Looking for a new camera to take to Africa. I don't think we will ever progress to the stage of using many manual settings, so think a DSLR might be overkill. Good zoom, image stabilization, and ability to take many frames per second are probably most important factors along with quality pictures. We went to Best Buy today and saw two radically different cameras that caught our eye. First a Canon SX60 with tremendous zoom but a little concerned about action pix and second a Sony A6000 mirrorless DSLR with a 16-55 lens and ability to add 50-210 lens. This camera shot 11 frames per second and was, according to salesman, very good in low light.

Any thoughts on these two cameras? What is so good about mirrorless? Recommendations for other cameras we should consider?

thanks,

Marc

Marc,

I'm not familiar with the two cameras you saw at Best Buy so I'll leave comments about them to others. I do know that they are larger and heavier than I prefer.

Last month I purchased a new camera for Africa. It was a Panasonic Lumix ZS50. It has a 30x optical zoom (24-720mm), six shot bursts at 10fps, and does well in low light. It goes from full auto to full manual. It is smaller, weighs less and costs less than the other two cameras you saw. I'm very happy with the camera and think it will be perfect for ZEBRA 3. Here's a review I found that will give you more details about the camera: ZS50 review

I love my panasonic cameras. My current favorite, which I used on SPICE, is the Panasonic FZ1000. Great image quality, can take shots from macro to 400mm zoom without changing lenses, and has a high burst rate. It's a little large and can't be put in a pocket but it's smaller and lighter than a DSLR. The panasonic FZ200 is also a great camera. It has a bit more zoom and is great in low light. Both can be set to auto and let the camera decide all the settings or full manual control. Both shoot RAW. The FZ1000 shoots 4K video and you can get very nice 10mp stills from the video. It's almost like unlimited 30 frames per second burst rate.

Marc, I have the XS-50 and love it. It is absolutely the next best thing to DSLR. So the XS-60 is probably a step better.

Dave, Laurie, and Pam; thanks for the recommendations. We are still undecided but leaning towards the Canon; will decide in the next week.

Again, thanks,

Marc

Marc, I also have a Canon SX50 - it worked really well in Africa for big zoom shots; not so good in low light, but I got better with it as the week progressed.

Marc, Check out the Sony Cybershot HD. It's great in low light. Ours is a 35X optical zoom and I think they now have 50 or 60X. It takes really clear pictures.