Re: Opinions on Panasonic FZ30K?



Scott Speck wrote:

David,

You have raised a couple points -- that add-on lens is outrageously huge on the Sony. I suppose that I'm lamenting that I can't "have it all" with a non-dSLR digital camera. Believe it or not, I've even thought of getting TWO FZ20's, since they've really come down in price. My wife wants to shoot a lot of macro pictures, but I'm wondering if the FZ30 gives you that much more beyond the FZ20. For example, can you focus the FZ20 or the FZ30 manually? In general, I'm not a major "megapixel junkie".

One camera I've read rave reviews about, but it's hard to find and it's internal electronics might be outdated, is a Panasonis/Leica collaboration that Leica marketed for about $1900 and Panasonic for about $1500 that every reviewer claimed gave awesome pictures. Of course, no high-zoom, anti-shake, etc.

Maybe the low-light issue really isn't that much of an issue for me.

As you can see, I'm a bit confused...

-Scott


"David J Taylor" <david-taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:UrP8f.140197$G8.30464@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott Speck wrote:

David, thanks very much for all the info.  At this point, I've nearly
totally NIXED the FZ30, after I heard that it's biggest downfall is
its image quality and noise levels (which to me are of major
importance).  When I read about the Sony dsc-r1, it sounds pretty
nice.  With the larger CMOS detector, noise is lower, and it has a
large-aperture Zeiss lens, so this should be good for low-light
levels.  It has no anti-shake, but does it have good macro
capability, for closeups of things like flowers and insects?  It also
has a heavy look and feel, a swiveling monitor, etc.  It has less
zoom and no anti-shake compared to the FZ30, but I have a super-light
tripod that I can carry around with ease when it comes to anti-shake,
and I think I could do much better evening/city photography with the
Sony.
Thanks for any info,
Scott

Well, I have seen reports from satisfied FZ30 users who think that the noise is not as much of a problem as some reviews might lead you to believe. Don't be mislead by looking at samples at 1:1 zoom on your monitor - it's probably the equivalent of making a print 30 inches wide! By comparison with the Panasonic, the Sony is a monster without the 10X zoom and image stabilisation which were so important to you - or so I thought. Look at the size of the add-on lenses The lens on the Sony has a smaller aperture (f/4,8) than the Leica lens on the Panasonic FZ20 (f/2.8) or FZ30 (f/3.7).

Maybe:

http://dpnow.com/2113.html
http://dpnow.com//images/news-dsc-r1d.jpg

appeals to you - but it's exactly /why/ I moved away from last century's 35mm format!

I thought there was a good evening shot with the Panasonic FZ30 as one of the samples? Just don't use the higher ISO settings unless the grain (noise) will add to the character of your photo.

To me, they are two different cameras aimed at different markets. Only you can really decide which best meets your aims.

David

Don't be spooked by the noise mantra regarding the FZ 20/30.
Noise can be a problem for ANY small-sensor camera in low light/high ISO situations. However the FZ15/20, for instance, have a very respectable f2.8 aperture at ALL apertures. That means good light gathering ability, especially at 12x Zoom. (No other camera matches it) Also, image stabilization will let you shoot at 1/8th the speed that you would need for a camera w/o image stabilization. That means the Image Stabilized FZ 15/20 can collect 8X as many photons as a non-image stabilized camera at the same f-stop and ISO setting.
I've had a FZ 15 for nearly a year and it is the most versatile digital camera I ever owned.
Bob Williams

.

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