The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 is the replacement for Panasonic's well-liked DMC-FZ20 which came out in late 2004. The FZ30 improves on that camera in almost every way, especially in build quality and ergonomics.
I'll mention the downside first. Despite an increase in resolution from 5 to 8 megapixels, the image quality has not improved all that much. Panasonic's new 8 megapixel chip is quite noisy (which equates to "grainy" in film cameras) and overall the images won't look much better at a given print size than the old, 5 megapixel camera. This is not to say the pictures are unacceptable they are good, in fact, except for pictures taken in low light but rather that if you have a 5 megapixel camera, you shouldn't rush to buy an 8 megapixel and expect great improvements. The detail in the shots, however, is very good.
With that out of the way, almost everything else about the camera has improved to a quite incredible degree. It really does feel like Panasonic listened to their customer response and fixed most everything they didn't like.
The camera is a little larger than the FZ20, making it quite hefty bigger than some SLR cameras, in fact, although a SLR with a comparable lens would be much larger. It's also not light, at about one and a half pounds. This does mean that it's easy to steady and hold, but it's far from a pocket camera.
The lens is totally new, and unlike that in the FZ20, does not retract or move during focussing or zooming all the movement is internal. This means that the unit is a lot more sealed and solid-feeling, and contributes to making start-up times commendably fast. Unlike the previous model, zooming is done with a ring around the lens like a traditional camera, rather than by a motor and rocker switch. This takes a little getting used to if you've been using most other digital cameras, but soon becomes second nature and much quicker than the motor. In manual focus mode, the lens can be focussed with another lens-mounted ring. The display shows a zoomed-in area to aid manual focussing, and I found this feature quite usable.
The zoom range is 35-420mm (35mm camera equivalent), which is pretty much identical to the previous camera and gives a 12x range. This gives as much telephoto reach as is practicable to hand-hold and get a sharp picture, even with image stabilization. Should you desire more, Panasonic sells an add-on lens giving even more reach, but I'd advise a tripod. You're more likely to desire more wide-angle, in my opinion, and another conversion lens is available for that.
Unlike the previous camera, the lens does not have a constant F2.8 aperture, but rather gives F2.8 at the wide end and F3.7 at the long end. This is still very good; clearly, some compromise had to be made.
Overall, the construction feels much more solid and high-quality than the FZ20. The hand-grip is also improved, being much deeper and easier to hold, and the location of the shutter button is improved. The FZ20 always felt a little fragile, and this camera does not.
The LCD screen is much improved, and now is a flip-down and twist model, meaning it can be folded inward to protect it, or folded down to view from above or (with a twist) below. This is a very useful feature, making it easy to shoot over crowds or get a more natural view of small children, pets etc. I think the sideways-flipping style is slightly easier to use than this downward one, but this is still very good, and a solid upgrade.
Menus and operation seem little changed from the FZ20, and are good. The flash seems better than most, and doesn't wash things out with close subjects either.
While I don't use movie modes hardly at all, I believe from reading the manual that the movie mode on this one is much improved from the FZ20, and can produce full-speed VGA quality movies of shortish duration. For more than short clips of your kids, I'd recommend a movie camera instead.
In conclusion, this is a high quality camera that right now is the king of the mega-zoom, fixed lens camera market. The pictures are as good or better than the others in the market, and in ergonomics, usability and 'real camera' solidness, the FZ30 is right now unbeatable. It works and feels like a very high-quality piece of equipment, and I don't think you can get a better "all-in-one" camera for any money at this moment.
One must understand, though, that compromises are made to get that huge 12x zoom range in a camera. If you don't need all that telephoto, you could buy an entry-level dSLR for very little more money; although the kit lens it comes with will be much the inferior of the FZ30's Leica mega-zoom, the dSLR's imaging chip will produce higher-quality images, especially in low light.
If you have the FZ20, is it worth the upgrade? Not if you want to upgrade for image quality; yes, if you want a much more solidly built, ergonomically satisfying camera. Is that worth the money? In the end, it's up to you, but I'd advise going to a store and handling one; you may fall in love with it, it's that good.
I'm a pro, working for a large city daily newspaper for 22 years, and shooting professionaly for 25 years (and counting, with enthusiasm for the job). My previous cameras: Sears 500MX (my first SLR), Nikon EM, F2A, FM2, F3, F4, F5 ( all film)... And then the Kodak DCS, Nikon D1, D1H, D2H, Lumix FZ20 (all digital). I've shot events such as Superbowl XXXV (D1H), 2004 Olympics, 2005 Indonesian tsunami (D2H), and Hurricane Katrina (D2H, Lumix FZ20).
But I was issued an FZ30 by request, after using an FZ20 so I could finally zoom while shooting video (for web content). You know why I also like the FZ30? You can shoot Tiger Woods' back swing without him throwing a club at you, which he'd be right to do if you sat on a motor as he started his swing.
The FZ30 is much heavier than many of the average cameras on sale. It looks pro and feels heavy enough. The shutter speed range is even greater than the FZ20, capturing pictures at 1/2000th sec to a full 60 seconds (the D2H has only 30 seconds exposure maximum. Other pro shooters have noticed my camera, and ask plenty of questions. It does just about everything, including an option to create animated films with this camera. But it's not the ultimate dream camera because it isn't perfect.
I totally shame the digital noise on this unit; enough decent cameras in the same price range don't experience the higher levels of noise, even for ISO 100. But I work for a newspaper.... and there is some decent noise-reduction software to control it that doesn't compromise flirting with over-manipulation ethics questions. I can now shoot some concerts and can shoot golf differently b/c I turned off the shutter and beep noises the camera makes.
I wish the camera had a wider wide angle. The zoom and focus controls seem too close. And the rear thumb dial seemed a tiny bit out of position at times. It's quiet as a mouse. People don't even know you're shooting video, which makes people unaware of you, an important thing to have for candid news-gathering. I love the FZ30 as a 3rd camera in my arsenal. I just completed a stint, shooting the crew of Pride of Baltimore II, a tall ship. It worked wonders, save for some errant focusing every now and then.
I pack my Lumix and my Powerbook along with my passport when I go on vacation; in a pinch, I can travel worldwide and shoot virtually any assignment, including spot news, with the zoom range that the FZ30 has. That was the selling point for me. Any camera that has a decent image quality with a 12:1 zoom ratio and a lens that gathers more light is worth considering. And I love the true colors it can yield for white balance, one thing that my D2H bodies can sometimes find difficult to achieve.
This camera is better suited for daylight (sorry for anyone Alaska in the winter!), but you can get amazing shots if you respect a camera's limits. The better the light, the better the image. That goes for any photography. I can shoot 99 percent of my assignments with this camera.
Watch out when you have the LCD screen flipped out; once it breaks off from a hit, I would think you might have to consider replacement. Purchase a really big memory card, which are cheaper. A faster one (SD rated card) for those who want to shoot video, which you can opt between low definition and VGA, which is a good size image (it only shoots in standard TV size. You don't have any option to capture video in any other format, as you can with film.
You can also crop your images or even downsize them for web emails in the camera. The FZ30 feels solid enough. And I did drop my lens shade from 50 feet (it was mounted, but the mount is not very secure) and it bounced but didn't crack.
Make certain to also purchase at least one extra battery, because if your power drains, you either pop in a fresh one, or stop shooting and wait over an hour for your battery to recharge. The batteries from my FZ20 can fit and run the FZ30, but the reverse can't be done.
Please, read the manual. This camera was well-designed, and Panasonic seems to really work on their cameras based on feedback. You have menus in several different camera modes, besides the basic setup menu options. One thing very interesting is that you can set the camera to extend its optical zoom to 19.1, much greater than 12X (the camera actually begins to crop into the frame when you zoom past the full frame 12X maximum zoom, which is good if you want to save a step in image processing.
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Greetings from Sinister Minister friends! Today I want to talk to you about yet another amazing digital device that comes to us from Panasonic of all people!!I mean after all when you think of digital cameras you think Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony ect. ect. But Panasonic!? C'mon now they make everything from blenders to stereo systems! But, If your a photographer thats just not cool. Well guys we had better get a whole new set of standards because Panasonic has beat the crap out of two of the Largest camera companies out there in the 12X mega zoom catagory! And not just by a little either, by a very wide margin.
Now to be fair Panasonic "Lumix" cameras have always been well respected cameras for thier performance, pictures, lenses etc. but then again if a guy shows up to shoot your daughters wedding with a Panasonic camera up until now you would have kicked him out! The FZ-30K at first glance looks like many of its counterparts, with few exceptions. Its size is very close to that of the Nikon 8800, and I'm not sure but I think they weigh about the same. I have my camera here in front of me so lets take a walk around. On the back you have a normal selection of controls, a EVF with a diopter, EVF/LCD control, AE Lock, Display, Menu, And delete buttons, as well as a circular Navagation switch for other controls like exposure adjustment, flash control, etc. The odd thing here is the LCD screen which gives you a fantastic image (as does the EVF) has movement that seems somewhat awkward and a bit restricted, but the EVF on the camera rivals the one on my E-300 SLR so hey who cares!? Around the side we have the SD memory card door that is solid and has a slide lock, Downside here is that the FZ-30 will work with cards up to the max available, (now in SD 2GB), but when they go to 3 or 4 GB (and you know they will) FZ-30 users will be shut out! That's why as a rule for high performance cameras like the FZ-30 I rather see CF Type 1 CF or Type 2 Micro-drives, But hey just making a note. Jumping to the other side we find one of the features I love about this camera, that is a 3 position switch that lets you shift between focus modes on the fly! Outstanding!! For those of you who take your shots on the go you know how infuriating it is to have to navagate thru a menu to chnge the focus options. The FZ-30 gives you three optionsAF, AF Macro, and manual, it also has a neat little gimmick of when you are using the manual focus mode the camera enlarges the center portion of your shot, and using the fine focus ring on the lens you can fine tune your shot with zero guess work! WOW! That alone blew me away, I hate it when you take a shot thinking its in focus but... The FZ-30 has all but eliminated this problem! Another thing I love about this camera is the flash does not engage until YOU open it YESSS! I hate auto pop up flashes!
Getting to the lens we come to possibly the coolest feature on the whole camera wich is the lens itself. Besides being a Leica lens, its the fact that it zooms, pulls back, etc. etc. all within the lens housing itself! Translation? No matter how much you zoom with the FZ-30 the camera never changes size! No whirring motors or gears, nothing but zoom! The operation of the lens is simple you have 2 focus rings the larger for general zooming and focus, a smaller one for fine focus in manual mode, and a fine focus option buy pressing lightly on the shutter button. The lens is super quiet and smooth in operation, has very minor barrel distortion a wide angle, and produces images with sharp and focused corners. The other main feature here however is the zoom capability of the FZ-30, yes it has a 12X optical zoom but it does not stop there. This camera will let you adjust the aspect ratio of your images and thereby increasing zoom capability! I can't explain exactly how this works (I failed trig in school) but I can give you examples.
At 8MP the ratio is 4:3 a standard photo, in the menu you can change that to 16:9 (widescreen) and your resolution lowers to 5.5MP Hello!! thats called true panoramic photography right within the camera with out needeing software to "Stitch" your shots together! I think I just heard Olympus and Nikon Squeal!! Keep the same 4:3 Ratio but turn down the image resolution to an even 5MP and your zoom capability jumps to 15.3X turn it down to 3MP and it jumps to 19.1X !!! That is still good enough for 8X10s!! Thats before you even get into add on lenses!! The pop up flash is housed right over the lens and can be adjusted within the camera as far as brightness etc., also here you will find a hot shoe the standard mode wheel as well as buttons to select your drive mode and stabilizer mode. Since I work part time at BestBuy selling cameras I have had the chance to compare the stabilization on the Sony H1, Canon S2IS, and the Kodak 850 I have found the one on the FZ-30 to be the best and most consistant, The FZ-30 also offers you 2 options with the stabilizer, Constant and shutter release the latter operates when you press the shutter button only and is the setting I have found to be the best! The FZ-30 has 14 scene modes, and has two places on the mode dial where you can preset your 2 favorites.The "Baby" setting on the camera has been taking a beating by critics as being silly, but since I just had a son recently I found it rather cool! All you do is enter your childs birthday when in the mode, and everytime you take a picture of him/her in the mode the camera shows thier exact age! In addition to some minor image enhancements.
Now the main reason we all buy cameras as I have said before is for pictures. Does the FZ-30 take good pictures? No. It takes amazing pictures (See the examples I have posted) Even with the zoom maxed out I can get clear sharp pictures, partly because that stabilizer is so effective. In all of the tests I have had time to put it thru the camera has performed amazingly well. at higher ISO settings noise on this camera can get to be a problem but only if you crop your pictures out at 200 to 300% and besides there are tons of good noise removal programs out now to solve this. Noise at higher ISO settings is a side effect of digital photography in general not generally one specific camera. Some are worse than others but none are great so either fix it or forget it. If you have a good enough printer you won't notice that much anyway.
Well this is getting kind of long winded so let me wrap this up. There are tons of features the FZ-30 has that I can't possibly go thru here so let me give you the BestBuy straight & narrow! I own the Sony DSC-H1 and while it is a great camera it is no comparison to the FZ-30. Why? the FZ-30 is faster, has higher resolution, more image configurations and zoom capabilities, A Hot Shoe, Better lens quality, Possibly one of the finest cameras in reproduction of color that I have ever seen! Sharp focused images (even at extended zoom settings). The Canon s2Is?? It is not even in the same league so I won't even mention it. (In fact I found it to be the worst of all I tested.) Bottom line is the FZ-30 is possibly the finest high end, fixed lens (Prosumer) camera to come out in the last 3 years (Since the F-828) NormallyI tell people to shop around but in this case DON'T! This is definitely the best of the new mega-zoom cameras and is probably one of the top three prosumer cameras available today. I sold my Nikon 8700 to buy this camera and I have more or less decided to give the ax to a few more! This beast made alot of cameras in my stable obsolete! So to Panasonic I say Welcome to the Big Time, and to you I say STOP!! look no further and buy this camera, this is a work of art in photographic technology! This my friends is one hell of a damn camera!
Oh yes the downside...it is very hard to find accessories for this camera!! next to impossible!! so Panasonic shold get on the ball!! After all your a for real camera company now! Maybe they always were, Hmmmmm.
Thanks for reading and happy shooting!
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I've had my FZ-30 for about 2 months now and thought it was time to enter my comments.
The one negative thing you will no doubt read about the FZ-30, if you are searching out professional reviews, are comments about the "noise" or graininess. Yes this camera can exhibit noise under certain circumstances, as do most if not all bridge cameras. I would compare the noise with 400 ASA film or even 1000 ASA film. If you are very picky about your photos and are looking for the highest quality you may not be happy with this camera when you have it set to 400 ASA and take photos in low light. You may be able to find another bridge camera with a bit less noise but if you are that fussy you may have to purchase a DSLR and deal with extra expense and changing lenses. If you are like me, and can stand a little grain in a small number of your photos you will be quite happy with this camera. If you do want to reduce the noise there are a couple of software utilities (noiseninja) that can help.
In my case I was upgrading from a 5 year old 3.3 megapixel digital camera that had served me well but did have some shortcomings. The Panasonic FZ-30 has to be one of the best values in photography today. The quality of the Leica lens, along with the rest of the great features, for the current Amazon price of $544 is an outstanding value. The most amazing thing to me is the range of possibilities this camera offers.
My wife can pick this camera up, set it to Auto mode, and snap some photos of the kids easily. Two minutes later I can take it out in the back yard and capture the awsome blue bird sitting on the branch at 12X zoom, and the next shot can be of a ladybug on a flower in macro mode. All of this is done with the same lens and the simple spin of the zoom ring. The range of possibilities available with this camera are beyond my current expierence level. And the resulting photos are awsome.
I had some particular features in mind when I did an extensive search for a new digital camera; most based on the shortcomings of my older camera. I wanted a longer zoom range, hot shoe for an external flash, and the ability to focus in dark or low light situations. As I did my search I came across other features that were now available in the range of modern digital cameras and added them to my list. A swivel LCD is a handy feature, as is the manual focus ring, 640x480 30fps video mode with sound, high resolution LCD and EVF, very fast shutter response time, fast focus, and higher resolution. The FZ-30 has it all.
One of the great things about a higher resolution camera is the ability to crop the photos on the computer and still have enough resolution so the final image doesn't lose its quality. Eight megapixels, along with the 12X zoom, gives me the ability to catch the grandchildren in action, then zoom in for a quality printout later.
Don't be tempted to purchase the Sony DSC-H1 or Canon S2 IS just to save $50-$150, the Panasonic is a LOT more camera. If size is a big concern the FZ-30 is certainly larger than the Sony or Canon, but it is quite comfortable in the hand and not as heavy as I thought it was going to be.
Pros
o 12X analog zoom with macro
o manual pop up flash with long range, hot shoe for external
o manual zoom ring and focus ring
o high resolution swivel 2" LCD
o Leica lens
o 640x480 video
o great user interface
o fast focus and very fast shutter release
o much, much, more...
Cons
o noise under certain conditions
o propriatery battery which works quite well but I prefer AA standard batteries
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My Panasonic FZ30 arrived this past Saturday (12/17/05) and I have a 2 week grace period in which I'm allowed to return the camera if dissatisfied to the store where it was purchased. I have read many reviews. The underlining theme of the reviews is that the FZ30 is a great camera for the money but it has too much NOISE. I got together which a friend of mine who owns a Nikon D50 to take several photos and compare them. All photos were taken in auto mode at the same subject, at the same distance and position, and in the same lighting. The D50 sizing was set to 6.1 mp and the FZ30 at 7mp and we used the highest quality setting other than TIFF and RAW that the camera allowed. And except for one photo, all pictures were taken without the flash. My intent was to take pictures under conditions that were not ideal and most likely to bring out noise. Most pictures were printed on 4 x 6 glossy photo paper and some on standard computer paper at the 8 x10 size. From my perspective, I think the FZ30 performed well in comparison. The sharpness in the pictures was about the same, the detail was slightly better in the D50, and the FZ30 had a clear edge in the color. I took the photos to work and showed them to another friend of mine who is a photo enthusiast. I showed them without my friend knowing what picture was taken by what camera. He only knew that the cameras involved were the D50 and the FZ30. He chose some D50 pictures over the FZ30 and likewise with the FZ30 over the D50. It was about even in number. Essentially, he agreed with my summary and perspective. I'll elaborate more on 4 of the photos.
Photo 1: The picture was taken inside in a sun-room (of sorts) with many windows utilizing natural lighting. The picture was taken at around 2:30 in the afternoon. The sky was totally covered with snow clouds no blue and no sun anywhere. At 5pm, it is pitch black outside. The setting was borderline flash needed. In fact, when taking the picture from the D50, the flash did pop up and become engaged. My friend then turned off the flash and re-took the picture again. Our photos taken in auto mode were printed on computer paper at the 8 x 10 size. Note: the readout on the FZ30 photo said the ISO was 200. My friend thought the D50's photo was better and I agreed just to be nice. In reality, I thought might was just a hair better. We both agreed that they were very comparable. By the way, my friend at work thought the FZ30 produced the better photo. All three of us detected no noise in the FZ30 photo.
Photo 2: The picture was taken (auto mode) inside utilizing artificial light. The photos were printed on glossy 4 x 6 photo paper. Note: the readout on the FZ30 photo reflected an ISO setting of 200. The D50 photo was a clear winner here. The FZ30 definitely had noise. We ran the FZ30 through a noise reduction software tool and reprinted the photo. The D50 still won but not my much. The noise reducer did a great job with no noticeable loss in detail.
Photo 3: Again (as always) in auto mode and no flash and same setting as #2, we took a picture of a very colorful tapestry my friend purchased during a trip to Mexico. Again the readout on the FZ30 photo was ISO 200. The picture was printed on 4 x 6 glossy photo paper. The D50 won in one aspect but lost in another. In the D50, you could clearly see the "minute" horizontal and vertical weave lines. In the FZ30, the horizontal weave line was fairly strong but the vertical line was faded and almost not present. However, the FZ30 was a clear winner with the color. It was much more true to form than the D50 and my friend agreed.
Photo 4: This was the only flash picture taken. The readout on the FZ30 reflected an ISO setting of 100. The picture was printed on 4 x 6 glossy photo paper. Except for color, it was dead even for sharpness and detail but again the FZ30 had better color.
In conclusion, I plan on keeping this camera. Other reviewers have pointed out the many features this camera has so I won't comment other than to say I "strongly" agree. Plus, it is extremely user friendly. Most (probably in the 95+ %) of my pictures will "not" be taken in low light non-flash situations. And those taken in low light will probably wind up on 4 x 6's after going through a noise reducer. If you take a lot of low light pictures for bigger than 4 x 6's than you might want to consider a different camera.
I am very pleased with this player, the portable size and quality are great and it plays just fine. I have a nearly one hour commute to and from work each day and the player lasts through both trips on one battery charge. I love the color too. This is a great value for the money because you get everything you need all in one package. The unit comes with a car charger and cables to plug into a television set. It comes with earphones and a remote control also. The only thing I don't like is the case, which as others have mentioned, is very thin and not too great at holding the player in place in the car. I am searching to buy another case but for the price paid and all the accessories this unit comes with, it is well worth the price. My almost two year-old is excited about watching her movies in the car and this will be a life-saver!
