Better than iphone camera for daughter travelling

[Harleyboy]

Morning,
My daughter is off to South Africa for a month on a game reserve to be followed by another stint travelling in the summer. She wants a better camera than her iphone 6s. We have an old Lumix TZ5 which ive just dug out of the drawer. Would this be better than the phone? It has a good zoom but must be 10 years old.

Would she be better spending £300 on a new compact travel camera with a good zoom? If so, is a newer version of the Lumix a good bet? The TZ200 looks great but is too much.

Space wise, it needs to be compact.

Thanks
Adam

[Tony1963]

If your daughter is going to be taking photos of wild animals, then she will want a big zoom, with at least 300mm ish equivalent to 35mm at the long end. So, I’m guessing a ‘bridge’ camera will be best, maybe a used one. Easy to use, reasonable quality images.

[Harleyboy]

Thanks - will take an eBay browse

[leggly]

I'd stick with an Iphone if she's not seriously into photography.

[Sheetmaself]

I bought a Panasonic fz-330 very happy with it, might be a little more than your budget but i would suggest worth it. Nice and compact but with a good zoom lens and a quick focus. Plenty of manual options to play with if you want but also very good just left in manual. Mine replaced a Canon SLR which whilst better in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, for someone like me who wants to point and shoot but wants a better camera with a good zoom it seems to be good.

Other option at this price point appeared to be the Nikon which has a far stronger zoom but the focus is a lot slower and not as good in low light.

[henrycrun]

look for one of the Canon compacts - Powershot SX7XX series with 40x zoom

[Tony1963]

leggly said:

I'd stick with an Iphone if she's not seriously into photography.

An iPhone would be useless for photographing animals. I love my iPhone XS, and the camera gets used a lot, but I'd never recommend it for any holiday more demanding than a typical tourist experience.

Yet!

[satans worm]

If it’s a one off rent it, better rent a good camera for the period than buy one that maybe won’t do what you want any home.
Just a thought

[Tony1963]

satans worm said:

If it’s a one off rent it, better rent a good camera for the period than buy one that maybe won’t do what you want any home.
Just a thought

Great, except people need time to learn even basic functions of a camera. That’s not ideal at all, and is it even possible to rent anything less than a dSLR?

[Tony1963]

Take a look at the Panasonic TZ80, £250 or less, huge zoom range, fits in a pocket.

[Harleyboy]

Thanks everyone. Have narrowed it down to LUMIX TZ90 compact for 260 after cashback or an FZ80 which has a 60x zoom and is a bridge camera. Both have similar specs other than the zoom. Can’t decide but she gues Sunday so need to make a decision! Think bigger zoom better for life on a game reserve

[Tony1963]

Let's hope she has a great time and wears the camera out.

[Ultuous]

I started out with an FZ series camera before moving on to DSLR... People tend(ed at least) to look down upon it in terms of being compact image quality for close to SLR size, but IMHO having the viewfinder to frame long shots made it a decent proposition for wildlife type stuff without investing in more expensive gear!

[anonymous-user]

Why not just go and enjoy the experience instead of feeling the need to document it at that level and lug all the kit around. Plenty of pictures on line of wild life better than she will ever take. Enjoy her holiday 1st hand instead of fumbling for the camera everytime something happens.

[alock]

When on the safari, identify the guy in your group with the big camera and lenses who takes photography seriously. Offer him £100 to email you his best 10 pictures after the holiday.

You get pictures of the trip better than you would take, and you get to enjoy the experience.

[Tony1963]

MikeStroud said:

Why not just go and enjoy the experience instead of feeling the need to document it at that level and lug all the kit around.

Really? Have you seen the cameras the op has shortlisted? And if she’s not going to take a camera she’ll be advised to take binoculars anyway.

[Harleyboy]

I’m a little surprised about some responses. I’m talking about one camera, not multiple lenses and tripods etc. I guess she could just google some animal images and save the hassle of going at all? I can’t believe many people go on holiday or a trip and just rely on their memories. Hard to show your family what you’ve seen.

My daughter is a on a month long vet work experience trip so not a safari as such. This might mean she gets some unusual photo opportunities. She was the one who said she would rather have a decent camera to capture some images she may never repeat.

Anyway, your input is appreciated and we are off to John Lewis tomorrow to check the two options out.

[TheRainMaker]

I know it’s not anywhere near your budget, but the new Sony rx100 has an epic zoom for the size.

I would avoid any type of system, bridge or dslr set up, far to big and bulky.

[Tony1963]

TheRainMaker said:

I know it’s not anywhere near your budget, but the new Sony rx100 has an epic zoom for the size.

I would avoid any type of system, bridge or dslr set up, far to big and bulky.

For you

[TheRainMaker]

Tony1963 said:

TheRainMaker said:

I would avoid any type of system, bridge or dslr set up, far to big and bulky.

For you

Not for me, for the OP who wants a compact camera.