Super Zoom at <25K with good 1080 video capability? Canon SX50/P520 / Pany FZ70K..?

[driverace]

Hey All,

Good Evening!
Happy to be on board of tech-forum of India
Have been a silent browser here.

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For some time -we were looking at a decent "quick-draw" digital camera focused on video making- mostly for youtube/vlogging.
It has to be a digital camera (and not a camcorder) as - it could be used by us as a travel camera/backup camera for my D5100.

Here is summary of what we want the camera to do:

1. Take good 1080 videos (with "decent" sound reproduction).
Need : Flip out screen .
Good to have : External mic jack/slot.

2. Be a good travel camera
Need : Good zoom/clarity/portable solution will be most awesome! (though least likely) / Decent battery life (>300shots or so)
Good to have : Compact (?)

3. Be easy to use (auto modes):
Need : Good auto modes A/S/P modes, with good Manual control feature.

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Budget: Roughly 23K~25K(max limit)
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Currently looking at:
Canon SX50: @ 23.5K
Superb zoom + good reviews.
50X massive zoom - shoot the moon! (literally people have taken moon shots- check youtube).

Nikon-Coolpix-P520-18-1MP-Digital: @ 23K
More MPs
Has built in GPS
Slight wider aperture.
Missing - Flip out screen
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I really want the flip out/twist screen.
Which makes it look like - I only have the Canon SX50 as a strong contender.
Any options - that I am not looking at?

I do have a D5100 & I am primarily learning to shoot candids/portraits/low light/street photography (kit lens + 35mm 1.8).
So - I need a good zoom/optical stability to be able to shoot while traveling OR on a short trips OR just on occasions- when I don't really want to carry the SLR gear.

​

what suddenly acted as a catalyst is :
We are planning a trip to Ranthambore
And- a zoom lens does not make sense (since I wouldn't use it with my interests of shooting with DSLR).

Help appreciated,

Ace.

 

[nac]

SX50's pricing is good, cheapest I have ever seen. But I don't remember it does have a external mic jack.
P520, Price is too much. It should cost around or under 19k. It does have articulated screen. But poor battery life. Probably the worst among the bridge cameras. Come on, don't count pixels
FZ70, I guess they didn't strip manual exposure controls which we can during video recording too. That's a nice feature and I think you will appreciate it. But the reviews are not as good as SX50 or FZ200.

P600 is new, not many reviews I have read.
FZ200, little out of your budget.
HS50EXR, in my view Fuji compact/bridge cameras don't make good videos.

HX300 for about 20k, but lacks RAW.

What's good zoom are we talking about here? 200mm??? Then this will fit.
You can think of P7700/P7800 as you already have Nikon system.

If you can relax articulated screen, you can save a lot of money and get TZ30 for about 14k. Other than the screen, it does have everything + it is compact.

 

[driverace]

..
P520, Price is too much. It should cost around or under 19k. It does have articulated screen. But poor battery life. Probably the worst among the bridge cameras. Come on, don't count pixels
FZ70, I guess they didn't strip manual exposure controls which we can during video recording too. That's a nice feature and I think you will appreciate it. But the reviews are not as good as SX50 or FZ200.

P520 was not really a strong contender.
read multiple things about it - that push it further below in the list.
So - that's not in consideration now.
FZ70 is a decent camera.
but, like you said - it doesn't quite match up to SX50 or FZ200
doesn't still have the flip out! (inspite of being a ~20K camera)

P600 is new, not many reviews I have read.
FZ200, little out of your budget.
HS50EXR, in my view Fuji compact/bridge cameras don't make good videos.
HX300 for about 20k, but lacks RAW.

P600 - Now that's a camera which almost fits the requirement.
(I paused replying to this - and saw as much as I could - quickly. The P600 does seem impressive!)
It lacks RAW & hotshoe.
I "may" overlook these things if the IS/OS is better than the SX50.
It's PLUS point is a jack for Mic.

FZ200 - did look awesome with 2.8! But, then-- really out of budget.
(Some how - it doesn't sink in well - to spend on Digital Camera - almost as much I spent on D5100! )

HS50EXR - Not so impressive videos. + It's 27.5K :/

HX300 - Again - at 25K - too many flipsides.

SX50's pricing is good, cheapest I have ever seen. But I don't remember it does have a external mic jack.
...
What's good zoom are we talking about here?

ONLY flipside I see with SX50 - is that it lacks external mic jack.
Otherwise- It's reviews & results are just perfectly what I am looking for - in my camera.

Typically, I am not a zoom-crazy fella.
But,
Since the current requirement (and future role) of this camera is to be a travel camera, Super zoom would be good to have.
Super zoom ~40X+

We plan to travel a lot - and not always I would take my SLR.
Even when I would - I could take this along as tele-shooter.

..
If you can relax articulated screen, you can save a lot of money and get TZ30 for about 14k. Other than the screen, it does have everything + it is compact.

Well, that's one of the major roles of the camera. To make movies/vlogs.
So- that's not 'relaxable' unless I feel I am not getting good value for the 20~22K INR that I am spending.

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I read about some rumors of SX50 replacement being around in summer 2014.
No signs of it yet?

That would significantly knock off good portion of the current price of SX50?
Is that the reason we are seeing it lowering in price?

Thanks a tonne for the help!
Still a few steps to go - to be able to finalize..

Ace.

 

[nac]

They usually announce a new one after one year, if they kept the same time cycle that would have happened last September. Both Canon's and Panasonic's bridge are due... I don't know when they will announce. Yeah, there are rumours, but its CR1
Low price is not because of that. That pricing is only from that one seller, and the seller's rating is not that good.

 

[driverace]

They usually announce a new one after one year, if they kept the same time cycle that would have happened last September. Both Canon's and Panasonic's bridge are due... I don't know when they will announce. Yeah, there are rumours, but its CR1
Low price is not because of that. That pricing is only from that one seller, and the seller's rating is not that good.

Hmm.. I did not pay attention to the CR1 ! ( meh..)
@Price:
I do not understand how just one seller can slash good 4K off the market rate!
I hope he is giving warranty n legit product!
I read his reviews.
Concerns are seemingly resolved with a refund + this is Amazon fulfilled (although - I know - that only means a little in the real world ).
I will try to contact the seller, before placing the order.

Thanks for the note, Any other pointers?

Ace.

 

[nac]

Hmm.. I did not pay attention to the CR1 ! ( meh..)

May be his profit margin is less, may be amazon gives special coupons to that seller I don't know...
Now Zoomin too have matched this seller's price (almost).

Yeah, its better to clarify few things like, when was the product shipped (just to know that he is not sending too old ones)...

 

[driverace]

Update:

Canon themselves have lowered the MRP to 25990 (from 29990).

Lowest prices online now- are 21,209 (Amazon.in), 21,644 (Snapdeal)!

Cheers to who want this now

Although, the chances of successor of SX50 are brighter now!

Ace.

 

[nac]

Re: Super Zoom at &lt;25K with good 1080 video capability? Canon SX50/P520 / Pany FZ70K..?

^ So... will they announce it this month or they wait for two years to complete and announce it in September?
Price is likely to be on the higher side.

- - - Updated - - -

Panasonic and Canon are delaying their bridge for long time. Even for Fuji it's been more than a year since HS50EXR announced. May be Fuji will announce in response to these two. Will see... whether they will announce something impressive or just another incremental upgrade.

 

[Rockstar11]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 Point and Shoot Camera with 60x Optical Zoom
The camera is pure VFM @ 18,000rs