Panasonic FZ150 (13 Viewers)

[Dave Hawkins]

Here are a few images with the camera taken a few weeks ago in NE India. For the birder who wants a smallish lightweight camera with huge zoom and attendant working image stabilisation this is the one to go for!

It allows me to remain a birder first and foremost BUT pull in those record shots!

Some of these birds were a long way off almost all were at 600mm zoom and all were hand held. Set correctly you can focus right in on the bird without intervening vegeation getting in the way. It performs well in low light, as the spotted laughingthrush and plain backed thrush images show...on both ocasions the light was pretty poor .

Dave

 

[Sc0tty]

Nice shots Dave. You make a convincing argument for me to buy one of these cameras.

 

[scodgerott]

Excellent results Dave. It is a very good camera and I am very happy with mine.

 

[Neil]

Here are a few images with the camera taken a few weeks ago in NE India. For the birder who wants a smallish lightweight camera with huge zoom and attendant working image stabilisation this is the one to go for!

It allows me to remain a birder first and foremost BUT pull in those record shots!

Some of these birds were a long way off almost all were at 600mm zoom and all were hand held. Set correctly you can focus right in on the bird without intervening vegeation getting in the way. It performs well in low light, as the spotted laughingthrush and plain backed thrush images show...on both ocasions the light was pretty poor .

Dave

Dave,
Very nice images.
The Panasonic doesn't have a "huge" zoom though. The Canon SX40HS is 840 mm, the Nikon P500 is 810 mm and the new Nikon P510 is 1000 mm.
Where will they go from here?
Neil

 

[Dave Hawkins]

Dave,
Very nice images.
The Panasonic doesn't have a "huge" zoom though. The Canon SX40HS is 840 mm, the Nikon P500 is 810 mm and the new Nikon P510 is 1000 mm.
Where will they go from here?
Neil

I agonized for ages over the SX40HS before buying the FZ150. At the time there seemed to be more +ve comments on the FZ150. I haven't read about the Nikon. The extra zoom sounds brilliant but how effective is the image stabilisation?

The biggest let down fo me with the FZ150 is the way the focus area switches back to default when switched off.

Dave

 

[njlarsen]

Dave,
Very nice images.
The Panasonic doesn't have a "huge" zoom though. The Canon SX40HS is 840 mm, the Nikon P500 is 810 mm and the new Nikon P510 is 1000 mm.
Where will they go from here?
Neil

Neil,
A while back there were a few threads about focusing problems with the P100 superzoom, presumably caused by the smallest available focusing area being so large that is was difficult to avoid focusing on leaves etc. I believe I have read similar things about the V1. How does the P500/P510 work in that context, do you know?

(for comparison, that has been one of the strengths of my old FZ18)

Niels

 

[Davecr24]

Dave, if you want the extra zoom try the panny 1.7x convertor i've been using one for 5 years now firstly with an fz 28 then with fz 100 and now with my fz 150 it converts from a 600mm to a 1040mm i highly recomend it although i still haven't manage to properly try it with the fz 150 yet but i'm itching to get out with it.............

 

[gymagdi]

Language

Hello!

I have a new FZ150. But unfortunatelly, it hasn't Hungarian language (only English, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol, Italiano, Japanese). I'm not too good in these languages. Can you help me, how can I set up Hungarian language?

Thank you for your help!

Magdi

 

[njlarsen]

Magdi,
I cannot help you, but I can express my Welcome to Birdforum!

Niels

 

[scodgerott]

Hello!

I have a new FZ150. But unfortunatelly, it hasn't Hungarian language (only English, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol, Italiano, Japanese). I'm not too good in these languages. Can you help me, how can I set up Hungarian language?

Thank you for your help!

Magdi

I'm not sure anyone other than another Hungarian can help you Magdi, but I would suggest you try Panasonic Customer Support. You should be able to find it through the Panasonic web site and see if they can offer you any solution.

 

[GYRob]

Hello!

I have a new FZ150. But unfortunatelly, it hasn't Hungarian language (only English, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol, Italiano, Japanese). I'm not too good in these languages. Can you help me, how can I set up Hungarian language?

Thank you for your help!

Magdi

i just found this list of the language's, it looks like you need panosonic web site in your country
Rob
English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Netherlandic, Thai, Korean, Turkish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Greek
* Check the website of Panasonic sales company in your country / region or ask customer support for details of the OSD language available on the products sold in your country / region.
Eddit this may help .
Panasonic Electric Works Europe AG
Hungarian Representative Office
Neumann J. u. 1.
1117 Budapest
Hungary
Tel.: +36 1 999 8926 +36 1 999 8926
Fax: +36 1 999 8927

 

[RussB]

Here are a few images with the camera taken a few weeks ago in NE India. For the birder who wants a smallish lightweight camera with huge zoom and attendant working image stabilisation this is the one to go for!

It allows me to remain a birder first and foremost BUT pull in those record shots!

Some of these birds were a long way off almost all were at 600mm zoom and all were hand held. Set correctly you can focus right in on the bird without intervening vegeation getting in the way. It performs well in low light, as the spotted laughingthrush and plain backed thrush images show...on both ocasions the light was pretty poor .

Dave

Hi Dave,

Excellent shots from a piece of kit I'm constantly thinking of getting. We're planning a trip to N India next winter and as my usual method of recording the experience - field sketching -is usually very limited due to time constraints one of these prove to be a valuable tool.
These shots are whetting my appetite already!

Regards

Russ

 

[RussB]

Hi,
Just read Birdwatch magazine's review of the Leica V Lux 3. It rates the camera as excellent. I assume it's the FZ150 with the more desireable badge - the same as Skoda and Seat are basically Volkswagens, but cheaper.
Is it, for all intents and purposes, an FZ150? If so, why didn't Birdwatch mention this? Sponsorship no doubt.
I'm thinking of Swarovski gear here, which is first class, but if they released two stuck-together bog rolls wth cling film over the ends would Birdwatch still give them a rave review?
Probably

Cheers

Russ

 

[njlarsen]

I have no real knowledge about the camera in question, but would like to remind that on my older FZ18 the lens is labeled Leica and the same is the case for several of the higher quality lenses from panasonic in the m4/3 lineup.

Niels

 

[Jim M.]

Hi,
Just read Birdwatch magazine's review of the Leica V Lux 3. It rates the camera as excellent. I assume it's the FZ150 with the more desireable badge

You are correct according to this article, the panny and the Leica are essentially the same camera: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397381,00.asp The article says the Leica has a longer warranty (2 yrs vs. 1 yr) and more bundled software (including Photoshop Elements), together with a few cosmetic changes. But the big difference is the price: Leica goes for almost twice as much: $949 vs. $499 for panny. Ouch!

Jim

 

[njlarsen]

Well, according to European Union rules, anything bought within EU borders have effectively 2 years warranty, including Pana products.

(and as a side note, that is one of several things where Apple is getting in trouble with European regulators)

Niels

 

[Hobbes2]

What bag for FZ150 with 1.7 converter attached?

Well, I have succumbed . Just taken delivery of my new FZ150 and adapter so that I can effectively use it as a super-long lens with my 1.7x teleconverter. I really like my G3 with 100-300mm lens but for shots of distant birds, it fails. I needed the extra reach. The battery is charging and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

One question, has anyone got any suggestions for the most compact/lightest bag for carrying the FZ150 with 1.7x converter attached, please? So far, the Lowepro Nova 180 AW or 190 AW (http://products.lowepro.com/product/Nova-180-AW,2105,20.htm or http://products.lowepro.com/product/Nova-190-AW,2106,20.htm) may do the trick or the Lowepro Stealth Reporter D100 AW (http://products.lowepro.com/product/Stealth-Reporter D100 AW,2044.htm), although that is a little on the heavy side.

Many thanks
Hobbes

 

[Wildmoreway]

Hi,
Just read Birdwatch magazine's review of the Leica V Lux 3. It rates the camera as excellent. I assume it's the FZ150 with the more desireable badge - the same as Skoda and Seat are basically Volkswagens, but cheaper.
Is it, for all intents and purposes, an FZ150? If so, why didn't Birdwatch mention this? Sponsorship no doubt.
I'm thinking of Swarovski gear here, which is first class, but if they released two stuck-together bog rolls wth cling film over the ends would Birdwatch still give them a rave review?
Probably

Cheers

Russ

The Camera is simply a rebadged FZ150, there will be some firmware differences to make it appear different to its Pansonic sibling. Part of the issue is that in Germany people do still tend to buy German products (or what they think are German products). It would be intersting to see whether the image filenames are prefixed with a "p", if so then the firmware will most likely also be Panasonic's. There will also doubtless be internal features to prevent people from downloading Leica branded firmware into the Panasonic and vice versa.

There are a couple of reasons why the Leica will be more expensive. 1) Leica will have higher profit margin. 2) The market at which the Leica is aimed is one where supposed "higher quality" brand names are more important.

There is unlikely to be any actual difference in quality between the two cameras.

 

[mosaicwendy]

Hello...

It's been a while since I posted - the problems I was having with my shoulder spread to my hands and became Rheumatoid Arthritis - so not great news for trying to handle a camera!

But... when we had the nice week of weather me and my husband went to a local owl sanctuary and I had a really great few hours playing with the FZ150 - still not got to grips with capturing a bird in flight, which I'd dearly love to do.

Please can you share what settings you use - I've tried using the sports mode, not too confident about trying the shutter speed yet...

Anyway, I've attached a three of the many photos I took at the sanctuary - I love the one with the owl with it's wings outspread, it makes me smile every time I look at it. The owl was on a post and when it saw my husband (who is very tall) spread it's wings as wide as it could - I think it was trying to say "I'm as big as you mate - come over here if you think you're hard enough"...

Hope you are all well and enjoying the spring sunshine!

Wendy

 

[scodgerott]

The Camera is simply a rebadged FZ150, there will be some firmware differences to make it appear different to its Pansonic sibling. Part of the issue is that in Germany people do still tend to buy German products (or what they think are German products). It would be intersting to see whether the image filenames are prefixed with a "p", if so then the firmware will most likely also be Panasonic's. There will also doubtless be internal features to prevent people from downloading Leica branded firmware into the Panasonic and vice versa.

There are a couple of reasons why the Leica will be more expensive. 1) Leica will have higher profit margin. 2) The market at which the Leica is aimed is one where supposed "higher quality" brand names are more important.

There is unlikely to be any actual difference in quality between the two cameras.

I did see a review on the Leica somewhere and the reviewer commented that the auto focus seemed much slower on the Leica than the Panasonic and thought there may be some underskin differences. Based on the fact that the auto focus seemed slow, I would declare the FZ150 the better and cheaper camera.