I could not resist the temptation and bought a FZ35 on my recent trip to the US. The FZ35 has NTSC, the FZ38 - instead - has PAL system for videos if one wants to view them on TV. As I have no TV, it does not make a difference for me. I use motion jpeg for HD videos anyway, viewing them on my PC.
The prime purpose of this camera in my case, is for taking such videos, with the option for stills always being there. Normally, I cherish my FZ8 for stills. It has a more convenient EVF and it is smaller.
The FZ35 is meant to replace my FZ28, which I have used for the same video priority so far. Thus, I'm primarily comparing my FZ35 with the FZ28 when taking HD video.
At this point, I have only done limited comparisons. However, there is at least one feature that bugs me that I think one should know about.
But let's start with a positive feature first. The LCD screen is said to allow viewing from wider angles. The FZ28 does pretty well with regard to viewing the screen from the side, and I think the FZ35/38 is not doing much better there. However, the new camera shows an extreme improvement when viewing the screen from below, like for overhead shots. Thus, there is no need anymore to change the setting of the LCD display. In this respect the advertising blurbs are true to reality.
The new camera allows to use various special settings to be used in movie mode as well. For this reason, there is no longer a movie setting on the dial wheel. Instead, there is now a special video button. And it's mainly the position of this button that I think is a bummer! :-@ The button is close to the EVF, where the EVF/LCD button used to be. And it's extremely inconvenient there when one wants to use the EVF. Basically, I have to reach between my eyeglasses and the camera to get there, and that is a bit of a problem with my short thick thumb! (Or with gloves on, for that matter!) The regular shutter release button does not do anything when it comes to videos. That means, one has to give up the firm grip that would be needed to hold the camera steady. Or more accurately, one has to move the thumb back in order to get that grip and be able to use the zoom function. Then, at the end, one should slide that thumb again into that space between the eyeglasses and the camera to turn off the video. Needless to say that any freehand video ends with a shake. Luckily, there is a kind of a shortcut, that I inadvertently discovered on the FZ28. That switch in the upper right hand corner that allows instant viewing also turns off the video. I lost several sequences because of its suboptimal position already with my FZ28. However this function comes in handy now to turn of the video on the FZ35 without causing that much of a shake.
At this point, I can't say anything yet about the alleged improvement in color rendition, and I still don't know whether the new camera also tends to lose the object under low contrast conditions. However, I think it is reacting faster. I'll report more when I find time to do some actual comparisons.
The prime purpose of this camera in my case, is for taking such videos, with the option for stills always being there. Normally, I cherish my FZ8 for stills. It has a more convenient EVF and it is smaller.
The FZ35 is meant to replace my FZ28, which I have used for the same video priority so far. Thus, I'm primarily comparing my FZ35 with the FZ28 when taking HD video.
At this point, I have only done limited comparisons. However, there is at least one feature that bugs me that I think one should know about.
But let's start with a positive feature first. The LCD screen is said to allow viewing from wider angles. The FZ28 does pretty well with regard to viewing the screen from the side, and I think the FZ35/38 is not doing much better there. However, the new camera shows an extreme improvement when viewing the screen from below, like for overhead shots. Thus, there is no need anymore to change the setting of the LCD display. In this respect the advertising blurbs are true to reality.
The new camera allows to use various special settings to be used in movie mode as well. For this reason, there is no longer a movie setting on the dial wheel. Instead, there is now a special video button. And it's mainly the position of this button that I think is a bummer! :-@ The button is close to the EVF, where the EVF/LCD button used to be. And it's extremely inconvenient there when one wants to use the EVF. Basically, I have to reach between my eyeglasses and the camera to get there, and that is a bit of a problem with my short thick thumb! (Or with gloves on, for that matter!) The regular shutter release button does not do anything when it comes to videos. That means, one has to give up the firm grip that would be needed to hold the camera steady. Or more accurately, one has to move the thumb back in order to get that grip and be able to use the zoom function. Then, at the end, one should slide that thumb again into that space between the eyeglasses and the camera to turn off the video. Needless to say that any freehand video ends with a shake. Luckily, there is a kind of a shortcut, that I inadvertently discovered on the FZ28. That switch in the upper right hand corner that allows instant viewing also turns off the video. I lost several sequences because of its suboptimal position already with my FZ28. However this function comes in handy now to turn of the video on the FZ35 without causing that much of a shake.
At this point, I can't say anything yet about the alleged improvement in color rendition, and I still don't know whether the new camera also tends to lose the object under low contrast conditions. However, I think it is reacting faster. I'll report more when I find time to do some actual comparisons.
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