Hey all... thanx for adding those inputs...
I've asked my friend yesterday to get the best prices from UK and he'll get back to me by tonight... so once the prices r out i can zero in on one of these...

I was more into these 3 cams..
1) Nikon P80..
2) Kodak easyshare Z1012 IS
3) Sony cybershot H10..

I dont have any super expectations from the cam m buying.. as m not a pro yet.. That's y can't think of extending my budget too much for a Cam...

Seeing that comparo page 2 more are added to the list.. though I still have to check the prices..

Let's see..kaunsa nasib mein hain..

Thanx anyways...
Keep it updated...

@Ketan: Whats ur MAX budget?

I got the Sony H10 as a trade off between functionality and size. Sony H10 is pretty compact for 10 X zoom with huge 3 inch LDC display, so is cannon SX110. If you dont mind lil bigger size go for the bigger zooms. Guess Nikon has bettor name than Kodak. Dont loose out on a Higher cam just for 3-4k as u will be stuck with the cam for a long time

Golden words! Keep that in mind Ketan before buying a cam....I am stuck with a cam that I don't like for that very reason!

Hi Praveen, the H50 is the successor to the H9, the camera which I was talking about with you during the G2G with 15X optical zoom. Right now, its around 19K, but hopefully it will drop again.

I absolutely agree with you when you talk about the 3-4K part. I would rather wait a bit, save up some cash and go for the best, rather than retrospect.

It has to drop considering the Mega zooms available now. Oly's 590's 26X is just Mind blowing.
I did consider H50 which was 21k then. But the size difference is significant between the two. I do think prolly should have gone for H50, but H10 is just too convenient to pull out of the waist pouch and click with the gloves on! It easily fits into the pocket of my old man as well.

SX10 IS is indeed a great camera but also consider FZ28. In many reviews I have seen the FZ28 outshining SX10IS.

Exactly...

Hey guys.. I just now got free after spending a lot of time researching bout the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28..
It's an upgrade to the Lumix FZ18 which is there on the comparo page..

This cam has literally shredded my list of cams..

Seeing overall reviews and ratings this cam is a winner in almost all sections..

Plus..

With an UK price of around 15xxx, it very well fits into my budget..

Best part of it is, even after having a montrous 18x zoom(though there are few cams with 20x and 26x optics as well) it doesnt loose on pic quality and is damn quick at start up.. just 1.8 sec from boot up to first pic...

FZ18 itself as on of the best super zoom bridge cams and this one being an upgrade to FZ18, they hav surely worked out the weak point of predecessor...

Here are a few links of the reviews..
Tell me what's ur call on this one? Shall I go for it? It's just a matter of what's exact price on the shelf in UK and i'll get it from my friend..

Steves Digicams - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 - Hands on Review

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 Review - Digital Camera Reviews - TrustedReviews

Waiiting for ur replies eagerly guys...

Thanx..
Ketan Nikharge.
9970078695

Hi Bro

Its nice to know that you went through the reviews . Well i am using this cam from past 2 months and the price when i purchased was 20 K around 3 months before in Uk . Its a cool cam and i would recommend the same . it has almost all the settings of a DSLR and the pick quality is awesome. You get an option to shoot Raw images and edit which is a great feature . Its not that heavy as well , easy to carry around . I have already took around 500 picks even with my tight shedule . I am loving it day by day as i am learning new settings to enhance . If it fits your budjet then go for it . If you can extend your budjet do think of the lence adapter as well as its difficult to get in india .


Forgot to update the video quality . Its very good & you can zoom while taking a video .

that's what i was waiting for... An ownership experience...
Thanx a lot buddy...

Even in Better photography magazine this cam is rated amongst the Top 30 Super Zoom cams in the market today.
It's price in India right now is Rs. 24990/- Source: Better Photography!

One more good thing is it's package contains a lens hood which is very useful while clicking in bright light conditions to avoid flare...

Thanx a lot buddy...

Just one question..Any issues with the battery and LCD display?

No kidding.. 720p video quality...HD!!

Check out this video. Zoom while taking video. Ridiculous!!!

One of best comparisons I've found..

Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FZ28 vs Canon PowerShot SX10 IS

Esp this part..

I just wanted to emphasize and elaborate on what "Daniel Whang" said. The Panasonic at the 486mm tele-end of the zoom is still at f/4.4, which is extremely bright for that focal length. The Canon SX10IS at 178mm is already at f/5.0, far far worse than the FZ-28. At 486mm, the Canon has bottomed out at the smallest f/5.7 aperture and remains constant at that aperture for the remainder of the focal lengths to full zoom. This is significantly worse than any of the previous Canon S2/S3/S5 models. It is not a linear relationship between aperture and focal length. Canon had to sacrifice aperture at all mid to telephoto focal lengths to achieve a 20x zoom. In quantitative terms, the Panasonic fz-28 outperforms the SX10 in terms of widest f-stop for nearly its entire focal length range. You can put the camera on manual mode and check the widest possible f-stop at various focal lengths on each camera and graph in MS Excel the widest possible f-stop vs focal length (can also be taken from EXIF) and prove this point out.

Canon does this for three reasons:

1) It's cheaper to manufacture an average aperture lens and compensate with in-camera processing.
2) Consumers like seeing long zooms without understanding the aperture trade-off.
3) Consumers are usually only concerned about aperture at the extremes of the zoom and rarely ever ask about intermediate apertures.

This may be difficult to understand, but simply stated, in comparison to the SX10IS, the FZ-28 from mid to full telephoto focal lengths will have a brighter more aesthetically pleasing photo with less in-camera or post-processing b/c of the availability of wider apertures at any given focal length.

As far is i have experienced .. There are no issues and with a full charged battery i have stayed on upto 3 to 4 hours clicking around 120 odd high quality (10MP) picks approximately , Which i consider as good ( my opinion) .LCD screen gives us 3 modes which also suites for shots taken in certain angles .

Yeh true . I took an HD video for 2 to 3 minutes of my nephew playing and the file size was around 1.2 GB ( too good to watch like a DVD movie qiality) except the fact that you need to leave with the file size .. Ha ha

He folks

Check this website

Some pictures and some settings - Part 4 - DMC-FZ28 - - Art and the Zen of Design - -

Gives you lot of info on the panasonic cams as well as good photography tips . I am great lover of the photographer Tony crap . I even send an email appreciating his work and he acknowledged it well .

This will help you to know practically about the FZ 28

^^ Thanx for the link bro...

One more small question.. when u purchased this cam..what was the memory card packed? how many GBs?