Hi Everyone,Thanks for your help! For my safari,I have opted to take my Nikon p310 for stills and to purchase either a Panasonic X900K or V700MK cam corder. One is 800 dollars and the other is 400 dollars. The cheaper one has a much more zoom which would probably be good in the bush.Any ideas on which would be a better choice? Thanks! Hi Everyone,Thanks for your help! For my safari,I have opted to take my Nikon p310 for stills and to purchase either a Panasonic X900K or V700MK cam corder. One is 800 dollars and the other... » Read More Hi Everyone,Thanks for your help! For my safari,I have opted to take my Nikon p310 for stills and to purchase either a Panasonic X900K or V700MK cam corder. One is 800 dollars and the other is 400 dollars. The cheaper one has a much more zoom which would probably be good in the bush.Any ideas on which would be a better choice? Thanks! « Show Less
1713773
ABSOLUTELY...you'll have to mount it on something though. It's not really meant for holding, though I guess you could. This is great for hands free videoing.
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It is great for action videos. If you also want stills, I agree a great digital camera with video might be a better option? Also give yourself time to play with it so you are ready and able to use it.
1713775
Yes, it would! I was on a safari in Kenya a couple of years ago and this would have been a fantastic way to record the baby leopards that were frolicking by the jeep and then jumped up on the hood!
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I think this would work great for an African safari. There are numerous ways to mount it / use it. It's small and very portable. Getting a large capacity SD card would be best.
772737
If you buy the add on back screen and practice using it at home I am sure it would be fine for your trip. It is small and light. But, there is no lenses or zoom so it is really simple. I would rather get a Nikon D7000 or some great camera that also does video.
1713777
Yes, I would thinks so. There is no zoom option. This camera is ideal for cars, motorcycles, bicycles, skate & surf boards, skiing, etc. There is a lot of info on their website and a newer version of the camera came out recently.
1713778
If it works as it has to be, yes, plus battery backup, but better if you bring backup camera which is not gopro, you can't rely only on itself, otherwise, your safari will have no documentation at all, I would suggest you an olympus TG-1
1713779
Of course it is. Very good choice. It's recommended that you also buy the LCD Bac-Pac or the Wi-Fi Bac-Pac so you can always be monitoring what your capturing. Remember that this is a camera with a Wide-Angle Lens, so you don't have any zoom. Just wide general takes. It's also a daylight camera, since doesn't have any flash light, but has a good light capture.
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Hi Glenn,Wow, thanks for doing that research for me. You found out in minutes what has taken me weeks!!! Well I guess with what you found I will have to narrow it down to either the T90 or the ZS3. I was reading other blogs that said that Panasonic is going to introduce a ZS7 and that might result in a price decrease on the ZS3 which is always good. I've talk to some people who are big fans of Sony cameras but, when you look at the table for shutter lags, they really are not doing so well. I will take your advice and go give them a "test drive" at Best Buy before I finally buy one. Thanks again for your time, that was very nice of you ;)Isabel Hi Glenn,Wow, thanks for doing that research for me. You found out in minutes what has taken me weeks!!! Well I guess with what you found I will have to narrow it down to either the T90 or the ZS3. I was reading other blogs that said that Panasonic is going to introduce a ZS7 and that might result in a price decrease on the ZS3 which is always good. I've talk to some people who are big fans of Sony cameras but, when you look at the table for shutter lags, they really are not doing so well. I will take your advice and go give them a "test drive" at Best Buy before... » Read More Hi Glenn,Wow, thanks for doing that research for me. You found out in minutes what has taken me weeks!!! Well I guess with what you found I will have to narrow it down to either the T90 or the ZS3. I was reading other blogs that said that Panasonic is going to introduce a ZS7 and that might result in a price decrease on the ZS3 which is always good. I've talk to some people who are big fans of Sony cameras but, when you look at the table for shutter lags, they really are not doing so well. I will take your advice and go give them a "test drive" at Best Buy before I finally buy one. Thanks again for your time, that was very nice of you ;)Isabel « Show Less
8521
K. Bennett,Thanks very much for your info about these two cameras. I started with the model 30, had them for a year, sold them and got two 40D's, then last March I sold those and bought two 7D's. I had thought about getting a 5D, but a friend who just bought it said there are a lot of problems with the focusing, he said he gets around 20% out of focus, a number I find unacceptable. He advised me to skip the 5D and go to the Mark IV, and I was not sure if the better and sharper images, especially at high ISOs would be worth the extra $3000 a Mark IV would cost. What I might do is rent a Mark IV body for a weekend and see how I like it.Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. K. Bennett,Thanks very much for your info about these two cameras. I started with the model 30, had them for a year, sold them and got two 40D's, then last March I sold those and bought two 7D's. I had thought about getting a 5D, but a friend who just bought it said there are a lot of problems with the focusing, he said he gets around 20% out of focus, a number I find unacceptable. He advised me to skip the 5D and go to the Mark IV, and I was not sure if the better and sharper images, especially at high ISOs would be worth the extra $3000 a Mark IV would cost. What I might do is rent... » Read More K. Bennett,Thanks very much for your info about these two cameras. I started with the model 30, had them for a year, sold them and got two 40D's, then last March I sold those and bought two 7D's. I had thought about getting a 5D, but a friend who just bought it said there are a lot of problems with the focusing, he said he gets around 20% out of focus, a number I find unacceptable. He advised me to skip the 5D and go to the Mark IV, and I was not sure if the better and sharper images, especially at high ISOs would be worth the extra $3000 a Mark IV would cost. What I might do is rent a Mark IV body for a weekend and see how I like it.Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. « Show Less
1186140
Hello, greetings from Colombia. I haven't tried these camera on this situations. However, I have used it in almost all others such as portraits, landscapes, macro etc. I am also making some high quality videos of my model airplane kit manufacture to be uploaded to YouTube. All results have been far better than expected. So, I presume that if you use your camera on the situations you need, it won't let you down. I still think that the D3200 is a professional featured camera costing thousands of dollars less than, for instance, the D4 or the D800. I suggest you join the forum Nikonites.com It has been a great help for me and people there are very nice indeed Good luck!!! Hello, greetings from Colombia. I haven't tried these camera on this situations. However, I have used it in almost all others such as portraits, landscapes, macro etc. I am also making some high quality videos of my model airplane kit manufacture to be uploaded to YouTube. All results have been far better than expected. So, I presume that if you use your camera on the situations you need, it won't let you down. I still think that the D3200 is a professional featured camera costing thousands of dollars less than, for instance, the D4 or the D800. I suggest you join the forum Nikonites.com It... » Read More Hello, greetings from Colombia. I haven't tried these camera on this situations. However, I have used it in almost all others such as portraits, landscapes, macro etc. I am also making some high quality videos of my model airplane kit manufacture to be uploaded to YouTube. All results have been far better than expected. So, I presume that if you use your camera on the situations you need, it won't let you down. I still think that the D3200 is a professional featured camera costing thousands of dollars less than, for instance, the D4 or the D800. I suggest you join the forum Nikonites.com It has been a great help for me and people there are very nice indeed Good luck!!! « Show Less
928346
I am considering CX150 or CX110. Is there any difference between those two except 16GB internal memory in CX150? I have been researching camcorder for more than week and can't decide. Now boils down to one of these two - no reasons...just due to Sony brand. I know there better rated panasonic and canon out there in the similar price range...any comments???
1621825
Check out the review at camcorder info dot com.It beat out all others in its price class that it was compared to in the review, (panasonic, jvc, sony).However for $400 more (double the price) the canon HV-40, for instance is really outstanding, and for $650 there are a couple better choices.
178995
It doesn't shoot in 1080p but good luck downloading and editing that content. And 1080p uses up twice as much memory on your flash drive. The TM700 is nice but it has that annoying fan noise problem and it's not nearly as good in low light as the Sony. The CX300 has an Effective Picture Resolution of: 2650K Pixels (16:9), 3540K Pixels (4:3) & the CX550 has an Effective Picture Resolution of: 4500K Pixels (16:9), 6000K Pixels (4:3). It's way better in low light too with the bigger sensor. It has a viewfinder and a high resolution (3X that of the 300) 3.5" LCD. The 550 also has the manual control wheel. BTW, the price difference is $360 and anyway, the 350 with 32 more GB is only $40 more than the 300. You won't see 32 GB's in class 4 SD cards for $40 for a few years at least. They're all good camcorders though, but I think the 550 is well worth the extra money.......unless you're married and your wife will kill you........;-)
947270
Hello,I am the proud owner of the HMC40 and love the video quality I get from it. I rarely take stills with it because I also own a Canon 7D DSLR and can say I am very pleased with the quality i get from it as well. Because the stills with the Panasonic are sub-par is the reason I don't use it for stills.
2110805
It's still a damn good camera. Their update to it is better quality but aimed at the professional market. 5 megapixel photos and its hd video setting should work just fine for you. I wouldn't pay more than $90 for it though. The problem with the c920 the other answerer mentioned is that it doesn't have motorized pan or tilt.
955459
I actually ended up w/ Pana ZS1. Got a deal from Costco and felt it suited me fine because I don't ever use the video. I like it better than Canon so far because I don't have to adjust it all the time for a decent shot.
599132
I bought that for a friend last year in another state, however, I never got any feedback in regards to that camera. I did buy a different camera for another friend - Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS25 16.1 MP Tough Digital Camera with 8x Intelligent Zoom. She told me that she loved it (and it did take great pics and videos). However, the only thing that was missing was a charger for the battery. I guess that had to be purchased separately.
1220928
I just went through the same battle, although I have different needs. I have to say either is a great choice but I went with the Canon due to the zoom being a little less, a compromise in hopes that it will have better low light response. I also had a Canon before, so the operating system was a more familiar. Can't tell you yet if that was a wise choice of not. I have had the camera for three days and have had little time to play with it. Here is a comparative review that I found helpful: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q110superzoomgroup/ I saw another review but can't find it again that really played up the Nikon as a much better choice. But it seemed to be written by people reading specifications rather than actually using the camera. I don't think you can wrong with either. The Canon is bulkier and uses 4 double AA batteries which add to the weight. The nice thing about the double AAs is that you have a far easier time getting batteries if you run out of power, but at the cost of weight. If you do get the Canon, get at least 8 Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable NIMH batteries Sanyo Eneloop 4 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargable Batteries w/ Charger. They hold their charge when not used much better than normal NIMH batteries. As the link indicates you can get them here at Amazon. With 8 Eneloops you should never run out of power (providing that you keep them charged of course). If you buy the Nikon, I would recommend looking into a spare battery and a charger. Good luck with your new camera, which ever one you choose!
1726682
"Falling apart" is rather vague but I'm on my third "130", the first eventually two developing lens problems - not opening up fully, not zooming out fully. This is what happens when one uses a camera a lot in the outdoors, especially with fine dust and salt air (I live on the CA coast) being almost constant factors. But I have liked this camera so much - with its two AA battery set-up - that I have ordered, through Amazon, two "like new" replacements (both in the $75-$100 range, about the same cost, or less even, as a cleaning/repair these days). You could buy one of the newer models in this series as I believe a "150" and a "170" came out more recently. You could look at the specs to see any differences - no doubt the newer models have more megapixel at the highest setting, like maybe 16mp instead of max of 12mp with the "130". (I have done most of my shooting at the much lower M2 setting, which is 2mp, 1600x1200 to conserve my Rayovac rechargeable batteries and because I only email phos and do digital album folders, no large prints.) By the way, I believe the "170" (or maybe "160"?) switched from two AAs to the more common flat rechargeable. Finally, if you find that you have to keep resetting the date/time, that is because your separate little battery, the CR1220, that powers that function, needs replacing. I have seen that question/problem with this camera come up on this Amazon forum before. (You can get a replacement at Walmart, some jewelry stores, some camera stores for about $5.) I love both the Canon Elph series and the PowerShot series but heavily used cameras of any brand develop problems. Consider buying an extended warranty on the next Canon, if you, buy new! Good luck with your photography....
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Thank you for your comment. I found it very helpful. I naturally prefer Canon but really want the wide-angle offered in this Sony camcorder. Canon missed the boat on wide angle in my view.
849563
The autofocus works very fast, accurate and it is easy to quickly select the focus point. To get the best results you should select the smallest focus point and change the release lag time to short. The auto-focus tracking is not as good as DSLR. I am not sure how it compares to comparably priced mirrorless like the sony a6000. It does 3.5 fps with continuous autofocus and 8 fps without continuous autofocus, its not bad, but not as fast as the EM-1 or A6000. The 75 - 300 is not fast on the long end f6.7mm. I think you will be fine, but the EM-1 or A6000 is probably a better choice for a Safari. The autofocus works very fast, accurate and it is easy to quickly select the focus point. To get the best results you should select the smallest focus point and change the release lag time to short. The auto-focus tracking is not as good as DSLR. I am not sure how it compares to comparably priced mirrorless like the sony a6000. It does 3.5 fps with continuous autofocus and 8 fps without continuous autofocus, its not bad, but not as fast as the EM-1 or A6000. The 75 - 300 is not fast on the long end f6.7mm. I think you will be fine, but the EM-1 or A6000 is probably a better choice for a... » Read More The autofocus works very fast, accurate and it is easy to quickly select the focus point. To get the best results you should select the smallest focus point and change the release lag time to short. The auto-focus tracking is not as good as DSLR. I am not sure how it compares to comparably priced mirrorless like the sony a6000. It does 3.5 fps with continuous autofocus and 8 fps without continuous autofocus, its not bad, but not as fast as the EM-1 or A6000. The 75 - 300 is not fast on the long end f6.7mm. I think you will be fine, but the EM-1 or A6000 is probably a better choice for a Safari. « Show Less
326235
Thanks for your recommendation of the Panasonic Lumix LZ8. (Like others in this dialogue, I'm looking to replace a Nikon that was very disappointing.) It's been three years since your post, and I've noticed that it's hard now to find an LZ8. Is there a newer Panasonic you'd recommend with the same enthusiasm now? Thanks for your help.
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I just bought the A570IS a few days ago without seeing this alternative, so I hope I'm not wasting my money by not getting a better camera for pennies more! We shall see, I guess. Sometime next week I'll let u know if I was impressed with the A570IS.. (all of my friends have told me it's great, btw).