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Panasonic FZ1000 Review... (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter ChrisKten
- Start date
firstreesjohn
Well-known member
At the moment, I have both set to '0', Tony. Contrast: -1.
I'll leave it to you to decide whether I gave it 'good feather' in my last shot.
scodgerott
Well-known member
That video looks very good to me. I haven't tried doing that, as I don't have the software necessary and its probably not something I would do much with, however its interesting to know what can be done.
scodgerott
Well-known member
That shot turned out superbly. I like the angle on the bird and the detail is excellent.
firstreesjohn
Well-known member
That 'grabbed' Blue Tit is beyond brilliant, scotview.
Don't think I'll bother taking stills ever again.
Do you suppose similar results are possible with, say, VLC ? Or, is it necessary to invest in that software (Power Director) you mentioned ?
I've just essayed a bit of light editing (with Photoshop Elements) and it looks even better.
Don't think I'll bother taking stills ever again.
Do you suppose similar results are possible with, say, VLC ? Or, is it necessary to invest in that software (Power Director) you mentioned ?
I've just essayed a bit of light editing (with Photoshop Elements) and it looks even better.
Hi,
Thanks for the kind comments on the blue tit photo. Still playing with the settings though.
The jpeg was "grabbed" from 4K footage using VLC. The image was saved as a PNG type file which gives the highest quality. The PNG file can then be converted to JPEG, giving an image with 3840 by 2160 dimensions and about 6MB. That's the equivalent of an 8 megapixel photo and the camera is recording these at 24 Frames per second continuously...amazing.
The Power Director software is for editing video clips into complete video with transitions, titles etc. If you are only grabbing photos then VLC is all you need.
The FZ1000 comes with a DVD with editing software for grabbing high quality JPEGs direct from the 4K footage but I haven't tested this out yet. You can also do this within the camera but you are limited to the LCD display.
Hope this is useful.
In truth, the 4K image will never match a high quality DSLR photo but the benefit of 4K is that you can "grab" exactly the frame you wish AND still have high quality video footage. Horses for courses.
Thanks for the kind comments on the blue tit photo. Still playing with the settings though.
The jpeg was "grabbed" from 4K footage using VLC. The image was saved as a PNG type file which gives the highest quality. The PNG file can then be converted to JPEG, giving an image with 3840 by 2160 dimensions and about 6MB. That's the equivalent of an 8 megapixel photo and the camera is recording these at 24 Frames per second continuously...amazing.
The Power Director software is for editing video clips into complete video with transitions, titles etc. If you are only grabbing photos then VLC is all you need.
The FZ1000 comes with a DVD with editing software for grabbing high quality JPEGs direct from the 4K footage but I haven't tested this out yet. You can also do this within the camera but you are limited to the LCD display.
Hope this is useful.
In truth, the 4K image will never match a high quality DSLR photo but the benefit of 4K is that you can "grab" exactly the frame you wish AND still have high quality video footage. Horses for courses.
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That is the reason that makes this camera so attractive to me. I often shoot videos for the fact that I am otherwise almost always "between" the good pictures. The first time I noticed that many years ago when I tried to take pictures of Australian pigeons that were walking around. So far, though, that has always meant a considerable loss of picture quality. Not sure yet, whether I will upgrade from my FZ200, as it's not that long since I bought it. But I'm very tempted.
firstreesjohn
Well-known member
Temptations are but sent to try us, Swissboy ! I would submit. (Oh, I did.) It took me some time (mainly because I couldn’t find another owner in my vicinity), as can be seen from this thread, but it was well worth it. You’ll find such a leap in quality in features and ease of use to the photographer.
Another FZ-150 user (as I was), recently tried out my camera: he’s now a proud FZ-1000 owner/user.
Thank you for the detailed explanations/instructions on VLC, etc. scotview. Nice to know I don’t have to spend any more money !
Another FZ-150 user (as I was), recently tried out my camera: he’s now a proud FZ-1000 owner/user.
Thank you for the detailed explanations/instructions on VLC, etc. scotview. Nice to know I don’t have to spend any more money !
Orionthehunter
Well-known member
That is a cracking capture and shows off what you can do with the video grab. Nice
firstreesjohn
Well-known member
And, just as with your Blue Tit previously, the image responds very well in Photoshop.
Awesome !
scodgerott
Well-known member
That's a really great shot Scotview. There's heaps of fine detail in the shot and the subject is well lit and appealing. 4K video stills add a whole new dimension to the FZ1000 over other cameras.
Great result, indeed! Actually almost incredible that there is supposed to be a branch in the foreground. I presume that branch is outside of the actual photo?
Thanks for the positive comments.
Swissboy, if you look closely at the Goldfinch photo there is a small thin branch in the bottom of the frame, if I panned down in pin-point focus (video) this was enough to defocus at this short range, so manual focus got round this problem. The branch wasn't actually in front of the subject.
I think that 4K has a lot of potential for stills grabbing but to put things into context this is a stills camera also. I've attached a couple of stills examples (NOT from video).
One is a night shot of pelagic fishing boats in my local harbour. The photo was taken hand held on Auto using the night shot function.
The other is a shot through cloud of the recent solar eclipse. Hand held, no filters with the camera on Manual with the shutter and aperture maxed out. The crescent is very sharp. No post processing on either image. Sorry these aren't birding subjects but they show the camera's capabilities other than 4K video...... Technology eh ?
Swissboy, if you look closely at the Goldfinch photo there is a small thin branch in the bottom of the frame, if I panned down in pin-point focus (video) this was enough to defocus at this short range, so manual focus got round this problem. The branch wasn't actually in front of the subject.
I think that 4K has a lot of potential for stills grabbing but to put things into context this is a stills camera also. I've attached a couple of stills examples (NOT from video).
One is a night shot of pelagic fishing boats in my local harbour. The photo was taken hand held on Auto using the night shot function.
The other is a shot through cloud of the recent solar eclipse. Hand held, no filters with the camera on Manual with the shutter and aperture maxed out. The crescent is very sharp. No post processing on either image. Sorry these aren't birding subjects but they show the camera's capabilities other than 4K video...... Technology eh ?
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scodgerott
Well-known member
scodgerott
Well-known member
More impressive shots Scotview. They help show the wide range of subjects that the FZ1000 can handle very well.
I was out along our, very windy, shoreline today with the FZ1000. Attached are a few more images grabbed off 4K video footage, cropped but no post processing. I've still to get a lot more familiar with this camera but I think there is great potential in this method. The footage was shot in Shutter priority at 1/8000 sec.
I feel that the FZ1000 is best suited to relatively close work. It will be great when a manufacturer produces a super zoom like the new Nikon with 4K recording. That would open up a whole new dimension.
scodgerott, those are great pictures! Did you use the camera's ability to grab the images? I haven't tried that method yet.
One thing that these huge data files has done is to get me to delete a lot more footage than I used to do, good housekeeping.
I feel that the FZ1000 is best suited to relatively close work. It will be great when a manufacturer produces a super zoom like the new Nikon with 4K recording. That would open up a whole new dimension.
scodgerott, those are great pictures! Did you use the camera's ability to grab the images? I haven't tried that method yet.
One thing that these huge data files has done is to get me to delete a lot more footage than I used to do, good housekeeping.
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scodgerott
Well-known member
Excellent shots, particularly the last two where you are a bit closer. The detail is incredibly good in all images.
I find I am saving most of the still shots in the camera, as it seems to be the best way fro me if I want the full 8mb file. I can do it in Quicktime, but I have to do a screen shot off that and get a much reduced file size as a result. The last images I posted were done that way, as it was necessary to reduce them anyway, in order to post them here. I haven't tried 4K video much for birds in flight, as I find the slight lag at the start annoying and the much longer lag when you stop even more annoying. Gradually more cameras will offer it, but so far most of the new ones aren't.
I too have had to clean out a lot of photos and videos off the hard drive to make more room. I have been moving them to an external drive and spent a lot of time trying to organise them into different folders. One advantage of iPhoto ( and many other photo programs I suspect) is that you can see all the thumbnails and quickly find the right image, but on the external drive they don't show up like that, so it became necessary to do some work.
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