The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Canon SX200IS vs Pana

Rawfa

Active member
Canon has just released a new camera with full manual control that will be a good match against the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. The Panasonic has a wider lens of 25mm against Canons' 28mm. Pana is priced at 400$ and Canon at 350$. Pana has A and P mode but Canon has full manual control. The new Fuji F200EXR is priced around 400$ too, but it doesn't have the same zoom range and it's not as compact, so I won't throw it into the mix. As usuall both Pana and Canon are raving about new tech and how high iso is improved. I'm looking forward to seeing this match...even though I find the price tag a bit excessive if you think about how much "pro" compacts cost these days.
 
S

Stimpy_7

Guest
I'm also quite interested in this now, thanks to you bringing it to my attention :)

Do you think that it will be able to match the Panasonic LX3 in terms of lense quality? the zoom would be useful though.....

We need the reviews to come out!

Adam
 

Rawfa

Active member
Hum, it's hard to tell. It might match it in sharpness, but I would think that's about it. It's a shame both lenses are so slow.
 

Terry

New member
The Panny TZ series is quite nice. I have a TZ3 and for months used it exclusively with great results. There are no manual controls because there are really only two apertures for each focal length. wide open and something a bit more stopped down but not too much because of diffraction. To get the camera to submit to your whims, you need to understand what a few of the scene mode do and exploit that. The TZ5 improved on the TZ3 and I'm sure the TZ7 won't disappoint. Here are some of my TZ3 highlights....







You can get good bokeh



Working with spot metering and EV to not blow out the uniform



30 second exposure





These two used an adapter and close up lens



 

Lili

New member
Terry, very nicely done! I like that you demonstrate what can be done through having a complete knowledge of what the camera can do.
Brava!
 

Rawfa

Active member
Even though I've taken some of my favorite photos with a TZ4 I've always found Panasonic to have a way too intensive image processing. Maybe this new engine will change this (although I've read somewhere that it will only improve speed).

Here are soem TZ4 photos I've taken in Prague:











There's more at http://picasaweb.google.es/rafascl/Praha#
 

Rawfa

Active member
Man, I have just realized that the Pana has absolutely no manual controls! Pana is out of the race for me.
 
V

VladimirV

Guest
I have looked at the SX200 IS yesterday at Focus and can only say the lens is massive and the camera very thick. The manual controls actually work well but someone at Canon actually thought is for a grand idea to have the flash popp up everytime you turn the camera on and the only way to close it it to either power the camera down or to use some tape. Stupid design choice if you ask me and annoying enough for me not to consider this camera if I were in the market for it.
 
D

digitri

Guest
... but someone at Canon actually thought is for a grand idea to have the flash popp up everytime you turn the camera on and the only way to close it it to either power the camera down or to use some tape. Stupid design choice if you ask me and annoying enough for me not to consider this camera if I were in the market for it.
In theory a pop-up flash is a good solution. It creates some distance between the flash and the lens without resorting to placing it on the right side of the camera where it will get covered with your fingers more often than not. However, a permanently popped up flash is indeed nothing else but stupid design.

I wonder though, is this picture from 'Lets go digital' fake then?
Or perhaps there is a menu option to disable the auto-pop function?

 

Rawfa

Active member
I find it hard to believe that there's no way to deactivate the flash so it will stay down.
 
D

digitri

Guest
The Panny TZ series is quite nice. I have a TZ3 and for months used it exclusively with great results. There are no manual controls because there are really only two apertures for each focal length. wide open and something a bit more stopped down but not too much because of diffraction. To get the camera to submit to your whims, you need to understand what a few of the scene mode do and exploit that. The TZ5 improved on the TZ3 and I'm sure the TZ7 won't disappoint. Here are some of my TZ3 highlights....
I would never guess these images came out of the TZ3 if you didn't tell me. Really amazing stuff and I take my hat off!
 
D

digitri

Guest
Thanks for the link, Rafa. It's a nice review and IMO they did better than the Dutch team from Lets-go-digital which came up with ugly samples from the same venue, the same day... To be fair it was a cloudy darkish day, but at least they didn't have to worry about over-blown highlights too much ;) I found the iso 800 sample quite acceptable. I used google-translate to read the text and in their conclusion they are reasonably positive, but they do mention Canon sx200 and Samsung wb500/wb550 as the main competitors, specially for those seeking manual controls. I expect (and hope) Panasonic is going to regret not implementing any such manual controls ;)
 
S

Stimpy_7

Guest
Do you guys think I should just pull the trigger on the LX3 now? In a previous thread I was umming and arring between it and the G1.

Decided something portable would be much better long run, especially considering my travel plans in Sep :)

Although now I seem to be falling into the same trap as I do with PC components, always waiting for the next best thing to be released! Do you think the up and coming competition likely to challenge it?

Obviously commenting on unreleased cameras is a waste of time but i'd image you guys will know a lot more than me! The limited zoom is the only thing that worries me...

I'm just thinking that my time might be better spent getting to know the camera rather than waiting for something else to come out.

There's also talk of future price hikes in the UK :(
 
Top