Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
The phone rang Saturday morning. My brother-in-law was wondering if my wife and I would like to join him and his wife for a stroll with cameras on Peebles Island. Sounds like a plan, I said.
When we were unloading from the van, Kyle pulled his Nikon 3100 with kit zoom from the bag, and I unholstered my Panasonic FZ150. I was immediately struck that the two cameras were virtually the same size. I had always assumed that my bridge camera was significantly smaller than an SLR, but it simply wasn't so. The two cameras were so close in size, that it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I could mistake one for the other in low light.
So I got to thinking about the differences. The Nikon has slightly better dynamic range (.4 ev), 2 bits more color depth, and more than 800 ISO better low light sensitivity. On the other hand, if my brother-in-law wants more reach than his 18-55 kit zoom, he needs another lens (which he left in the camera bag in the van).
For my part, with my FZ150, I get lots more focal length flexibility (25-600mm equivalent), but I sacrifice in technical image quality, particularly if I want to make big prints or shoot in low light. Ultimately, it comes down to: how much are you willing to sacrifice for the convenience of not having to lug around extra lenses?
When we were unloading from the van, Kyle pulled his Nikon 3100 with kit zoom from the bag, and I unholstered my Panasonic FZ150. I was immediately struck that the two cameras were virtually the same size. I had always assumed that my bridge camera was significantly smaller than an SLR, but it simply wasn't so. The two cameras were so close in size, that it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I could mistake one for the other in low light.
So I got to thinking about the differences. The Nikon has slightly better dynamic range (.4 ev), 2 bits more color depth, and more than 800 ISO better low light sensitivity. On the other hand, if my brother-in-law wants more reach than his 18-55 kit zoom, he needs another lens (which he left in the camera bag in the van).
For my part, with my FZ150, I get lots more focal length flexibility (25-600mm equivalent), but I sacrifice in technical image quality, particularly if I want to make big prints or shoot in low light. Ultimately, it comes down to: how much are you willing to sacrifice for the convenience of not having to lug around extra lenses?