want to buy Bridge camera - 25k max

[itsmeharsh]

What's your budget?
Rs 25k

Camera type?
Point and Shoot

Body Style?
Bridge

How much zoom do you want/expect?
at least 40x

Do you care for manual exposure controls?
yes quite to an extent

What will you be shooting with this camera?
macro (mainly plants). landscapes. apart from that regular household purpose.

Will you be shooting mostly indoors/low light and/or action/sports?
both outdoor and indoor. not much action/sports.

Video?
slow motion recording at least 480fps. regular recording resolution doesn't matter much.

Do you have any particular model(s) in your mind?
no

Any brand preference? Like/dislike
any reputed brand will do

From where will you be buying?
most probably online

Any other features you need?
good image stabilization, good macro, Panorama, HDR, disposable battery type (AA or AAA) would be preferred.

Anything else you would like to tell us?
nothing particular

 

[nac]

I am not sure what are all the cameras can shoot high speed video recording @ 480fps. And all the good bridge cameras powered by Li-on than AA batteries.

Sony/Panasonic cameras comes with extra frills like HDR, Panorama and all. But overall I feel SX50 is the best choice. In your budget, you have few more choices to consider if you're not OK with SX50.

HX300
FZ70
P520

 

[sujoyp]

slow motion at 480fps ....I have heard maximum of 120 fps on generally available cameras

 

[Hrishi]

Although I am new to photography , but still 480fps is way too demanding from a camera in that budget.

 

[nac]

^ I have seen cameras capable of recording 1000fps, but I don't know how good they are. Yes, they are compact cameras and very well under his budget.

 

[sujoyp]

1000 fps ...which one nac ...give me link ...I remember a sony canon or panasonic bridge camera could shoot 120 fps ...which one can do 1000 fps

 

[nac]

About half of the models from Casio can record @ 1000fps. But they are not widely available in India. Fuji HS10 (yes it's discontinued long back) can record @ 1000fps. Fuji S8500 and Nikon S6500 are the two models (current) I know can record @ 480fps. But practically these are useless, long edge of 30/60/64/160... Come on... these are not even good to view in mobile phone screen.

 

[Hrishi]

What is the resolution of the videos recorded @400fps+ ?? I am pretty sure processing so much information at hd resolution will require high end technology .

 

[nac]

What is the resolution of the videos recorded @400fps+ ?? I am pretty sure processing so much information at hd resolution will require high end technology .

I have highlighted it for you.

But practically these are useless, long edge of 30/60/64/160... Come on... these are not even good to view in mobile phone screen.

 

[itsmeharsh]

thank you everyone for replies.

nac, 480 fps is not utmost required but i currently have a canon ixus 220 hs which can record 320x240 @240fps... so i just wanted to something better in my next camera. i understand that 240fps has become quite common for slow motion recording, so it will be just fine if i get at least that much. which camera can i consider now?

 

[nac]

My choice is SX50. It can record video upto 240fp @320x240 resolution. But it doesn't do in camera HDR, 3D, Panorama and all...

 

[srkmish]

Why do you need 40x zoom if you want to shoot macro and landscapes. 10x is more than enough for that. SX50 macro sucks. I have a HX20v which does macro far better than sx50.

 

[itsmeharsh]

i am getting inclined towards Fuji S8500 because of it's overall offering. pls guide me if i am not taking a good decision.

also, is there any other good camera comparison website than snapsort ?

 

[nac]

Yes, pricing is nice. Probably one of the cheapest bridge equipped with EVF. S8500 was announced in Jan'13 and there was no reviews of the camera (as of Dec'13). It's better to go with the camera we know, but that's not possible for everyone. At least it's better to go with good reviews. You can google for sample photographs., but comparing side by side of every camera is not possible. As of now, these are two sites I remember to compare side by side.

digitalversus.com
dpreview.com

 

[itsmeharsh]

what abouit fuji hs50exr ? it is available for 24999 on amazon.in. the concerns in hs50exr are that although it is quite much its zoom is a little less than s8500, it doesn't have hdr, its slow motion recording is a little sub-par than s8500 and it is quite heavy.

confused

 

[nac]

HS50exr is a good camera to consider against SX50. And pricing is good, this is the first time I am seeing this low. Yeah, zoom is little less, but 200mm at tele won't be a big difference in my view. I think it does have HDR and if S8500 records 480fps, HS50exr most likely can record too, but I don't have sure info on that. One thing I really love about HS50EXR is it's manual zoom ring. In my view, Fuji compacts don't make good videos, and I have seen sample videos in youtube. It's not that good. Do your own research before finalizing...

 

[itsmeharsh]

HS50exr is a good camera to consider against SX50. And pricing is good, this is the first time I am seeing this low. Yeah, zoom is little less, but 200mm at tele won't be a big difference in my view. I think it does have HDR and if S8500 records 480fps, HS50exr most likely can record too, but I don't have sure info on that. One thing I really love about HS50EXR is it's manual zoom ring. In my view, Fuji compacts don't make good videos, and I have seen sample videos in youtube. It's not that good. Do your own research before finalizing...

the specs page HS50EXR on fuji india website does not mention HDR anywhere. S8500 spec page does.

the manual zoom in HS50EXT is attracting me as well. apart from that the phase detection auto focus, slightly bigger sensor, and slightly bigger aperture are rather strong positive points for HS50EXR.

other than HDR and the considerable weight difference there is nothing sub-par in HS50EXR. even the slow motion recording is same in both. are above mentioned positive points worth the price difference?

 

[nac]

To me S8500 is just another budget bridge camera (like Panasonic LZ series, Sony H series, Samsung WB series, Nikon L series and Olympus SP series), just that it does have EVF. You can also include Fuji SL series too...
SX50 vs HS50EXR is a decent comparison. Even though HS50EXR have fast auto focus, zoom ring, better aperture range I feel SX50 image quality is much better than HS50EXR. And that "slightly bigger sensor" is nothing at all. SX50 crop factor 5.6 while HS50 is 5.4, that .2 is not gonna give any better low light performance.

You seem to like Fuji cameras, than SX50. Just view/watch some sample videos of both (SX50 and HS50) cameras in youtube and check sample photographs in flickr and/or some other site.

 

[itsmeharsh]

To me S8500 is just another budget bridge camera (like Panasonic LZ series, Sony H series, Samsung WB series, Nikon L series and Olympus SP series), just that it does have EVF. You can also include Fuji SL series too...
SX50 vs HS50EXR is a decent comparison. Even though HS50EXR have fast auto focus, zoom ring, better aperture range I feel SX50 image quality is much better than HS50EXR. And that "slightly bigger sensor" is nothing at all. SX50 crop factor 5.6 while HS50 is 5.4, that .2 is not gonna give any better low light performance.

You seem to like Fuji cameras, than SX50. Just view/watch some sample videos of both (SX50 and HS50) cameras in youtube and check sample photographs in flickr and/or some other site.

no doubt SX50 is an exceptional camera but its price was a little over my budget, that's why i was not looking into its direction. but flipkart is giving pretty good price.

still confused.

 

[nac]

Oh! Other choices are around 20-21k
FZ70 and P520

Else drop the idea of 40x zoom and get S110 for ~17k. In my view, the best VFM camera right now.