Need Camera recs for unique wildlife venue

opee · Feb 24, 2010

New to this board but used to be a big Nikon FE shutterbug in college. Familiar with the older 35 mm film cameras and photo tricks. Have picked up a hobby 10 years ago of archery hunting for deer. Find myself usually watching and taking pictures more than hunting. I am close to the deer in most cases 5-30 yds, and find the deer are usually behind a branch or bushes, also need a camera that is quiet when shooting, focusing, zooming, flash, etc. Due to being high up in a tree, (25 ft) I need a small point and shoot type camera to put in front pocket. Have narrowed down to either the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 with 12X, or a Canon Powershot SX200 with 12X. The Lumix reviews talk about soft pics on outer pic frame, and not many manual options for fstop, shutter speed, etc. The Canon Powershot appears to have the flash pop up everytime the camera is turned on? The question is does the pop up flash always pop up when turning camera on, and if so will the flash always make a noise and/or go off when shooting?
Are either of these cameras better for focusing on an object such as deer through brush, branches, leaves that may be closer than the actual deer? Also heard about the newest Canon SX210 that has a 14x zoom. Interested on SX210 as well, but not sure if the pop up flash is still an issue. Also want to take short video clips if possible. Which camera might work best for that?
Your comments are appreciated on which way to go here. Opee

Shocknawe · Feb 25, 2010

I would almost recommend going with the panasonic dmc-fz28, a hair more in price and not as slim BUT you do have your functions similar to a dslr....S,A,M modes along with some automatic modes, you can controll your ISO (wouldn't use anything above 800 though, 400 primarily), ev comp, 10mp,18x zoom,and OS works well, takes a decent photo and is quiet. You can shoot jpeg, RAW, or RAW and jpeg. I still tote it along from time to time for the "super zoom" capabilities.