Lumix camera took a dump

[Rick Bunzel]

My ZS-19 zoom locked up yesterday and looks like it won't free up. I love the 20x zoom but the camera too fragile to use as a tool. I am now using my old Olympus Camedia Ultrazoom. Its old tech but it won't die. So my friends - suggestions for a new camera that has a reasonable zoom (10X at least) and can take a beating????

//Rick

[Ken Rowe]

I've been using a Canon Powershot SX160 IS for the past year and a half without any issues. 16x optical zoom with 4x digital zoom. Auto-macro for close up pictures of data plates works very well.

[Raymond Wand]

My personal preference in a camera is one that does not have an extendable lense simply because they can be knocked out of alignment very easily. Prefer digital zoom rather than an optical zoom and a camera which is drop proof and water proof due to the environs we as inspectors work in.

Also like the Sony Cyber-shot 18.2MP Waterproof Digital Camera because it has a lense door.
or
Olympus 16MP Waterproof Digital Camera
or
Other such type camera.

[Jack Feldmann]

I have a stack of broken Panasonic's, and two are out to Square Trade for warranty repair. The zooms just do not hold up. However, I love the camera.
On Black Friday I bought two Samsung cameras because they had a good zoom (paid about 25% of full price). I didn't look close enough to the specs (bought on line) to see the flash is a flip up type. It has great features, but it also does not hold up to crawlspaces and attics (they just don't like dust).
I may end up going with an underwater type camera for crawlspaces and attics, and use the great zoom for the rest of the stuff.
I don't like Sony's because they do not sync with Apple products easily.
I also have a small Canon, but not crazy about the buttons.

I carry 3 to 4 cameras in my car, in case they break, and will pick up a new one when I see a good price on one that has a great zoom. If a cameras lasts more than a year, I feel I am ahead of the game.

I just wish they would all start using the same cable.

[Raymond Wand]

Jack

Have you tried one of these type products?
Eye-Fi Products: Compare WiFi Cards: the Pro X2 and Mobi | Eye-Fi

[John Kogel]

I get a year or more out of the cheapest Nikon Coolpix and I search for the ones that take AA's. That way I always have recharged batteries or spare AA's.
I could break more expensive cameras but prefer to break the cheaper ones.

[Dom D'Agostino]

Most of the inexpensive small digital cameras are gone; the market was decimated by smartphones.

What you choose, buy a few.

I'm using a Sony DSC-H90, love the automatic macro, one less button to fiddle with. Have 2 of them. I used to use Canon. they were OK and lasted about 1-1.5 years before the lens stops retracting.

Dom.

[Scott Patterson]

About the best type of camera we can use would be any of the waterproof, dust proof, shockproof and just all around crud proof cameras. I have a Nikon waterproof and it has outlasted anything I have had in the past. Zooms are not huge but wok fine, I think it is a 10x.

[Russel Ray]

During the real estate boom when I had nine employees, I think I was buying a new camera every other week. Someone would break theirs, drop it, step on it, sit on it, crawl on it, leave it behind, have it stolen, probably even selling some on eBay.

We went through GE, Sony, Nikon, Canon, HP, and probably some others. Even the one I used, the GE, didn't last as long as I wanted, and I take very good care of my own equipment.

Thus, a couple of years after the Great Recession, now with me being the only employee of my company, I switched to a DSLR, a Canon Rebel XSi. I use a 28-300mm Tamron lens with it. I can take complete pictures of large homes or close-ups of the top of the chimney 50 feet up there.

When I get home, I can take the pictures to Photoshop CC and zoom in even closer so that it looks like I'm but two feet away.

I did drop the Rebel and lens from a roof one time. Better the camera than me, I thought. It's like the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going and going and going. It now has 357,712 shutter actuations on it, and nary a problem with the camera or the lens.

I paid $649 for the camera and $259 for the lens, and they have lasted me for five years now, which translates into about 3,000 inspections and over 50,000 pictures.

[Ken Amelin]

I use a weatherproof Lumix TMZ. No moving parts, water proof, dust proof, drop proof, and they work outside in freezing weather. GREAT CAMERAS. They have 5X zoom which works just fine for me. With the higher resolution cameras today you can digital zoom it-up pretty good using photo shop or other.

Those retractable Zoom type stop working if they get sand in them, freeze up in rain, and don't like the cold. I've been through many cameras and for me the weatherproof type is the only way to go.

[Ted Menelly]

I use my galaxy note 3 telephone for most pictures today. I have a Sony for zooming in and backup. the phone takes amazing pictures and is protected from those nasty places

[Thomas McKay]

Had the exact same problem with the Lumix now using a Cannon ELPH 115 IS, very cheep and small. So far so good.

[Don Hester]

I shoot a Canon SX40 (35x) for outside long distance shots and then my Canon Powershot D20 (water and dust proof) for interior, crawl and attic. Both have been very durable cameras and I am not easy on them.

[JB Thompson]

I have a lumix though I'm not sure the model. Its one of the waterproof ones. It locked up a few months ago. The interior zoom was stuck. After finishing the inspection with my extra "throw down" camera, I took the lumix and hit it on the countertop a few times. Its worked ever since. .

[Rick Bunzel]

Thanks all - After looking everything over I am going with go with Nikon Coolpix.

[Fred Herndon]

Thanks all - After looking everything over I am going with go with Nikon Coolpix.

Rick,
I have had the Nikon and it is just not designed for the way I use cameras. Mine survived about 6 months. I am now on my second Olympus TG 820. It is, in my opinion the perfect camera for me. I would still be using the first if it hadn't been left on the tailgate of my truck one night. I found it the next day, run over by cars, rained on, and was still able to open the thing and retrieve the SD card with my pictures from the inspection. It is waterproof down to 30' and has a 20X digital zoom (optical to 5X), and recharges from the USB on my computer when I am downloading pictures. Cost about $250.00 at Best Buy.

[Terry Beck]

Canon, Canon, and Canon, I only buy Canon. Have had several. Great lenses. The Canon Rebel mentioned above is too much of a camera for home inspection work. My current main camera is a couple of years old, SX30-IS. Super resolution even tho I only shoot a low setting. Wide angle for shooting the attic, crawlspace, whole rooms, etc, and a bright flash for attics and crawlspaces, and an incredible telephoto (don't remember the actual number, but can shoot top of chimney on 2-story home and it looks like you are 6 inches away. All my Canons have been pretty durable, dropped them several times. And you are correct, that the dust, dirt, and insulation fibers get into the zoom mechanisms and eventually destroy the gears. My only complaint is the battery for the SX30 is proprietary, and costs about $70. After a year or so, it can't last through a big house (I average over 200 shots a house for documentation - it has come in handy in a few cases). But it can do a fake re-charge in about 10 min.

You should ALWAYS have a back up, mine is a Canon SX120 IS, about 1/3 the price of the SX30, but still capable (no wide angle lens), and better at close-up than the SX30.

My main advice is to get them at Best Buy, and purchase their extended warranty. Because I KNOW that I will destroy my camera within a year or two. I turn it in to Best Buy, then they say it is too old to fix, so I get a NEW camera under the extended warranty. Pay $70 for the new extended warranty and getting a top quality new camera for free sounds good to me.

Don't know about other brands, but one feature on both my Canon's is an auto feature for snow scenes. Works great, especially when we've had so much snow this year.

[Fidel Gonzales]

My ZS-19 zoom locked up yesterday and looks like it won't free up. I love the 20x zoom but the camera too fragile to use as a tool. I am now using my old Olympus Camedia Ultrazoom. Its old tech but it won't die. So my friends - suggestions for a new camera that has a reasonable zoom (10X at least) and can take a beating????

//Rick

Sometimes removing the battery may reset the lens. Good luck

[Lon Henderson]

I have an older Fuji Finepix F200 EXR. So, far so good, Only dropped it once, but it was a very bad drop onto concrete. Fits in the pocket easily, and easier to use than my iphone camera. Great low light photos, and a decent flash.

[Scott West]

Thanks all - After looking everything over I am going with go with Nikon Coolpix.

I wouldn't. I have used Nikon for the last 8 years. Every year they are getting cheaper and don't least nearly long enough. Bought two in November, just got the one out of the shop that was in since the end of Jan. The other one had the exact same issue within 2 week of use. After a bit of complaining at the store, they allowed me to replace it with a canon sx280HS . Now that is a great camera!

[Neal Williams]

As a wholesaler I have gone through lots of cameras. My experience, which is only based on my individual experience with individual cameras is that Lumix and Canon are the best. Olympus still uses an XD card instead of SD as far as I know, which is a pain. Nikon and Panasonic break down quickly.

[JB Thompson]

As a wholesaler I have gone through lots of cameras. My experience, which is only based on my individual experience with individual cameras is that Lumix and Canon are the best. Olympus still uses an XD card instead of SD as far as I know, which is a pain. Nikon and Panasonic break down quickly.

Lumix is a Panasonic model. I've had two panasonics and yes, the first one broke down but I got 2 years out of it and used it a lot everyday. Hard to say how long they should last. My current Panasonic lumix had an issue (described above), but one good bang on the counter corrected that

[David Bertrams]

I have used several makes and like the Nikon Coolpix S9500 wide angle 22X optical zoom. It is a few years old and the latest may have a different number. I have a S9100 that locks up if I zoom out to the limit of the optical zoom. To correct it, all I have to do is shut it off.