Superzoom or a normal digital?

[benny h]

For the record, i'm not claiming to be a photographer and not looking to use an SLR currently (because i don't have the finances or the expertise to take advantage of an SLR). I'm about to go to Greece for 6 months to work on a turtle conservation project and i'm looking to take some wildlife shots and general scenery shots. I'm wondering whether to buy a superzoom camera, such as the sony cyber-shot DSC-H50(http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/5816783/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-H50-9-1-Megapixel-) or to buy a half decent digital camera, such as the Samsung NV100HD (Warehouse Express - Digital Camera, Digital SLR Cameras, Lens, Canon, Nikon?), which i quite like the look of. My price range is £100-£250 and if anybody has any suggestions i'd really appreciate it.
Any positive feedback would be great,
Many Thanks,
Benny

 

[dcclark]

First, welcome!

My first thought is, if you are going to be a bit serious about the wildlife photography, a superzoom could be very helpful for you. However, those tend to be much more bulky than a small standard point-and-shoot.

So, do you think that the wildlife shots will be something you'll be fairly serious about? Or will portability matter more?

 

[benny h]

Hi David,
thanks for responding to my post; much appreciated. I would definitely like to become more proficient with photography, especially wildlife photography but currently my knowledge is very limited. Because of the fact that i would like to start taking it seriously, size isn't really an issue. I was thinking that the optical zoom would be pretty important for wildlife shots, due to it being difficult in getting in close and therefore a superzoom would be more appropriate. Are there any superzoom cameras withing my price range that you could suggest?
Once again, thanks for your response,
Regards,
Benny

 

[yip812]

I got a superzoom for christmas that I thought would supplement my film SLRs. It completely replaced them. It takes great pictures and is still very easy to use and learn.

The one I have is a Kodak Easyshare Z8612. It is going now for $129 - $150 US

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/yip812/best/farm022.jpg

 

[Overread]

I am afraid that I don't have enough of an eye on the point and shoot market to be able to recomend a good camera for you - but I would say your best bet would be a superzoom/bridge camera.
That will get you a not only a good focal range to work with for wildlife as well as landscape, but also a bridge camera has more manual modes (like shutter and aperture priority and full manual) which will greatly help you if you intend to be more serious with your photography at a later date as you can start to take control of the camera settings as you would on an SLR type camera. You don't typically get manual focusing (though some offer it its slow and its not physical but electical adjustment) but settings are (once you understand them) far easier to control than 30 odd auto shooting modes

 

[Changsha]

My wife has the Canon PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS 8.0MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom sells for around $350 USD. This is a great camera. They now offer a new version with a X20 zoom. The image stabilization works great. Hand held low light shots at 1/15. Depth of field is amazing. The flip out tilt screen works nice. Has all the manual controls for creative picture taking. We were recently at Stonehenge and I was using my good SLR with my Tamron 28-75 2.8. The shooting conditions were poor as the day was very dark and over cast. (New Years Eve) All hand held shots. Her pics turned out better.