Paul wrote:
> Thinking of upping the budget a little and going either Lumix ZS1 or ZS3.
>
> Lots of good reviews, the Leica glass also reviewed very favorably. It's also
> the right size.
>
> Opinions?
>
I looked at them quite closely, and was generally impressed, for what
they are. They were joint winners of the DPR SuperZoom Test.
<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/q209grouplongzoom/> You can find fairly
detailed write-ups, comparisons to the competition and full pixel
samples there, to show what to expect.
An interesting newer camera in that category is the Fuji F70EXR. Sensor
hardly bigger than the Panny's, but a different sensor design that seems
to have some advantages. In the end, I concluded that I'm too much of a
pixel peeper to be happy with the pixel level results of this category
You might take a look at the ZR1. Looks to be a another variant on the
Panny "Z" theme, but quite a bit smaller and lighter at only the cost of
the long end of the zoom, 25-200 vs. 25-300.
Given that zooming is slow on them and that, like others, they are
probably slow to grab focus at the long end, it might be a reasonable
trade-off.
If you are really looking for a replacement for a Stylus and the IQ of
film, your budget is more flexible, and a really long zoom range isn't
necessary, you might also consider moving to a camera with a bigger
sensor. That tends to be where the rubber meets the road in IQ. Two very
different cameras with the next size up sensors are the Panny LX3 and
Canon G11.
Moose
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