Need advice on P&S, ZR1/ZS5, or different brand?

[NeverBroken]

Hello there, I have searched the forums at length and read enough reviews to leave my head spinning to find the best P&S for my needs. I apologize in advance that this may be a very long post but I want to explain my situation clearly.

I currently have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 and although I like the camera very much, I really need something to stick in my pocket or purse so I can always have it on me... the FZ50 obviously will not work for that. I am NOT a professional but still like to take many photos. My main requirements are Photo Quality, Zoom, and Speed. I find the FZ50 slow and sometimes the photos have a lot of noise, but otherwise the zoom is great as well as photo quality for the most part. I know of course I will not get all I want in a P&S but need to determine how much quality I should expect to sacrifice.

After reading many reviews I decided on the Panasonic Lumix ZR1- I purchased it and immediately was unhappy with the results. I take a lot of nature photos and found that I was getting completely washed out skies. Even when inside, the light through the windows would be completely white. It would happen on one photo then not the next... and my sister's much cheaper Sony did much better with light (although her photo quality was fuzzy compared to the lumix). We could change the exposure but then the rest of the photo was dark. Here are a few examples:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ng2010b291.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ng2010b274.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ng2010b345.jpg

As you can see the sky is just gone... this is a HUGE issue for me as I must be able to capture the sky in my photos. I found that if I focused way up high in the sky first, then panned down, I could get the sky but everything below it would be dark. So I started thinking well maybe the camera is defective, I didn't know.

I researched more and found a local store had the Panasonic Lumix ZS5 for only a few dollars more, which from what I read has improved upon a lot of the features in the ZR1. I went out and got that to compare- I am honestly not seeing much difference with the skies, but in the colors and sharpness- the ZR1 seems over-saturated and the ZS5 seems normal colors, but on the other hand the ZR1 seems sharper, so sharper would probably be better then a slight over-saturation of color, oftentimes greens such as grass are almost neon- (I am good with photoshop and can adjust this, but should I have to?) The skies are still washing out on me however, unless I do as described above with focusing on the sky first. My husband and I have both tried them (he is a little better then me, knows manual controls a bit) We have tried taking them under all different settings, ISO, iA and reg A, iExposure, etc and are never happy with the results.

So am I doing something wrong, or do I need a different camera?

I have now purchased two cameras and am unhappy with both, but maybe this is all I can expect from a P&S? If so I need to decide between the ZR1 and the ZS5 as I have to return one of them, and disregarding the manual options on the ZS5 and the size, we are almost liking the ZR1's photo quality better, even though the ZS5 has more 'new and improved' features to help photo quality!

My price range is ~$200-$250.

Thank you so much for your help, I am losing my mind, and short of trying out every camera in this class I just don't know what to do and have to make a decision soon on which camera to keep or if I need to try something else.

[MNRyan]

I guess I've always been a Canon and Sony fan when is comes to P&S cameras, but here are my suggestions. The prices are the direct through Amazon.com new price, NOT third party.

Canon SX120is ($200)
Canon SX210is (slightly out of your price range but worth a look $300)
Sony H55 ($200)
Sony HX5V (out of your price range but still worth a look $350)

[NeverBroken]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[SmartWombat]

To be honest, what you're trying may be impossible.

There is so much difference in exposure between the sky and indoors that unless there's a large window to the side of or behind you as well, everything indoors would be too dark.
Or the sky will be way too bright if you expose for indoors.
Even worse, if you try some in between exposure you'll get neither right.

High dynamic range like that isn't something you get in most P&S cameras though.
If the front of the lens doesn't turn as it focuses (my Olympus E-P1 14-42mm does) then you can use a graduated filter outdoors, to darken the sky so the camera can cope.

I think that even an expensive DSLR may struggle under those extreme conditions indoors looking out, and with bright sky maybe even outdoors.

Most of the time with nature photos of a bird in flight against the sky I will over-expose using the +/- adjustment maybe +0.3 or +0.6 to get the detail in the bird and I have to let the sky wash out.

[NeverBroken]

Thank you Paul, I asked this on another forum and have gotten similar answers.. that these conditions are tough for most cameras, especially P&S's, and that playing with the exposure as well as other settings, will help a great deal.

So it appears these are still great cameras, I just need to decide between them (as I have both and must return 1) and then once I have, I have to just experiment and keep learning more about the different settings and how to apply them to what I need.

I dont suppose you are familiar with the two cameras and have an opinion as to which one would be better, the Lumix ZR1 or the ZS5? One strong consideration I have been informed of is hat the ZR1 does NOT have the photo adjustment functions for Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, or Noise Reduction, but the ZS5 does.... I am hearing that these are things it would benefit me to be able to adjust.