Which bridge camera?

Elliot87

Senior Member
I'm going to be travelling for a year or so from June and have pretty much decided that taking my DSLR kit will be too cumbersome, expensive to ensure and generally a bit risky with the type of travelling I'll be doing. Photography is not the primary purpose and I don't expect to want to sell prints etc. so I think a good bridge camera will fit the bill.

Wildlife and landscape are my key interests so one of the 20-1000mm ish superzooms is what I'm after. Budget is ideally under £400 but there's flexibility in that. I want manual controls and the ability to shoot RAW, WiFi connectivity would also be nice but not a must.

After a brief bit of googling the Nikon Coolpix B700 looks like good option but I don't see anything on here about it. Does anyone have any experience with them? From what I can tell it's an upgrade on the P610 which I know has a few users here.

Other contenders include:
Nikon P900 - bit above budget and maybe bigger than I'd like. 2000mm reach sounds nice though.
Canon Powershot SX60 HS
Panasonic Lumix FZ72
others I've yet to read or hear about.

As it's a fixed lens camera I'm not fussy about the make, I just want the best all in one travel camera I can get for the money. All comments and advice welcome, even if that's to say I'm barking up the wrong tree looking at bridge cameras.

p.s. I'll most likely be selling my D3200, Tamron 70-300mm VC and 18-55mm to raise funds. These are only occasionally used by my wife now and I think a good bridge will be a more flexible alternative for travels and for my better half to use.
 

JH Foto

Senior Member
The best bridge camera by far is the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000. It has a 25-400mm Leica lens which you can extend to 800mm without much difference to image quality. The FZ1000 is the Swiss Army Knife of cameras it can even shoot 4K video.
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
recommend you rent before you buy what ever you get. I have a p610, i have not gotten to the point where i am as comfortable shooting it as with my d7100.

 

Elliot87

Senior Member
The best bridge camera by far is the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000. It has a 25-400mm Leica lens which you can extend to 800mm without much difference to image quality. The FZ1000 is the Swiss Army Knife of cameras it can even shoot 4K video.

That is another one I'm looking at. I like the fact it has a larger 1 inch sensor and the f/2.8-4 aperture is much better than some of the other options I'm looking at.
The reason it's not right at the top of my list is that it is above my budget (I could probably be persuaded to stretch it that far but not sure my wife would be too happy) and I'm concerned it won't give me enough reach. I'm used to shooting at and equivalent of 750mm with my D7100 and still being able to crop quite heavily. I assume when you say you can extend it to 800mm you mean through cropping? I just worry that with a smaller sensor and fewer mp I'm not going to be able to get anywhere near the reach I have now. The B700 has an equivalent focal length of 1440mm which is going to get me much closer in terms of reach, it's cheaper but it has an even smaller sensor and is f/6.5 at the long end. Those are significant downsides and will result in probably much noisier images due to higher iso.

I guess I've still got plenty of thinking to do. @nikonpup I'm yet to find a store near me that rents out cameras so the best I'll probably manage is taking a few shots in store.
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
I've just come across the panasonic FZ330 as an option. 25-600mm at f2.8 and apparently better weather sealing than some other options. Price is ok but the downside is only 12.1 megapixels, most other options I've looked at are 20mp or at least 16mp. The upside could be less noise due to the bigger pixels but I'm yet to research that. Anyone here have any experience with this camera?
DMC-FZ330 |Bridge Cameras | Panasonic UK & Ireland
 

JohnB

Senior Member
If it was me I would bring the D3200 (or the D7100) with the most lenses I could pack into my Lowepro Fastback backpack. I would miss my gear for a trip like that.

The Fastback is inconspicuous, it looks like a regular backpack, so to the casual observer it doesn't stand out as a camera bag and is very comfortable to lug around all day. I have done it, while never letting my eyes off the bag. If you are worried about security while using the camera, I have seen people cover up the Nikon logo and model number with a piece of tape.

To me it doesn't make sense to sell the D3200 to turn around and buy something that may be inferior, or spending more money to get you what the D3200 is capable of.

Just my opinion, YMMV.
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
If it was me I would bring the D3200 (or the D7100) with the most lenses I could pack into my Lowepro Fastback backpack. I would miss my gear for a trip like that.

The Fastback is inconspicuous, it looks like a regular backpack, so to the casual observer it doesn't stand out as a camera bag and is very comfortable to lug around all day. I have done it, while never letting my eyes off the bag. If you are worried about security while using the camera, I have seen people cover up the Nikon logo and model number with a piece of tape.

To me it doesn't make sense to sell the D3200 to turn around and buy something that may be inferior, or spending more money to get you what the D3200 is capable of.

Just my opinion, YMMV.

I can completely see that point of view and you may be right. The biggest issue for me is the lens I'd most want to take, my 200-500mm is going to be very heavy and often impractical to take everywhere with me. It is also double the cost of anything else I currently have and I fear insurance will be costly.
Whichever route I take I think I will find times when I wish I'd opted for the other.
I just feel that a bridge camera provides something very different to my D7100, whereas the D3200 is just an inferior version, why would I ever take it somewhere over my D3200? I also rarely take my camera to work as I don't want it knocking around in my car all the time and it's often too cumbersome to have with me along with my work gear. I think a good bridge would be with me everyday and would certainly get plenty of use.

My biggest concern is would I be forever disappointed with the images a bridge camera produces, knowing I could get better with my gear at home.....
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
Check out the price at John Lewis, includes a two year warrantee

I hadn't realised John Lewis even sold cameras. After giving this topic a lot more thought and researching more in cost of insurance for my existing gear I think I've decided on a complete 360. I need to check t&c's but I think I've found decent worldwide cover for just under £70. The excess payments are a little steep but even if the worst happened and I had all contents stolen from my vehicle (intend to get a van which will make carting the gear about less hassle) the excess payment would be less than the cost of a top end bridge. If I'm careful which I intend to be I'll be saving myself a heap of money and getting better pictures.

EDIT: scratch that,looks like the cover I've found for that price is for up to 90 days away, thought it looked too good to be true. Maybe I will be getting a bridge camera after all.....
 
Last edited:

Konin

Senior Member
I just use an old cheapo Fujifilm Finepix S5800 which I picked up from Cash Converters for £12 because they said it didn't have a charger?

It works off batteries :)

I use it for weekends away, fishing,surveys, dusty places etc. anywhere I wouldn't take a more expensive camera and it has a digital viewfinder.

p.s. Hi from another Northumbrian (Newcastle)
 
Last edited:

Elliot87

Senior Member
I just picked up a Panasonic Lumix FZ80/FZ82 and so far I'm impressed with it. I'm viewing it as a different tool for a different job and although it is never going compete with a DSLR for IQ, there are a few things it can do which surpass what my D7100 can do, like 4K and slow mo video. The most important thing is its size and weight as I will be able to have it with me a lot more so fewer missed shots altogether.
I'd never swap my Nikon gear for it but it is a fun little camera.
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
UPDATE:

After a month or two using this Lumix FZ82 I can safely say I'm not regretting buying it and I'm not missing my Nikon gear back home too much. For starters I wouldn't have anywhere to put it in our mini van camper without throwing out half of my clothes (that option would have been considered). The IQ of the bridge camera, after tweeking a few JPEG settings surpasses what I expected by some way. So long as there is good light and the subject isn't moving too much it can produce great results. This shot on my Flickr page is about the best I've been able to produce with it and it really does rival the best I've got from my DSLR https://www.flickr.com/photos/eleaphotography/35513473874/in/datetaken-public/ This is a JPEG straight out of camera, with no additional adjustments so far as I recall. If I did anything it was to bring the highlights down a touch but no sharpening or cropping.

Don't get me wrong, whenever the sun goes in I feel really hampered as IQ drops off much quicker as the ISO goes up and the AF speed is so much slower making things like BIF shots very very tough to get. When I get back to the UK my Nikon will still be my main camera, especially if I'm wanting to make high quality prints but I'm sold on having this camera as a go anywhere tool, at least until something better comes along.
 

lokatz

Senior Member
Just offering my two cents to the general theme: A little over 2 years back, I was in the same state of mind as Elliot87 was when starting this thread. I was about to go on a long trip to Colombia and feared for the safety of my D7100 and lenses (didn't have the D500 back then). I bought a Nikon P600 and took it along. Big mistake.

Now, please don't get me wrong here. The IQ was decent (though not great) and I liked the overall convenience of that camera. Using that loooong telezoom to shoot wildlife, however, proved near impossible. Its performance in low light, both IQ and AF, is simply not good enough, plus, 1440mm may sound good in theory but are impossible to hold still. I often found I needed much longer time to even aim the camera at the bird or other small animal than that animal was willing to give me. Sold the camera right after that trip.

Today, I have two solutions for the problem: a better pocket zoom with less range (mine is the Panasonic TZ101 = ZN100 for Americans) that serves for city walks and the like, and a PacSafe Travelsafe for when I have my big guns along and want to keep them somewhere securely. I recommend both of them.
 

Elliot87

Senior Member
@lokatz I think what you say is very valid and the drawbacks you mention I can relate too with my FZ82 but perhaps not to the same extent.

I think the vibration reduction in my Panasonic is excellent and handheld shooting at 1200mm is certainly possible at relatively low shutter speeds (I've not actually tested the minimum but I know 1/300th has been plenty fast enough, clearly that still requires good light). I've used an older Fuji and a Canon SX 510, both with a shorter max focal length and both were much more challenging to shoot handheld. I have also bought a light weight manfrotto monopod which is no bother to carry and that helps a fair bit.

The AF is slow but generally precise and quick enough to catch small birds most of the time. The biggest challenging in this regard for me isn't the focus speed but actually finding the subject at 1200mm. I find I usually need to zoom out to find the bird and then zoom back in. Unlike a DSLR cropping in after kills the IQ so you really need to fill the frame when pressing the shutter. The canon I used had a quick zoom button which would zoom out and then when released return to your previous focal length, that is a feature I'd like to have.

It may just be the case that in the last couple of years the technology has improved to an extent where the IQ, AF and VR has improved enough to make bridge cameras a usable tool. I set my expectations very low too and I think that has helped me too. I'll still miss shots with it but I'm also carrying it everywhere so I know I'm getting shots I wouldn't with my DSLR. For most holidays I'll still take my Nikon and big lens, but for a year travelling with very limited space I'm more than happy.
 
Top