[John Cantelo]

Originally Posted by Swissboy

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

[John Cantelo]

Originally Posted by Swissboy

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,

[J. Moore]

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.

Originally Posted by John Cantelo

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