Lumix DMC-FZ20 and its EVF (1 Viewer)

Thinking about investing in this camera and just wondering what the EVF is like?

Does it work in realtime or is there a noticable lag?

Would it be suitable for tracking fast moving animals such as birds in flight?

And how does it perform in low light conditions such as dusk/dawn in woodland?

Thanks in advance for all your replies

Cheers

Steve

I have the FZ-20. It's a decent camera but not the be all and end all. The EVF is pretty good actually, only slightly grainy though a tad small for my liking. You can though swap to using the LCD on the rear which is good quality. Both are real time.

For birds in flight though then the AF isn't the fastest operation. I tend to swap too manual focus for that which is easy to use, but does take a bit of getting used to - espcially the magnified view option which I find near useless.

Overall if it's birds in flight you want then maybe a DSLR is the way to go - they operate much faster.

Low light operation isn't very good as it struggles to find autofocus - though manual is good likewise the built in flash is pretty good and it does take external via hotshoe.

I see that on another thread Canon has brought out the S2, 5 mp with a 12x IS lens - pretty similar in specification to the FZ20. I'd be inclined to wait for user reviews. The old Canon IS Pro-90 was a hard to beat 2.3 mp camera before it was discontinued. Hopefully the S2 will prove to be similarly better than it's competition.

Fz20

Steve,

For what it's worth, I recently sold my FZ20 for a DSLR - I have to totally agree with all of Ian's comments regarding the FZ20.


For the record I found the image was very soft at the extreme end of the telephoto, which in honesty is to be expected I guess. The hotshoe's great, I found a wide range of flashguns worked on it a treat - However, be warned the flash trigger voltage MUST NOT exceed 23v or you'll fry the camera's circuits - just be careful if your attaching some of the older Metz units.

Now that Nikon have brought out a couple of new DSLR's and Canon have updated the D300 with the D350. You can purchase some real bargains at the moment, for example for a £100 more than the asking price of the FZ20 you can buy new Canon D300 DSLR (Warehouse Express).

You can pick up second hand EOS lenses for peanuts (just check that Sigma lens have be chipped or have new chips installed or else they won't work - Try before you buy!!!).

I'd be more inclined to save my pennies and spend them on a D300; yeah I know it’s showing it's age, but its still a good camera - especially for £499 with lens.


Regards


Mark

I have to agree that if you want to have success with birds in flight a DSLR is the way to go. The FZ20 seems to be one of the best compact/bridge cameras around at the moment but the instant response of a DSLR makes any kind of wildlife photography so much easier. I have'nt used an FZ20 but had one of the earlier models a couple of years ago. I found higher ISO images so noisy as to be unusable - not sure if the later models are better. Stabilisation and f2.8 is a great combination but you still need fast shutter speeds to capture birds. There are some fantastic shots on here taken with the FZ20 - but mainly non flight shots I think. Having used a 300D it's a very good camera - D70 is better but a bit dearer. On a tight budget I'd personally prefer a second hand cheap DSLR [Canon D30 for example] to any of the current compacts for bird photography.