Best bridge camera....any thoughts/suggestions etc....

[old dog]

hi all. My wife and I are off to GB in 7 weeks or so. I have done several trips with the D7000 and a few lenses. I`m a bit over carrying all the gear and I know that in some instances I will regret not having it with me. Julie has an older P&S ..canon Ixus IS85...which is too slow and noisy. So I`m seriously considering the panasonic FZ200....great reviews. Anybody have one? I want to be able to shoot in manual....PASM modes as well....Raw capability as that`s all I shoot now. Constant 2.8 aperture on the pana too and a pretty good zoom. Any other suggestions around the 500-600 price tag? Any input is very appreciated.

[bobt]

I had the same dilemma as I'm off later in the year as well. I'm going to be in places where I don't want to be seen carrying a huge SLR, but I still want good images.

My problem is that I absolutely hate not having a viewfinder, and I also hate electronic viewfinders. My solution was to buy the Canon G15 which was released recently. I have been very happy with it, it has an optical viewfinder (small, but better than nothing) and it has all the controls you want. Takes RAW, does everything you'll want plus a lot of things you won't want - and is now my constant companion to all those places where a large camera just isn't practical. It's also in your price range. I got a retro leather case from ebay which looks great and protects it really well (around $15) - couldn't be happier. The G series has a long pedigree for prosumer smallish cameras.

[Lurchorama]

Pentax Q?
Nikon V1?

[mudman]

i was going to suggest a panasonc fz what ever. i got the fz28 before the k7 and my only negative with it was that it was a bit small for my clumsy arthritic hands. cheers

[Darey]

Have a good look at the Panasonic Lumix DMC LX7 it is a small top notch compact.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonic-lumix-dmc-lx7/

I have a Lumix DMC LX3 and love it. It is good in low light situations and provides good quality street and landscape shots.
Enjoy your trip.

[J.davis]

Take your pick
http://snapsort.com/roundups/raw-compact-digital-cameras

[old dog]

thanks everyone. I replied to this hours ago and somehow I must have pressed the wrong button. Lucky it wasn`t the big red one...:D. I have looked at all the suggestions given above and my brain is starting to hurt. I do think the panasonic FZ200 might get the nod though. PASM modes, hotshoe, Raw capability, 3 Fn buttons, constant f2.8 aperture thru 25-600mm (35mm equivalent), 0.1s shutter lag...etc. So once again thanks.