I'm in a similar position looking to get a new camera and the research I've done suggests the differences come down to the quality of the sensor. I think lenses on most cameras are now very good and more often than not the sensor is not up to the quality of the lens. Thats not to say the senor is no good just the lens is no longer the limiting factor. There are some excellent compacts with zoom if you up the budget by say £50 and shop from reputable online sellers. For instance Panasonic TZ3 (one I've been looking at) has 10x zoom plus other features.
I'm in a quandry though. My alternative option is a Nikon D40 DSLR. I recon I can get body and lens for £250 max which relatively speaking is very cheap. This has a lower mega pixel count than the panasonic but a much better sensor of DSLR quality and hence sharper pictures. Problem is its much bulkier than a compact. I also wonder if I'll ever really get into manually arranging shots thata DSLR allows. I think I'd like to but something in me knows 99% of pictures would be on auto mode. Is it worth the hassle of carrying it and extra expense??? |