Hi everyone,

Here's my dilemma. I am looking for a new digital camera and practically have to choose between a high-end compact or a cheap DSLR. Currently, I use a Ricoh Caplio G3, which can make nice shots, but lacks picture quality, manual control and is very noisy on higher ISO-values. Basically, after checking out features and comparing, I have come down to three contenders: the Panasonic Lumix FZ20, The Canon EOS300D and the Nikon D70. The biggest problem in this decision is the cash, as the D70 is of course the best camera, but costs most. So I would like to ask you for your advice, as I want to know if I would really be getting more value for my money here.


I intend to use the camera for:

* Product photography (I'm an industrial design student) and need good macro, detailed pictures and high resolution for printing

* Vacation Shots, both landscape and portrait shots, it's also very handy to have a camera as compact as possible and with enough automatic settings so others can take pictures too.

* Sports photograpy - I snowboard, wakeboard, play football and need a camera with fast enough shutter response and zoom width to let me take high-quality shots of the action.


So, do you think coughing up the big bucks for the EOS300 or even the D70 will give me more features and generally better pictures then the FZ20? Which one would you buy if you needed a camera for the above situations? :confused:

Thanks to all who take the time to read and reply.

Personally I'd probably take the D70, I've just (two days ago) sold my Lumix, but I kind of miss is already. I can recommend this camera to anyone as I've had great fun with it and taken (IMHO) great shots (see the photocritique section). I've little to fault the Lumix for and would recommend it to anyone as a nice camera that is also easy to use. If you do, however shoot manual the adjustment of the aperture and shutter speed can be a bit of a nuisance. The top shutter speed is 1/4000 vs 1/8000 in the D70. I'm not au fait with the Canon's specs so i've refrained from commenting on that. I don't think you'd go wrong with the Lumix!

I shoot a Panasonic FZ20 and find it noisy in low light and at 200 and 400 iso so it is always set on 80.
I do like the wide zoom range and the builtin IS since I'm getting to hand hold a camera without IS. I lust after the usable iso range in the 300. I also like the smaller size of the fz20 and the fact that I have only one piece of gear to pack and deal with on my motorcycle. There should be some real deals to be found on the 300D now.

Hi everyone,

Here's my dilemma. I am looking for a new digital camera and practically have to choose between a high-end compact or a cheap DSLR. Currently, I use a Ricoh Caplio G3, which can make nice shots, but lacks picture quality, manual control and is very noisy on higher ISO-values. Basically, after checking out features and comparing, I have come down to three contenders: the Panasonic Lumix FZ20, The Canon EOS300D and the Nikon D70. The biggest problem in this decision is the cash, as the D70 is of course the best camera, but costs most. So I would like to ask you for your advice, as I want to know if I would really be getting more value for my money here.

The Lumix will be just as noisy as your other P&S. One reason is the tiny sensor that is used in these compact cameras.

Either of these DSLRs will give you vastly better images than a compact at the price of, well, price, and size. Both will have much lower noise (almost invisible at 400 and even better the P&S 200 at 800) and an almost inperceptible shutter lag. I prefer Canon but the D70 is a nice camera as well. Neither is a bad choice.