hi sifus,

I am a noob when it comes to cam/photography and have been using a compact digicam up til now. Now i want to get a better cam to take my baby's pic. too bad i am on a budget therefore, DSLRs are out of my shopping list. i have been looking around and saw these mega-zoom, look-like DSLR cameras and they are quite affordable.

can any sifus give some advice which one is better from this list.

Fujifilm S2980 (only 18x zoom)
Samsung WB100
Fujifilm S4900
Canon SX500IS
Nikon L820

i have read online and they all have good reviews. Samsung WB100 is about half the price of the Nikon L820. if the pics are almost the same, then i do not mind getting the Samsung model.

thank you in advance.

I'll be honest here: 30X optical zoom for what? Most people who take casual shots of their daily life certainly do not need that, though that feature MAY come in handy in certain situations.

Superzooms looks like a DSLR but it's no where near DSLR level of quality. In fact, they cannot even compete with advanced compacts because they sacrifice image quality and low light capability for zoom range <----To sum it up.

For baby shots, those cameras won't be able to do the job at hand. You need something that can focus really quick, good low light capability,wide aperture to capture as much light as possible and probably a hot shoe to mount and external flash. You should take a look at mirrorless cameras, advanced compacts, micro 4/3 system cameras or DSLRs, can refer to this thread, post number 2:

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2201160

BTW, what is your BUDGET?

if you really want a super zoom is suggest you grab this
Fujifiilm XS-1
which this is a DSLR size superzoom and packed-a-punch with large 2/3 inch sensor, which is far more better than other compact camera

but as said from kytz, why do you need a megazoom for baby and family photos? which is quite a buggy when come in handling as you fumbling in the zoom range and you miss you shot, why dont you get a blazing fast AF and reliable camera such as micro 4/3 or Lumix LX7 or Olympus XZ-2, try out this two unit, you will know how good the picture you can get
megazoom does not brings you better picture, is close to DSLR size and kinda not suitable for family photos...as bulky, but if you really wanted, i recommend the Fujifilm XS-1

bro, thanks for the advice. i am so noob that i dont even know a lot of the tech terms you mention. i think the superzoom distracted me from my real purpose which is to shoot fast and capture those baby movements without blur images like what i get now with my digicam. i'm paiseh to say out my budget which is below 1k only. so there's not much choice for me.

from your post in the thread provided, i have only checked out the nikon v1 and j1 before this as their prices are lower. do u think these are a bit advanced for a complete noob like me?

bro, thanks for the advice and recommendation. now, i am not sure if i want a superzoom anymore. blur liao..

but if there's a affordable superzoom that can take clear pics of a hyper baby, then i think i will fall for it ..

if i am not mistaken, hyper baby cant sit quietly right? so they move around and what you need is a very fast AF speed, guess you need to try out M43 camera.

give it a shot for Lumix GF5 or GF6 or olympus EPL-5, you will surprise how fast it obtain a shot and the picture are simply amazing for the size of the the camera, i previously owned a Lumix GF3, no doubt is very fast, indeed fast

is not to say dun recommend a superzoom, is just you are using on a wrong subject, since you need it for baby shot, most of the time you wll be very close to them, you need a big head shot, so no point 30X zoom right? but if you wanted for budget travel i would recommend you a mega zoom if DSLR is out of your budget

cheers and happy shopping!

why u need a superzoom to take photos of a baby? superzooms are useful to take photos of things which are far away from u (e.g. concerts, skodeng girls, etc). unless u're allergic to babies, u dont need a superzoom haha

you mentioned nikon v1 and j1 just now, n those are actually pretty solid models. when they came out, they got bad reviews because of their price. now they fairly affordable and good value for the performance.

however, realise that the v1 and j1 are cameras where u can change the lenses (just like DSLR), meaning they can be sold with different lenses, or even without any lenses at all. you should get the one which comes with the "10-30mm" lens. there are packages coming with a "10mm" lens or a "30-110mm" lens which i think is not really suitable for u.

they're not "too advance for a noob". even expensive DSLRs come with fully Auto mode. if u just wanna use ur camera in auto mode, so be it. they do come with better controls compared to other models, but its up to u if u wanna use it or not