dkozin's Full Review: Panasonic Lumix® DMC-FZ1 Digital Camera
How about an inexpensive camera that features a 12x optical zoom, Leica optics with f/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the 12x zoom range, optical image stabilization and is easy to use to boot? Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 has it all and more, for much less than its $449 list price (in fact, I got mine for less than $200). The caveat? Only 2-Megapixel resolution.
Resolution
Will 2-Megapixel resolution be a problem? Definitely not, unless you are going to crop parts of the image and enlarge them. The 2-Megapixel resolution is more than enough for your standard 4x6" prints and even mild enlargements. Although, the marketing machine makes you think that the more megapixels your camera has, the better the picture is, this is not the case.
The picture quality (provided the resolution is sufficient for your purpose) depends mostly on the optics and the camera's image processing (image sensor and software). I will take better optics over higher resolution any day.
This especially holds true in case of the FZ1 - you can zoom in instead of having to rely on the digital zoom of lesser cameras or cropping. Majority of compact digital cameras use 3x optical zoom and then switch to digital zoom, removing any advantage of their higher-resolution CCDs.
Example: Olympus D-580 has 3x optical and 4x digital zoom and 4MP resolution. If you use it to get 12x combined zoom, the real resolution drops to just 0.25MP. When using digital zoom, the resolution drops proportionatly square of the digital zoom factor. This means that resolution drops 16 times if using 4x digital zoom (linear resolution drops 4 times both horizontally and vertically).
This means that for situations that require good zooming power, the 2MP camera with 12x optical zoom is much better than the 4MP camera with 3x optical zoom. Let alone the fact that the optical image stabilization lets you shoot with up to three stops slower shutter speed.
Sample Pictures
To see a sample photo taken with this camera by me, copy and paste the following address (URL) into your browser's address area:
The camera comes in two flavors: black (FZ1B) and silver (FZ1S). I got the latter. The camera weighs just enough to feel solid and well-built, but not too heavy. The size of the camera body itself is slightly larger that that of the majority point-and-shoot digital cameras and the lens is substantially larger than most.
The lens can protrude quite far when the camera is powered on and the zoom is used. Even in the powered off state, the lens barrel is relatively long. The camera is definitely not the kind you can put in the shirt pocket.
The handgrip and the shutter release button have just the right feel to them. The back of the camera houses the 1.5-inch LCD screen (does not swivel), the menu control buttons, power switch, several other buttons and an electronic viewfinder (EVF) with diopter adjustment.
The flash extends if you push the "Flash" button; otherwise the flash is invisible. Overall, the camera looks like a compact version of the old-school rangefinder. The top deck houses an old-fashioned round exposure mode switch, which feels sturdy and solid.
Lens
The most impressive part of this camera is its lens. It is Leica DC Vario-Elmarit by legendary Leica - historically the producer of some of the best lenses, by which others were measured. Some cameras were called "Poor man's Leica" and highly regarded as such.
The lens has 12x optical zoom f=4.6-55.2 mm (35-420mm 35mm-equivalent) with amazing f/2.8 maximum aperture throughout the zoom range! You would have to get several SLR lenses (that would cost you a fortune) to approach this kind of flexibility and maximum aperture. Not only it would be expensive to buy these lenses and will they be heavy to carry, you would have to change them, which is inconvenient.
The lens (13 lenses in 8 groups) uses aspherical elements as well as optical image stabilization.
A couple of sensors detect camera motions and move a lens element inside the camera to compensate for this unintended motion.
Having such a powerful zoom, the optical image stabilization comes in handy and lets you shoot with up to 3 stops slower shutter speed than you would be able to use otherwise.
This lets you shoot handheld in situations that would otherwise have required a tripod, be it in low light or at high telephoto.
The uses of such a monstrous zoom are quite a few, including shooting wildlife and sporting event, where you cannot get close to the action. The camera also offers up to 3x digital zoom (at lower resolutions), which gives you up to 36x overall zoom.
The use of such a powerful zoom made it necessary to use an electronic viewfinder (EVF) instead of the optical one. Although not as fluid as an optical viewfinder, the EVF is fluid enough and is a boon for glass wearers, as it has diopter adjustment.
Storage
The FZ1 uses Secure Digital or MultiMedia cards. The camera comes with an 8-Mb SD card. The still images can be stored at 1600x1200, 1280x960 and 640x480 resolution in JPEG format with Fine or Standard quality. I mostly use 1600x1200 Fine, unless the pictures are for web.
There is no TIFF or RAW mode. The camera can also record video at 320x240 resolution and 10 frames per second (Motion JPEG, QuickTime MOV format).
Sensitivity
The camera has Auto mode as well as ISO 50, 100, 200 and 400 presets. The ISO 400 setting (as well as Auto in dimly lit environments in some camera modes) is quite noisy, but with optical image stabilization you can use lower ISO and slower shutter speeds.
Flash
The popup flash has the following modes: Auto, Red-eye reduction, Slow-Sync, Fill, Off. It is adequate, but not as powerful as some, e.g. Olympus D-580, which is super-bright.
Specs
I will provide some specs, but you can find the rest elsewhere online, if you need them. The camera has shutter speed of 8-1/2,000 sec (automatic, unless you upgrade the firmware). Weight with battery and memory card is 11.3 oz (350 g). The camera has auto white balance as well as presets for Cloudy, Daylight, Halogen and Custom (using white/grey card).
Supplied
The camera comes with the lens hood you can attach (a very useful gadget for reducing flare), lens cap with a string (making it more difficult to loose), an 8-Mb SD card (you can buy a 256-Mb SD card online for mere $40-60), a CD-ROM with software, the USB cable, the battery and the charger/power adaptor, AC and DC cables, A/V cable, camera strap.
Filters
To use the hood, you attach the "hjood adaptor" to the camera first and then attach the hood to it. You can also attach 55-mm filters and converters to this "hood adaptor". It so happened that I have old Yashica 55mm UV filter, Y2 filter, teleconvertor and wide-angle convertor and I can use them with this camera! A wide-angle convertor is pretty useful if you want to achieve sub-30-mm equivalent focal length (camera by itself goes down to 35mm).
Usage
The camera is very easy to use. Even without reading the much of the manual, I was shooting in no time. The power switch on the rear of the camera is a simple sliding type with a LED that stays lit when the camera is on. The round exposure mode switch on the top deck has an "Easy" position (looks like a red heart icon), which makes operation almost fully automatic. Just point and shoot.
The other modes include portrait, night portrait, sports, macro, panning mode, etc. The camera's menus are in color and are very easy to use. The LCD, although on the small side, is well-visible and sturdy.
The camera's shutter lag is short, when prefocused by either pressing the shutter release button halfway or suing the "Focus" button. The focusing itself is by TTL contrast detection, which does not work well in the dim environment. In the dark, the camera seems to select smaller apertures and longer shutter speeds to keep everything in focus. The camera's optical image stabilization helps here tremendously.
The camera has exposure compensation, exposure bracketing, continuous AF (when needed) and self timer. One annoyance I had is that you have to set the auto exposure bracketing per shot. Once you set it, the camera takes three shots with different exposures, but resets to single shot for the next shot. So you have to push the "up" button several times again and set the bracketing anew for the next shot.
The camera's rechargeable battery is charged outside the camera, which is good and bad. It is slightly inconvenient that you have to remove the battery every time you want to charge it, but it makes it easier to charge a spare battery wile keeping the original in the camera.
The charger has a "charge" light, which is lit when the battery charges or blinks if there is a "charging error". My first camera came with a charger and battery that would not work = I got "charging error" and had to exchange the camera.
The battery is Li-Ion and fully charges in 90 minutes and lets you take about 200-250 pictures on one charge.
Computer Connectivity
The computer connectivity was easy. Although you can get a card reader and remove the card from the camera to be read using the reader, I used USB cable supplied with the camera.
The camera uses USB 1.1, but the transfer speed is not a problem since the files are small (around or less than 1Mb per picture at the highest resolution of 1600x1200 and lowest compression).
My Windows 2000-equipped computer recognized the camera as a removable drive and I was able to copy files to my computer's hard drive in a matter of seconds.
I didn't need the drivers from the enclosed CD-ROM, but if you have an older version of Windows (e.g. Windows 98), you might.
The software that comes on the CD includes an SD Viewer - a utility that lets you see not only the thumbnails of the pictures that are on the SD card, but the EXIF information about the photos as well - date/time, aperture, shutter speed, etc.
Performance
The camera takes pictures of amazing sharpness and colors are great. You can even adjust colors (Cool, Warm, even B&W) and contrast/sharpness/saturation to your liking (Standard, Natural, Vivid modes). It is recommended to use Natural mode in low light and if you plan to do post-processing (e.g. using Photoshop).
The burst mode lets you take up to 7 pictures (standard) or up to 5 pictures (Fine) in rapid succession (at 4 frames per second!) at full resolution.
The camera's amazingly fast (throughout the zoom range) f/2.8 lens exhibits slight barrel distortion at wide angle, but no noticeable pincushion distortion at telephoto. Very impressive.
I don't use the movie mode as I have no use for it. The camera also lets you record short audio annotations and attach them to the still pictures.
The supplied lens hood is handy at fighting flare, but could be a little easier to install. Also, the lens cap cannot be attached to the hood, as the length of the lens cap string is insufficient.
The zooming is fast, smooth and quiet. Note: don't be concerned if you feel something move inside when you tilt the camera in the powered off state. It is normal and once the camera is powered on, it stops.
Sample Photo
You can view the sample photo I took at http://www.review-shop.com/Panasonic_FZ1/Panasonic_FZ1_Samples_1.html
Just copy and paste this address into your web browser's address area. The smaple photo was taken at the highest resolution and then downsized in Photoshop CS to 1200x900.
Something for Free
One important thing to know is that you can turn this camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1) into the more advanced Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2 model by flashing its firmware. You can download the updated firmware online, copy it on the SD card and flash the camera's firmware. Keep in mind though, that if power is disconnected during the update process, the camera may stop working and flashing the firmware voids the warranty.
Making FZ2 out of FZ1 adds aperture and shutter priority modes, improves 1600x1200 JPEG images slightly by reducing compression (and increases file sizes 15-20%), adds manual white balance adjustment in 300K steps, adds the feature that stays at max ISO and aperture until you depress the shutter button, helping you frame and focus in low light.
I have updated the firmware and I am very happy with my FZ1 er... FZ2. One substantial improvement is the addition of the shutter and aperture priority modes. Example: in "P" mode in the very dim light at full telephoto, the shutter speed wouldn't go to slower than 1/8 so the best I could do is F2.8 at 1/8 sec (underexposed photo as result).
In Aperture Priority mode when I set the aperture to the same F2.8, the shutter speed automatically went to 1 second and the shot was well exposed (ISO50) with no noise. In shutter priority mode, I could go to slower shutter speeds, e.g. 4 seconds (F4.6)...
Bottom Line
If you want a camera that is easy to use, yet takes excellent pictures and has monster optical zoom with image stabilization, the FZ1 is a good choice. Especially now, when you can find it for much less than its $449 list price. It has a world-class lens in a compact body. If you want more manual control, higher resolution or larger display, look elsewhere.
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