6 lumix cameras. Both very nice. I walked away to have a think though....i can't decide if i should get the tz6 from John lewis (same price as amazon) or go for the tz7 from amazon which works out at about £50 more. The HD video option is tempting with the tz7 and the fact that you can zoom in while filming is even better. Not sure how much i'd use the video option though as a helmet camera would be better for mountainbiking so the only thing it would really be used for is Skiing every so often.
Still undecided between the two
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
+ 1 for Canon - Digital Ixus
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I've printed pics from my Panasonics in the mags over the years, mainly because the camera has sorted out the uselessness of the operator. I've an LX2, which is now an LX3 (and an FZ50, but lost the charger and haven't got around to replacing it because the compact is so good). I agree about the lack of optical viewfinder but get round it by waving the camera in the rough direction and spraying the area with shots. Interestingly, we ran a double page spread in the mag a couple of seasons ago from Chris O'Connell, one of the best ski photographers around, who did exactly the same thing with exactly the same camera. Better than me, obviously, but pleasantly reassuring.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Still got my TZ1 but may upgrade this year. The TZ10 doesn't seem to be an amazing improvement over the TZ7. I was hoping for a 15x Zoom or 1080p video. So may still go for a TZ7 if they get discounted enough. I never find the lack of a viewfinder that bad . It seems OK when I turn the screen brightness up.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Just used my Panasonic T27 in anger for the first time and pleased with felexibility of video etc hand shake pretty bad and a few other viewing problems but was gradually getting better with practice Video here http://youtube.com/v/gNtIOMxw-tw
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Another vote here for the Panasonic LX3 - great on full Auto but has a manual option too if you want to get arty. Im trying to decide about whether or not to take my DSLR with me but as previously mentioned the results are so much better than a compact but its the size issue!
Dont get syuked in to the more megapixels is better ,compacts have small sensors and they cant utilise all the pixels - even on DSLRs the optimum is between 10 and 12 and their sensors are way bigger than a compact.
You cant go wrong with a Panasonic TZ5 , 7 , LX3 Canon G10 G11
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've just got a Canon Powershot SX120is. So far, it's been great, but the lack of optical viewfinder is driving me nuts.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The LX3 is great but it would be nice if it had a better zoom (not sure that is practical while keeping the super-fast lens) and an optical viewfinder built in (rather than as an extra which costs an arm and a leg)
horizon is right - the perfect ski camera isn't out there yet
As above, I'm a happy TZ5 user (or was until I saw it arc out of one of the kids hands and bounce off the ceiling onto a stone floor )
I'm planning to replace it with either another TZ5 or TZ7 (depending on the deal I can get) but what's the case for replacing it with an LX3 instead?
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Higs, if you want manual controls and a fast wide angle lens go LX3. the latter isn't great for shooting skiing action but is great for lots of other uses (low light, landscapes etc etc)
the pics in the first post of this thread were all done with an LX3:
My TZ-5 is great. Just keep it on burst mode and you get great skiing shots
Most of my flickr site is taken with this if you want some examples
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71958789@N00/sets/
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Do any of you take burst shots thru the LCD? If so does the LCD stay on and showing you the 'live' action all the time??
After all it is free
After all it is free
kitenski, mine has no viewfinder - when i use burst the action stays live...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
norris, that's very interesting, on the TZ7 I found that the LCD blacked out or froze for a fraction of a second on burst mode after each shot...of course it came back on quickly, but it's enough to lose a fast skier if the crop was already tight.
Maybe I was using the wrong settings? I was under the impression that's a general problem.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
horizon, well now you have me thinking! I shall test it tonight when i get home
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
waterproof (actually, this will make it well-nigh impossible to get all others)
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