2017 Roundup: Consumer Long Zoom Compacts

Personally, I think we need some new categories here. Long zoom cameras that fit in a pocket (DC-ZS70) are far and away different than those (like the FZ300) that have to go around in a backpack. It's a real mistake to put them in the same category. I carry a small camera long around all the time in my work backpack because I can - but I wouldn't carry the much heavier cameras around all day every day. On the other hand, those cameras have obvious benefits not available in the small pocket sized cameras. I think different categories for size would make more sense. Then you could compare items like the FZ300, the Canon PowerShot SX60 and the Lumix DC-FZ80 head to head, while looking at the pocketable cameras in another set. They don't (to me) seem to fit anywhere near the same function.

ZS70 over HX90v? Why? Not everyone cares about raw.

I'm glad IQ is dropped from the list of things needed to win "best" of any class. I "tested" the 3 mentioned here extensively for IQ. Because these three lack it completely. And I'm dead serious. Clipping is killing IQ in both panasonic's. The TZ 90 has abyssmal lowlight IQ. Even a 5 year old camera that sold for 100 does better right now. Sorry If you like gadget's. The Clipping of highlights in the FZ 300 is unacceptable. The P900 is a one trick pony. Nothing wrong with that, but if you write "best" I assume you mean best in real world use and not best in the prospectus. Tried all extensively and gladly Let them go. The HX400 trounces them all in IQ. And that is a 3 year old cam doing 370 now. NEXT..!

"We have not had the chance to put the FZ300's image quality to the test"
Then why post a round up review with a conclusion? Isn't that the purpose? And then the gall to consider it the top option. Where's the standard for quality reporting? We now safely assume this site is just a complete shill for Amazon.

Its interesting the photo for this article shows the Olympus Stylus 1 yet its not included as a choice.

Why not take the time to incorporate some of the forum discussions and link to the threads? Most of these cameras have been out for an extended period and there have been numerous reviews by forum members.

I have the HX400 and P900. P900 is built better and the clear winner in still photography. I rarely shoot video, but the zoom sound on the P900 is annoying. I'd go with HX400 for movies unless extra reach is needed.

I would like an update to the Fuji X30 with a 24-240mm zoom lens. My X30 is tack sharp with an f/1.8 lens but with an 28-112mm zoom.

Your review had this to say about Canon's SX60:
"What we like : Good image quality"
"Images produced by the SX60 are well-exposed with vibrant color and pleasing sharpness"
Unfortunately, Imaging-Resource's comprehensive "Best Superzoom 2014" review found that the SX60's image quality was soundly thrashed by the older SX50. Showing crops from the SX50 and SX60 it noted :

"Compared to the SX50 this image is really a mess. The same chain we just referred to almost seems to be disintegrating in parts of this image, and virtually all of the wood appears odd and mottled to some degree. There's also less detail in the coins even though we're substantially more zoomed in. And bear in mind that this is the best of three images we shot, and is at base ISO from a tripod with a self-timer."

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/best-superzoom-2014/best-superzoom-2014-pg3-ultimate-image-quality.HTM

It would have been nice to include Nikon's B700. It's comparable to the P610 but adds RAW.

I've owned and tried expensive superzooms, and, being spoiled by my DSLR and pro telephoto lens, I just did not use them. Others seem to be happy with them. I found that even on a cloudy day, there was not enough light to zoom in on wildlife, the noise disintegrated most of the detail.

If I were using it on a bright summer day, then it was great, but around here, wildlife waits until near sundown to make a appearance, or they come out early in the morning, same low light issues. The f/2.8 Panasonic does seem to have a big advantage, its one that I have not used.

Disappointed about this kind of review: few page with cameras design resume, no much about image qualities, not really comparing the cameras from the user point of view.
This style/format of review is more like shopping list/advice of gadgets, than revealing specific advantages and limits for each cameras.
Few years ago were better structured and detailed reviews for cameras categories.

Even if it will be much like a subjective opinion, in the end of such review (a class of camera in a range of price), should stay a table with Dpreview ratings, but ratings resulting from comparing the cameras in review, for:
1. image quality: sharpness, colors, dynamic range, ISO, noise, etc
3. Performance, handling: AF, fps, viewfinder, dimension, weight, battery, etc
4. Video .....
5. Best&worst for each camera, comparing with the other

I love the names of some of the Panasonic scene modes -- Silky Skin, Backlit Softness, Relaxing Tone, Sweet Child's Face, Glistening Water, Warm Glowing Nightscape, Soft Image of a Flower, Appetizing Food, Cute Dessert

1. Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300
2. Nikon Coolpix P900
3. Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS70/TZ90
4. Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80/FZ82
5. Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
6. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX400V
7. Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX90V
8. Canon PowerShot SX730 HS

Would have liked to have seen the Nikon B700 in there as well. Only 60% of the weight of P900 and distinctly smaller, but still has a 60x zoom and uses the same sensor as the P900.

I have the P900 and it's awesome, for what it manages to do. But as an all-in-one travel companion the B700 could be a better bet, and it would be useful to see how it stacked up against the FZ300 and the other offerings.

I just jump to wich camera should I buy and be done with it :-/

I have to say that the superzooms have gotten really fantastic in flexibility at low cost. I recently purchased a fleet of factory-refurb SX530HS for $130 each (for reprogramming using CHDK), and they are shockingly capable cameras with most aspects very well thought out -- e.g., having a single button to temporarily zoom out showing you a zoom crop window, so you can easily find your distant target that went out of frame, and releasing the button zooms you back in. Lack of an EVF really hurts, although I'm waiting for a $4 LCD magnifier viewfinder attachment.... Point is, as long as you're in good lighting, 50X zoom starts way under $200.

Incidentally, CHDK raws reveal the SX530HS has more bad pixels than I've seen on any other sensor and the 24-1200 is really more like a distorted-at-the-wide-end 18-1200 (usably about 20-1200 when corrected from raw), but the OOC JPEGs look quite good.

I stopped reading when I saw the list.... Only three on the list can be called "compacts" unless you call anything less than a FF DSLR a 'compact'...

And including the old Sony HX90V, but not the newer very interesting 1" Panasonic TZ(FZ)100 seems rather odd choice... (Yes I know they included another panasonic with a FIVE times smaller sensor... (Yes I know they mentions it, but why not include it??)

;-(

I have a friend who works in a camera shop and i tested the Nikon P900 , Canon SX60 HS and the Sony HX400V, out of the three of them the Sony HX400V has by far the best image Qaulity , Sharpness and Colour Qaulity and I found its stabilisation to be the best, the Canon lost lots of detail and was very soft at 65x and that Nikon gets Duller and Darker when zoomed in, I printed A4 with same shots , ISO , Day and Low Light and the Sony HX400V images zoomed in at 50x kept their sharpness, does anyone else agree with me.

I know it's not the best (not even in production anymore) but after working with the dot sight in the Olympus SP-100EE I think it's a shame the others in this comparison don't have that feature. It's awesome handy.

I purchased an FZ300, 2 extra batteries, and a Rode Video Micro for a mediterrannean cruise involving birding, questionable weather, quick image grabs in crowded tourist areas, and lots of walking. Everything fit in a small weatherproof Lowe Pro bag.

I needed a low-profile, light camera that wouldn't kill my neck, a bright viewfinder and an articulating screen, lots of reach without having to juggle lenses, excellent HD video and audio, and a simple UI.

I wished for a wider FOV a couple of times, but other than that, the FZ300 had me grinning the whole time. Nearly 5,000 shots in 2 weeks!

Having 600mm at F2.8 was perfect for birding and grabbing architectural details, and helped to mitigate the lack of a larger sensor. Also, the money I saved over an FZ2000 went into better excursion packages. As a result, I got a lot of shots that other people missed while they were standing in line!

My Wife and I both decided on the Nikon P900 and we both remain stoic supporters of this amazing camera. Although it does have it's down side (not supporting RAW format), the image quality is really quite impressive throughout the zoom range (no-one else can do 24-2000mm equivalent optical zoom). The image stabilization for a lens with this kind of range is astronomical. Speaking of astronomical, imagine full-framed images of the moon with crisp detail of it's surface, HAND HELD.

I am a superzoom enthusiast. For me, they offer the best bang for the buck for casual wildlife photography.

If you want to see some of my work, check out this post: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58857135 The top two pictures were taken with the FZ150 and the bottom four with the HX400V.

I have owned the FZ150, the FZ200, the P900, the HX400V, and I have some comments on each:

- Panasonic FZ150 -- wonderful camera, doesn't have the low light capability of the FZ200, and the manual focus capability is difficult. My wife still uses it and loves it.

- Panasonic FZ200 -- twice it collected a spot of dust on the sensor, requiring a $100 trip to the camera repair shop. Manual focus required a safecracker's touch. Gone.

- Nikon P900 -- astonishing reach, but images in less than bright sunlight had a yellowish cast that required post processing. Gone.

- Sony HX400V -- 1200 mm ee reach, superb stablization; punchy images , excellent manual focus. My go-to camera.

I am probably an idiot but the P900 makes me smile and sometimes laugh out loud. The lens is outrageously good at all lengths and the stabilisation is awesome. OK the sensor is tiny by today's standards but so was the one on my first digital camera which was an Olympus E20p and that took outstanding photos as well. The thing is "it does what it says on the tin", With this camera you crop when you shoot and nothing is too far away and it is all sharp without a tripod (even the moon!). It is absolutely hilarious, it won't replace my D750 but it cost less then my new Sigma 50mm art lens. So, buy it, enjoy it, and smile.

DPreview comparison, sorted by weight:
https://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/side-by-side?products=nikon_cpp900&products=panasonic_dmcfz300&products=sony_dschx400v&products=canon_sx60hs&products=panasonic_dmczs60&products=canon_sx720hs&products=sony_dschx90v&sortDir=ascending
This outlines that roundup is made of 3 different categories:
- 3 compacts (245-282g, i.e. 15% range), can be carried in an horizontal belt holster
- 3 heavy (650-691g, i.e. 6% range, 130% above the compacts)
- 1 super-heavy (899g, i.e. 30% higher than any other here)
Weight being paramount for ease and productivity in travel, P900 should NOT be praised this high without recalling the 30% more weight
Versailles, Sun 04 Dec 2016 18:17:16 +0100, edited 18:20

We bought the P900 about one year ago for the phenomenal lens, and have taken some amazing photos of the craters on the moon and detailed shots of birds. We are used to using full frame Canon's and trying hard not to compare apples to oranges, however, two things let the camera down; the small sensor which does not help the IQ at all, and crappy EVF which is almost useless. If Nikon were to combine the current lens with a 1" sensor and a better EVF, the P900 would become the perfect travel camera.

I am revisiting this roundup as I am looking for a small superzoom.

The odd thing with P900 is that it has relatively lower resolution and does not have RAW capture (as noted in the review).

At this point, Nikon B700 looks better with 20MP, RAW, 4K, etc., though the reach is comparitively less (1440mm).

In the next round (P900 II?) Nikon should add those abilities from B700 sensor, and may be include next processor version. With high IQ resulting from sensor technologies such as BSI and LSI, these cameras will meed the needs of a large user base.

As people start using these cameras for wildlife/birds, the manufacturerers also need to make battery grips that can hold two batteries.

Very sensible recommendations! I know several people who use the FZ300 for wildlife photography. Obviously it's not for those who demand the highest quality images or the ultimate in durability, but for those who simply want a camera to provide record shots while birding, mammal spotting or butterfly-watching it is an excellent choice.

The HX90 is an excellent camera to supplement a DSLR or advanced mirrorless ILC. The EVF is tiny but very handy in sunny conditions when it's difficult to see the rear screen. A great little camera for the pocket.

My Nikon P900 has replaced my spotting scope. When I'm shooting by myself it becomes my spotting partner Together with it's built-in slow mo plus some added slowing down using the free GoPro Studio support and one gets some interesting videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8gMlGGCnY

The Panasonic FZ300 wipes the floor with the others regarding IQ!

Sony seems the only company here which understands that these long-zooms are perfect for travel and that for travel, a built-in GPS is a must.

I used to love the always-On option on my old Lumixes, but Panasonic, on its way down to camera oblivion, has decided to go cheap and omit the GPS feature on its current models.

Every major cloud photo site and every app feature mapping abilities which show where each photo was taken. It's incredibly useful for those of us who travel far and wide, so that at the end of a trip the places visited are too many to identify.

I do wish that dpreview would weigh GPS capabilities better, when recommending "travel" cameras.

I also understand that for many here, "travel" means a cruise to a few "dream" destinations, or a "trip of a lifetime" to Paris or Hawaii, so GPS is kind of bleh.

But really, a pocketable long zoom without GPS is strange in 2016, at least for those under 40 who actually travel and know how to use something like Google Photos.

I've literally written the book on the Stylus 1s (Steve Frankel - "The Compleat Stylus 1s and Stylus 1" - Amazon) and I've taken mine all over the world and it's never disappointed As long as you don't use it it in darkness for very dim available-light, you can get fantastic photos with it, even if you use digital cropping and shoot at 600mm. Just see the color plates that illustrate the book -- you can see them for free using the Preview function on Amazon. A constant 2.8 aperture and the same EVF that is used on the Olympus OM-D M10 are features you don't have any right to expect in a $550 camera!

I'd have the DMC-SZ60 over the DSC-HX90V because of RAW.