Any love for Bridge Cameras?
 

I'm thinking about the Panasonic Lumix FZ80/82. Anyone have any experience with it, or similar bridge's.
I like the idea of the HUGE zoom, upto 4k video and reasonably small size. Yea I know that bridge cameras are a bit of an overblown compact. Smaller sensor and never be as good as DSLR or mirrorless. All that stuff, I get it.
But truth be told I won't be submitting stuff to National Geographic. It's just for my pleasure, the usual social media circle and maybe even the odd shot or clip on assorted forums to bore everyone.
Discuss.

I've borrowed a Sony RX10 for a weekend. It was nice, I can certainly see the appeal, but you quickly run into the limitations of compromise... you keep wanting more of the direct control of a DSLR or mirrorless (and the big-sensor benefits) if you're carrying something that size. A mirrorless with a long zoom lens is not physically larger - just more expensive and cumbersome to change back to wide-angle mode.

So, there's a place for bridge cameras, but you have to REALLY care about zoom. If you're into e.g. architecture photography and want to take close-ups of details high up on a building from the street - it's great.

Cheers both of you. I have decided to go with the Panasonic. Here in the UK its price has just been reduced, so even more of a bargain. I would love to go for a RX10, but just can't justify the cost against how often it would be used.

I use a Panasonic Fz200 ... if you want to get photos of wildlife you need a long zoom with a fast lens .. this gives you 600mm at F2.7 which is reasonable. Given size, weigh, controls and price I am happy with it.

What it lacks is timed repeat exposures and those can be had from a remote trigger off ebay. Full control over exposures, aperture, focus, time, ASA, exposure bracketing, HDR.

Looks like the FZ330 is the current version of your camera. Nice, but I struggled to justify the extra cost. I did end up buying an FZ82 this week, and been really impressed with what it can do so far. I don't have the fold-out screen of the 330, which is a shame, but i'll live without it. On paper the 330 has some better spec/options, but for me they get offset by the better pixel count and longer zoom that I have.