How to compromise good sensitivity and high zoom ?

[Hallu]

I'm looking to replace my old compact Canon SX260 HS. It's been great for wildlife photography, with its 20x zoom. But after a couple of years in the bush, some scratches can't be removed, and I'd like to do better photos : more sensibility, a polarizer, etc...without losing the zoom. I don't care about weight, frankly I don't like paying extra just for compactness.

I don't want to go SLR yet (I don't have the budget anyway), and I'd like to compromise between photo quality and high zoom (at least 20x). No compact offers this, the ones that do the best photos have a 4x zoom max usually. So I'm thinking about a bridge, the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 looks nice because it offers a constant focal length ( f/2.8 ) over the whole zoom range (25 -600 mm), which is pretty rare. It's also not too expensive : about 500 $. Do you guys think it'll be a big improvement compared to the compact Canon, or should I add a couple of hundred dollars to my budget to find something better (such as ?) ? Should I buy an hybrid + lens instead ? Thanks in advance for your help.

PS : I'm also a big puzzled by prices. A compact with a smaller zoom like this one : http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/01/10 ... 1X_Preview costs much more than the FZ200 , and I don't understand that... Is it just because it's compact ? You pay for the lightweight ? That makes be a bit suspicious regarding the low price for the FZ200 actually...

[wayno]

the FZ200 has a 1/2.3" sensor
the canon has a in inch sensor which is much bigger roughly four times the size. that will have a big affect on image quality and low light performance.
i have the canon, gives very nice quality images for the size of camera. similar to a bottom end SLR camera or a good 4 thirds camera

http://www.dpreview.com/glossary/camera ... nsor-sizes

the electronics in camera can vary greatly with the processors in them and how well they process the images.
compact cameras tend to have more inferior electronics. they also tend to be slower than higher end cameras

micro four thirds sensor cameras and APS-C sensor cameras also have relatively large sensors in them, usually give pretty good quality images for the size of camera. but you'r into bulkier lenses if you want to zoom a lot with those...

[Hallu]

Well I snapped : I decided to buy the FZ200 with a Hoya CPL pro 1 polarizer. Now I'm also wondering if I should get a tripod and an ND filter as well...

[wayno]

depends how fussy you are about your zoom shots. the tripod will definitely help with image sharpness on high zoom esp in lower light.

[wildernesswanderer]

Well the polariser is going to have you lose about 1 1/3 to 1 2/3 a stop of shutter speed.

No matter what photography your into you will get better shots/sharper images with a tripod. Period.

As for a ND filter what do you want to achieve with it? Obviously again the higher the ND 400X, 1000X etc the more light you lose the slower again the shutter speed will be. I use a 1000X ND but it's only for specific shot, I want the cloud movement say on a normal bright day, blocking 10 stops of light can also make people disappear in shots. Or are you after a ND Grad, that blocks light in the top half of the image to even the exposure between foreground and sky?