Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

[patmoore]

We just returned from a weekend trip to South Carolina where got to spend some time with my folks (both in their 90s) and my oldest daughter, her husband, and our three grandsons. As expected we took a lot of shots and happily nearly all of the shots were saved on my laptop. When we got home we discovered that I had managed to lose my wife's camera (a Canon Digital Elph) on the flight home.

We're heading out tomorrow for the Pacific Northwest and I'd like to replace the camera. What are your recommendations?

We only paid $179 for the last one and it took excellent shots and acceptable video. The optical zoom worked fine too. She'd like something comparable that isn't too complicated to use.

One of my daughters has a Lumix and is very happy with it but I understand they are a little pricier.

One Lumix model that is coming out in June looks intriguing. The LZ30 has a 35X optical zoom.

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

That's a shame - my daughter left her phone on a flight to Geneva earlier this year but it was successfully recovered and stored in the lost property office until she returned home.

There are a lot of compact models being discounted heavily now because the market for compacts has collapsed. Panasonic have some excellent travel zoom models with advanced features like WiFi, touch screens and GPS. I think US model names re different from the UK but last year's TZ30 model might be a bargain now?

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Right - I believe the US model name is the ZS20:

http://astore.amazon.com/digitalphot00-20/detail/B00728ZBA2

Ian

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Thanks Ian!

I'm at 34,000 feet over Kansas at the moment (gotta love in-flight WiFi). The town we're going to in the state of Washington has a Walmart that carries Lumix cameras. I'll check it out.

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Walmart only has the Lumix available for online ordering so we picked a Canon. It took great shots but went through Double A batteries ridiculously fast. I had the same problem with a Canon a couple years ago. We'll return to the store and order a Lumix.

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

AA batteries - don't use disposables, even alkalines. They can't deliver enough current. NiMH rechargeables should work OK. But I think you will like the Lumix.

Ian

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Update: We returned the Canon.

I really liked the writeups of the various Lumix models but most were out of my price range. I did find a refurbished Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS10 on eBay and had the winning bid at $99. It has a 30 day guarantee and the seller has a good feedback score.

I'm really looking forward to trying it out. The lens (Leica 24mm wide angle and 16x optical zoom) has very good reviews and I like that it has 1080 video.

We have an upcoming trip to London and Dublin and I'm sure the new camera will get a lot of use.

Thanks for suggesting Lumix!

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Hey Pat - sounds like a bargain! When are you coming to London - I hope I we can meet up!

Ian

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

It would be great to meet you! Do you live in London?

We're on a tight schedule and are traveling with a couple who have never been to London before plus we're going to hook up with my London-based daughter and her husband. We fly into Southend-On-Sea the afternoon of Wednesday, July 31st and take the train to London. We depart for Dublin the morning of Saturday, August 3rd. In between, we'll be doing a lot of sightseeing. We'd like to show our friends the Tower of London and the British Museum. We may even try to visit the Harry Potter exhibit.

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Hi Pat, the Harry Potter exhibition is quite near us - we are in north west of London just outside the M25 (the orbital motorway (freeway) of London).

I'd be delighted to take some time off to meet up and show you around. I know just how valuable local knowledge can be

There is a chance we may be out of the country at the end of July, but nothing is confirmed.

Interesting that you are arriving at Southend, which is a small provincial airport... where are you flying from?

Ian

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Wow! That's a generous offer. We're meeting with the other couple tomorrow night to plan our itinerary while over there. I'd like to see the Harry Potter exhibit but need to see how the others feel.

Re: Southend. Aer Lingus has us flying from Boston to Dublin and then on to Southend. They subsequently canceled that flight and have rescheduled our connection to Southend after a five hour delay in Dublin. We'll take the train in to London. The return a few days later is on the weekend so my daughter can drive us.

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

We waited too long to get tickets to Harry Potter. Will have to do it on a subsequent trip.

The Lumix arrived in fine shape. I'm still learning it but I'm dazzled with the 16xoptical zoom. Here are two comparison shots. The first wasn't even fully pulled back. The other is max zoom. You have to look hard to see the marquee sign over my minivan in the first photo. Both shots were handheld.

[Ian]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Glad it looks like you made the right choice, Pat Will your wife get to use it?

Ian

[patmoore]

Re: Managed to lose the wife's Point-And-Shoot

Glad it looks like you made the right choice, Pat Will your wife get to use it?

Ian

Not as of yet! I tried a few shots with it this past weekend. This is Bushnell Park in downtown Hartford, CT