dslr vs new superzoom (bridge) cameras for racing and landscape

Hello all,

I'm about to buy and have read mountains of specs, pros and cons for bodies and lenses, sensors, vignetting, color aberrations and I'm just about blinded by the information. I'm currently armed only with an A610 and used to use an eos 500n with a kit lens 35-80 which I thought years ago was the ants pants. My major interests are distant landscapes and horse racing. To this end I was originally looking towards the canon 550d with a reasonable zoom but worry about lens creep. Sales tried to put me to a 50d with a (if I remember 24-85) but not sure if this will suffice (lens wise) so looking for some experienced advice to help me along with this. Also concerns with 50D regarding lack of choice with cards.

In addition, I've been sidetracked with the G12 and Nikon S8100 ease of use, not having to change lense, weight factor and apparent picture quality etc. Am I just being lazy or a little fearful of being 'over cameraed' for lack of a better term?

I'm also intrigued by the Olympus E-5 capabilities so comments regarding my choices would be appreciated. I need some down to earth clarifying as I've become totally bamboozled. Prepared to spend AUD$2,000 roughly.

Cheers and thank you.

Well, I don't know exactly what you are looking for but you could take a look at the Canon PowerShot SX30IS superzoom digital compact. It features a 24-840mm equivalent wide-angle 35x zoom lens a 2.7" articulated LCD and a 14.1Mp sensor. It also includes Ultrasonic (USM) and Voice Coil (VCM) motors for faster and quieter zooming and focusing. The camera offers 720p HD recording, a Miniature effect movie mode, P/A/S/M shooting modes and a Zoom Framing Assist function that helps users quickly toggle between three preset zoomed-out positions at the longer end of the lens for better framing.

Just about any DSLR paired with the right lens can get nice results at a racetrack.

Even a good superzoom camera can get decent results, but since you have the budget for it, you will do better with a DSLR.

Since you mentioned the E5, I will tell you it should provide great results, but is pretty pricey. Here's some shots taken by a poster in the Olympus forum using a more modest E30 and a very nice 50-200mm lens:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=35569360

Now, the incredible thing about this fellow is that he gets equally impressive results using a much cheaper E620 and 40-150mm lens.

This really has a lot more to do with technique and skill then it has to do with gear, because all modern DSLRs will perform well in good light. If you use a fast enough shutter speed, you can get some great racing shots.

The big advantages Olympus has are great colors and great jpegs..... and body based image stabilization. This will appeal most to people who don't want to do raw conversions and who shoot hand-held using long lenses. The smaller sensor cuts both ways... it means smaller and lighter telephoto lenses, but it also means it will struggle in low light or for night shots.

But you are in luck, because there are LOTS of good options for the type of shooting you do.

Now remember, anything you hear from anyone on this forum is subject to their own biases and preferences, so take this with a grain of salt.

Cameras worth checking into:

Low Cost: .........Canon 500D, Nikon D500, Olympus E620, Pentax Kx, Sony A55,
Moderate Cost: Canon 50D, Nikon D90, Olympus E30, Pentax K7,
Higher Cost: .... Canon 7D, Nikon D7000, Olympus E5

The new Sony A55 looks really interesting. It combines some of the features of DSLRs with MILC cameras ("Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Compact") and provides pretty good results in a relatively small package.

Another question is whether you need video. Some of the above cameras don't have it, so check the specs. Personally, I'm no big fan of video, but it's nice to have for the occasional video clip.

If anyone tells you "you need full frame" then they are nuts.

Full frame cameras do have an advantage due to their larger sensor. Especially in terms of getting shallow depth of field and for making very large prints. But for the type of shooting you want to do, a FF camera will just add a lot of size, weight and cost. Especially for the lenses you will need. And your budget restricts you to those first two categories anyway.

--
Marty
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
Olympus E-30
Olympus E-P1

I have gone through similar decisions.

I would go dslr. Though the compacts may have better zoom the dslr can take much faster and clearer photos of action shots - you may be surprised! And then you can crop as well.

Theres a Canon EF 70-300mm F4-5.6 IS USM for around $600 from some stores (See shopbot.com.au) which leaves you enough for a good dslr.

Or try one of the Sigma 50-500 or 150-500 lenses with OS. Not as sharp as L or primes at the long end I have heard BUT I would hazard a guess (not sure ask around!) that it would be just as sharp if not more than a point and shoot zoom. That would leave you enough to get a decent dslr body as well. Just remember you need to put aside about $150 to get a memory card (get a fast one if your taking lots of shots at once/shoot continuous) and a lens hood.

If you try shopbot.com.au (most are fine a couple are fishy - just google peoples experiences with them) DD electronics is good and same with CamerasDirect.

Thanks for the clarity of your replies. Exactly what I needed. Thank you for the link also (fabulous). I do need to shoot hand held, I like to move quickly from spot to spot, I'm small but have good strength but I know a large camera (even the 50d) seemed massive, I thought I would get tired quickly holding that with a zoom. Probably why reviews of the bridge style appealed also really and the 550d. I was interested to read side by side the two olympus models. Are the cards going to be a problem in the future does anyone think seeing as most of the new models are going sdhc and sdhx rather than cf or udma? I will certainly research these and the lenses suggested also.

Fortunately the cost factor is applied by me as a means to prevent me chewing off more than I can swallow, which is why I kept the e5 on my list. (Birthday present).

Nikon and Canon have plenty of models to choose from but none that I can see that makes me 'want one' in particular. I like the sound of the olympus for certain, I like the sound of the sx 30 IS also and had that on my list until I shortened it to the G12.

Keep talking to me, I'm listening.

Next question after choosing great camera, fantastic lenses, who can you trust to produce best what you have taken assuming that everyone doesn't print at home or has a studio? Are all processing stores the same or is it down to the technician? This aspect worries me considerably given the cost of equipment but no one seems to mention it.

??

Diane

I don't really know except for the basics and basic stores - its the paper they use that makes a lot of difference I think. I like Harvey but I have been told Kmart/Big W is better quality - not instant - they are worse. You have to leave and come back for the better quality ones.

Great advice all, thank you very much.

Diane

bluey1960 said:

Next question after choosing great camera, fantastic lenses, who can you trust to produce best what you have taken assuming that everyone doesn't print at home or has a studio? Are all processing stores the same or is it down to the technician? This aspect worries me considerably given the cost of equipment but no one seems to mention it.

Click to expand...

Ahhhh..... the print question!

If you have prints made by Walmart, Walgreens, Costco, Ritz, or anyone else who has someone with a IQ around 80 operating a fully automated processing machine, then you will get the same mediocre results. They won't be bad, but they won't be that good either. But they will be cheap.

Good prints are made by good labs that have well trained human beings inspecting results, color correcting, and reprinting until they get the best possible results. And this will always cost more. They also use better materials and replenish their chemicals more often.

This means if you need to print something important, then you need to find a high quality processing lab in your area, or find one online that you can deal with.

There are several good ones, but this one is my favorite...
http://www.mpix.com/

They will also do 4x6" prints for 19 cents each, but for that they warn you:

Please note: With this type of ordering, our color technicians will not be able to adjust density, color, contrast or other elements of your files. Therefore, these orders are not eligible for reprinting if the issue is related to color.
--
Marty
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
Olympus E-30
Olympus E-P1

bluey1960 said:

I'm about to buy and have read mountains of specs, pros and cons for bodies and lenses, sensors, vignetting, color aberrations and I'm just about blinded by the information.

Click to expand...

One thing you didn't mention is shutter lag, the time between pressing the shutter release, and the time the camera actually takes the pictures.

P&S and bridge cameras typically have long shutter lags, whereas dSLR has a short one.

You mentioned the E-5 (not yet released), and I do know a FourThirds user who shoots motorcycle racing, search for Rob MacLennan.

I was going to suggest looking at the Micro FourThirds cameras since you appear to like smaller cameras (since you're talking about getting a bridge camera), but these use live view and as such have an extra shutter actuation which adds shutter lag.

Many thanks for your sound advice, particularly re printing. Looks like the research continues in that direction now