Is Nikon P510 a good buy? or Please suggest alternatives..

[rock18]

Hi,
I am currently using cannon Sx100IS (8MP and 10X optical zoom).Nice camera..I like the optical zoom feature of this camera but its more than 5yrs old so time for an upgrade.
I am attracted towards this camera for the 42X optical zoom feature but at the same time picture quality is very important to me.
As per most of the reviews in the net, Cannon SX40HS and Panasonic FZ150 are better than this camera but they are not available online.
SX50HS and FZ200 are very costly almost close to 27-30k range.
P510 is available for 17k in ebay.
Is this the best camera available at this price point or should l look for something else?
I love zoom cameras but that alone is not my priority.Anything more than 20X is fine but picture quality should be the best especially indoor.

Some other features i liked about P510 is 3D pics and HDR pics.

Please help.

 

[quagmire]

What is your budget?

Fill questionnaire first!

Hi,
Is this the best camera available at this price point or should l look for something else?
I love zoom cameras but that alone is not my priority.Anything more than 20X is fine but picture quality should be the best especially indoor.

Some other features i liked about P510 is 3D pics and HDR pics.
Please help.

Do you necessarily want those features?

Read this thread

 

[nac]

I personally like HS30EXR for the level of control it offers. If not HS30, you can check out FZ60.

 

[rock18]

What is your budget?

Fill questionnaire first!
Do you necessarily want those features?

Read this thread

Thanks for replying buddy.
Yes, I like HDR pictures very much but not sure if i can shoot HDR pics in this camera without using Tripod.If yes,Then its an awesome feature to have.
Sorry for not filling this before.

What's your budget?
20k.. Lesser the better.

Camera type?
Any digital camera that has good Image Quality, Optical Zoom and decent Low light Performance.

Do you care for manual exposure controls?
I started using it sometime back but it looks like there is a lot of learning to do, but having them would definitely be a bonus.

What will you be shooting with this camera?
My kid most of the time, so camera with little more emphasis on Indoor/low light picture quality.

Video?
Will be rarely using this cam for video recording, but a decent recording would be a bonus.

Do you have any particular model(s) in your mind?
Nikon P510, Panasonic FX62(Both are priced around 17k) FZ150 and canno SX40HS is not available.

Any brand preference? Like/dislike
Like : None
Dislike : None. Currently using Cannon SX100IS. Not satisfied with the low light IQ.

From where will you be buying?
Local store or online.

Any other features you need?
Good battery life,HDR,3D pics,etc. I do not know much about the other features...

I personally like HS30EXR for the level of control it offers. If not HS30, you can check out FZ60.

Thanks for replying buddy. Yes HS30EXR is a good camera but some of the reviews i read,P510 is rated slightly above this camera.Please correct me if i am wrong.
Yes FZ60 is selling for the same price as P510.Is it worth? I thought FZ150 and P510 are in the same range.
Why is FZ150 and SX40HS not available in India?

 

[nac]

Yes, P510 is slightly rated higher.

Yes, FZ60 is also a decent camera to consider. It does have manual exposure controls in movie recording.
Because, both of them are discontinued long ago. In fact, it wasn't even available at one point and the successor was also not announced/released.

If you are OK with travel zoom, SX240 would also give good IQ with decent amount of zoom.

 

[quagmire]

+1 SX240 if IQ is priority, but you won't get HDR or 3D or Sweep panorama..

Quoting marvelousprashant from another thread..

Sx240 has best low light performance . However it lacks panorama and hdr. 10fps burst

SX240 is hackable... It adds raw, bracketing, Aperture down to f/11 and veryyyy long shutter speeds (only upto 3 mins is usable ). And it has very good high ISO performance if you are not using zoom.

If you want to compare image quality :

do the commparision here -> Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V Review: Digital Photography Review

rock18, Do check out all the above recommended cameras in stores near you..

If you are willing to wait you can consider SX280 (recently released will be in stores probably next month)

Reveiws are good :

"During our hands-on, we quickly noticed the SX280 HS' significant speed boost -- it's 50 percent faster than its predecessor when it comes to focusing and shutter lag, and it definitely shows."
-engadget


Panasonic Lumix TZ40 has garnered an interesting reveiw ..here.. Do consider .
Note: It is yet to be released in India.

 

[rock18]

Yes, P510 is slightly rated higher.

Yes, FZ60 is also a decent camera to consider. It does have manual exposure controls in movie recording.
Because, both of them are discontinued long ago. In fact, it wasn't even available at one point and the successor was also not announced/released.

If you are OK with travel zoom, SX240 would also give good IQ with decent amount of zoom.

Thanks. I went to few shops in chennai to enquire about the models available offline.. Nobody is suggesting panasonic for the lack of distributors as well as service.So i need to remove panasonic from the options.
I got to check out the p510, Cannon SX50 and SX260.P510 felt very light whereas SX50 is solidly built.SX260 is pocket friendly and good.
I also saw one SX40 selling for around 19k.It was the last piece.

+1 SX240 if IQ is priority, but you won't get HDR or 3D or Sweep panorama..

Quoting marvelousprashant from another thread..



If you want to compare image quality :


rock18, Do check out all the above recommended cameras in stores near you..

If you are willing to wait you can consider SX280 (recently released will be in stores probably next month)

Reveiws are good :

"During our hands-on, we quickly noticed the SX280 HS' significant speed boost -- it's 50 percent faster than its predecessor when it comes to focusing and shutter lag, and it definitely shows."
-engadget


Panasonic Lumix TZ40 has garnered an interesting reveiw ..here.. Do consider .
Note: It is yet to be released in India.

Thanks a lot for replying. I am going through all the reviews for the ones mentioned by you.

Is SX40HS good buy when compared to SX260? SX260 is around 14.5k and SX40 is around 19k?

 

[nac]

If SX40 is in good condition, you can take it. It's because you said, it's last piece. I really doubt it's condition... How does it look? Packed or some finger prints all over the body? Check it if you're buying it.

Even though it is the last piece, it's too long to be in stock...

 

[rock18]

If SX40 is in good condition, you can take it. It's because you said, it's last piece. I really doubt it's condition... How does it look? Packed or some finger prints all over the body? Check it if you're buying it.

Even though it is the last piece, it's too long to be in stock...

Its the one used for display.They are giving 5%discount so i can get it for 19k.
2yrs warranty is applicable and also all the accessories are available with box.

 

[digit.sh]

Its the one used for display.They are giving 5%discount so i can get it for 19k.
2yrs warranty is applicable and also all the accessories are available with box.

@op,
For 20k you can get an Olympus EPM1 micro four third dslr.
Advabtages:
1) Far far better image quality.
2) Very good ISO performance.
3) In camera sensor shift image stabilization technology.
4) Very very fast autofocus.
5) Its a DSLR, so you can change lenses. And lenses are quite cheap.
6) You can shoot in RAW.
7) Great picture quality even in Auto mode. But there are plenty of settings to play with.
8) Much much larger sensor than any point and shoot or bridge cams or superzooms.(the most important feature)

The only thing is that it doesn't have much of zoom capability with the 14mm-42mm lens that comes with it. But as its a DSLR you can always buy the 40mm-150mm zoom lens wich costs only 7K or so.

I would say, before you buy, see some review of EPM1 in youtube, see how fast it autofocuses and how smart the camera looks, see how great the image quality is. To check image quality go to flickr.com and search for EPM1, you will see lots of pictures taken with it.

I do not know why do people even talk about "superzooms" or the so called "bridge cameras". Even the EPM1 (which is the cheapest among the Olympus lineup) beats all of them hands down.