tvordlj | (no subject)

I've been comparing user reviews and getting more and more confused, re digital cameras. Each one i like that i look up reviews for, has good and bad and my own opinion of the cameras have plusses and minuses too. One is a Panasonic 5 mp with a 10x zoom which i really do like. The drawbacks are that there is no optical viewfinder and it's a lithium ion battery pack. The other one is a Canon A710 IS. It's 7 MP, a 6x zoom and it uses regular AA batteries (rechargeables) which i like. But on the minus side, it has a lot more features than i need, and no on screen battery monitor, also has no "last photo review" unless you change the mode to replay and i do like that feature. The user reviews on dpreview.com have an equal amount of "i love this camera" and "the low light photos have too much noise". I looked at the user manual for both and the one for the Canon seems a lot more complicated than it needs to be. I"m leaning to the Panasonic for the Zoom especially. The battery pack does put me off a bit and a spare one ain't cheap. The Panasonic is on a clearance price for $299.99 at The Source (though i'm reluctant to buy from them) or $329.99 from Future Shop though they'll meet the other price. The Canon is a bit more expensive but .... it's a Canon. Both have Image stabilizer.

Confused.

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Sounds like you may already have made your mind up, but here's my 2c: I was a Canon man for 30+ years, but I've had a Panasonic FZ20 for over two years and I LOVE IT! It's by far the best camera I've ever owned. The image stabilisation is amazing (they both might have it, but are they both as good?), the zoom gives an effective focal length of 35-1600mm (I never used more than 400mm on my old SLR, so I definitely don't need more lenses!) and the lens quality is superb.

The battery pack seems to be giving you pause for thought. Don't let it. Two years in and I'm still on the original battery pack, and when I charge it up it will get through an entire evening taking photos at dress rehearsal, when I've been known to take in excess of 500 shots WITH FLASH. On holiday, although I took the charger, the pack lasted *almost* all of the two weeks on one charge.

I'd say go for it.

I was always partial to Canon's, too and my slr is an EOS. Yes you're right, the battery pack is holding me back. The lens on this one is a leica which are good lenses. thanks for your input, having two people now that have had experience with the Panasonic helps a lot!

I have the FZ10 and Tim has the FZ20. I totally agree with what DiggerJohn says. I haven't taken as many pics per battery charge as he has. I always take the largest size available, with the highest quality. I suppose I could get a lot more per battery charge if I reduced one or both parameters.

I don't think the size and quality matters as far as how long the battery lasts, that just affects how many pics can reside on the memory card. I think. Possibly it may take a smidge more battery to write a bigger file i suppose. All this is great info!

I forget if I mentioned this but it usually takes less than an hour to charge the battery, too.