• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

FZ200 and G5 announced (3 Viewers)

One of the things that made me make the step up from FZ18 to a m43 was the lack of low light ability (for example a bird in undergrowth in a dark rainforest). Even though superzooms have improved I am not sure they have closed the gap.

Thats a good point. I have to say, using my FZ38 I tend to only bother when the light is good.
 
From the DPReview preview of the FZ200

On paper the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 is the most exciting superzoom camera we have seen in a long time and is bound to stir things up in this segment of the market. We're looking forward to getting our hands on and shooting with a full production unit.

Niels

Here is the link http://www.dpreview.com/previews/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz200/

A further excerpt:
However, with Lumix DMC-FZ200, Panasonic has executed a veritable engineering coup by creating the first Lumix superzoom since 2004's FZ20 to come with a F2.8 maximum aperture across the entire zoom range. And, unlike the 12x, 36-432mmm equivalent range of the FZ20, the FZ200 maintains F2.8 on a 24x, 25-600mm equivalent lens.

In combination with the newly-developed 12MP MOS sensor, this makes the FZ200, at least on paper, by far the best choice in the superzoom segment for low light shooting. That large aperture allows it to offer faster shutter speeds at the same ISO settings as its peers, or use lower sensitivities at the same shutter speeds as the competition.
Sounds very interesting indeed for bird photography. They also praise the new EVF.

Jim
 
Last edited:
Thats a good point. I have to say, using my FZ38 I tend to only bother when the light is good.

I agree with Niels on that point; didn't mention it because assumed that was what you were referring to by better image quality in the m4/3 in your original post.

Jim
 
Thats a good point. I have to say, using my FZ38 I tend to only bother when the light is good.

Compared to my FZ35/38, there has already been a considerable improvement with the FZ150. Thus, I'm very much interested how the FZ200 will perform.

One thing that bugs me with the present evolution of the FZ cameras: there seems to be a new battery type every time. This means if one likes to have a back-up camera on an extended trip, a second set of batteries plus a second charger need to come along as well. Thus, on my recent 6-week North America trip, I only took along my FZ150. Fortunately, it performed smoothly except when I wanted to push it because I did not wait for its start-up to be complete.
 
One thing that bugs me with the present evolution of the FZ cameras: there seems to be a new battery type every time. This means if one likes to have a back-up camera on an extended trip, a second set of batteries plus a second charger need to come along as well.

It is certainly annoying to have to carry two different sets of batteries around, but you can resolve the second problem by getting a "universal" charger. They're a little fiddly to use but the one I recently got (a CamCaddy) seems to do the job.

I confess I've not explored the Extended teleconverter on my G3 as I assumed it would degrade quality. Without diverting this thread I'd like to hear how to use it.

As for the G5, to me the new enlarged handgrip resolves one of the two drawbacks
 
One thing that bugs me with the present evolution of the FZ cameras: there seems to be a new battery type every time. This means if one likes to have a back-up camera on an extended trip, a second set of batteries plus a second charger need to come along as well.

It is certainly annoying to have to carry two different sets of batteries around, but you can resolve the second problem by getting a "universal" charger. They're a little fiddly to use but the one I recently got (a CamCaddy) seems to do the job.

I confess I've not explored the Extended teleconverter on my G3 as I assumed it would degrade quality. Without diverting this thread I'd like to hear how to use it.

As for the G5, to me the new enlarged handgrip resolves one of the two drawbacks
 
One thing that bugs me with the present evolution of the FZ cameras: there seems to be a new battery type every time. This means if one likes to have a back-up camera on an extended trip, a second set of batteries plus a second charger need to come along as well.

It is certainly annoying to have to carry two different sets of batteries around, but you can resolve the second problem by getting a "universal" charger. They're a little fiddly to use but the one I recently got (a CamCaddy) seems to do the job.

I confess I've not explored the Extended teleconverter on my G3 as I assumed it would degrade quality. Without diverting this thread I'd like to hear how to set it up and use it. (I am clueless technologically).

As for the G5, to me the new enlarged handgrip resolves a failing of the G3 (I still don't quite understand why they went for that tichy grip). A decent idiot proof printed guide would be another help. Mind you had the FZ200 been on offer I might not have upgraded to the G3,
 
Official specifications for the two new models are now on the Panasonic website:

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMC-FZ200K?t=specs

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/DMC-G5KK

From the specs, these cameras have the same maximum magnification assuming the G5 has the 100-300 lens. You can get e.g. 1.7x the FZ200, without loss of light, however, by attaching a teleconverter. That, together with f2.8 over the entire zoom range, would be it's major advantages over G3/G5 for bird photography IMO, and makes it very tempting assuming reviews show good image quality.

I confess I've not explored the Extended teleconverter on my G3 as I assumed it would degrade quality. Without diverting this thread I'd like to hear how to use it.

It's simple. Just go to the REC menu, scroll until you get to the EX. TELE CONV. option (it's on screen 4), and toggle it to on. For stills, you need to shoot in small or medium JPEG to get an effect; small at 4:3 aspect ratio gives you the greatest effect (2X). It also won't work if burst rate is set to SH. See p. 71 of advanced user guide for a bit more info. (Note also that the "small" picture size still uses around 3MP, and it's plenty big enough unless you're planning to turn your photos into large posters.)

Jim
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 12 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top