Bridging the camera gap

My 7 year old compact camera has been failing for a while and I've had my dSLR (both are Canons) for almost 5 years. The former is not going to survive our trip to the USA and the latter, though I love it, is so bulky and heavy and to get any decent zoom needs a bag full of accompanying lenses all of which adds up to a lot of weighty kit to carry around and far too much fiddling when travelling.

So, I've just drawn breath (it's not cheap) and bought myself a 'bridge' camera. For those not in the know (and I certainly wasn't until recently when I was talking to a camera enthusiast friend who had just bought one), these little cameras are technically pitched half way between the small compact cameras so many of us have that slip into handbag or pocket and the much more powerful and sophisticated dSLRs with their complicated gadgetry.

At least, I that is the thinking behind them.

But I find a lot has happened in camera technology since I was last looking. Now I have my 'bridge' - a Panasonic Lumix FZ200 - I find I own a quite extraordinary piece of technology - a great surprise to me. It is small enough to fit into the palm of my had (though a bit weightily, I admit), has an amazing Leica lens and enough technical gadgetry to keep the most avid of amateur photographers happy.


It has many features, in fact, that I don't have on my big Canon dSLR. With its megazoom lens (25 to 600mm) it's capable of wide angle and telephoto shots without changing the lens and much in-camera playing with images after they are taken.

I'm assured by my friend (who knows about these things), it will make an excellent, adaptable holiday camera and, I suspect, as I'm not anywhere near as expert in these matters as he is, it will probably satisfy most of my camera needs when I return.

I have played a little with the camera since it arrived last week and the photos I've taken seem wonderfully sharp and the colour good - but there is so much to learn and get used to.

Watch this space!