Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 - opinions

[DM]

Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?

Thanks

[Ryadia@home]

"DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
> Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
> about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
> dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
> dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?
>
> Thanks

I have one of these cameras. I bought it last week for those moments when
silent shutter is critical. It is not in any way equal to a DSLR but in it's
own right, it is a nice camera. Shooting in jpg mode will produce images I
find quite hard to manipulate due to the considerable artefacts but in TIFF
mode it really does produce good pictures.

The lens is not a "real" Leica, it's made in Asia under licence and has some
plastic elements. Nothing wrong with that in the context of what the camera
is but you need to be aware that a name like Leica on a lens is no guarantee
it is a "real" Leica lens.

The SD card that comes with the camera is a joke. Three tiff images and it's
full! As for buying one in substitution for a DSLR? Hmmm. There is a more
expensive Panasonic model which looks like a leica rangefinder camera. This
would be a substitute but then a 300D is cheaper!

Incidentally... The FZ20 is being discontinued. In August the new model
arrives so right now is a great time to buy one. RRP of just on $1000, I
bought mine from Photo Continental in Brisbane for $860. I see them in other
stores for the full retail price so maybe they don't sell all that well here
in Australia.

Douglas

[k]

"DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
| Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
| about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
| dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
| dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?

not the same as your came3ra but worth a read anyway :-)

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6468-7844

[DM]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, Douglas. I appreciate your thoughts.
Cheers


Ryadia@home wrote:
> "DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
>
>>Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
>>about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
>>dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
>>dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?
>>
>>Thanks
>
>
> I have one of these cameras. I bought it last week for those moments when
> silent shutter is critical. It is not in any way equal to a DSLR but in it's
> own right, it is a nice camera. Shooting in jpg mode will produce images I
> find quite hard to manipulate due to the considerable artefacts but in TIFF
> mode it really does produce good pictures.
>
> The lens is not a "real" Leica, it's made in Asia under licence and has some
> plastic elements. Nothing wrong with that in the context of what the camera
> is but you need to be aware that a name like Leica on a lens is no guarantee
> it is a "real" Leica lens.
>
> The SD card that comes with the camera is a joke. Three tiff images and it's
> full! As for buying one in substitution for a DSLR? Hmmm. There is a more
> expensive Panasonic model which looks like a leica rangefinder camera. This
> would be a substitute but then a 300D is cheaper!
>
> Incidentally... The FZ20 is being discontinued. In August the new model
> arrives so right now is a great time to buy one. RRP of just on $1000, I
> bought mine from Photo Continental in Brisbane for $860. I see them in other
> stores for the full retail price so maybe they don't sell all that well here
> in Australia.
>
> Douglas
>
>

[DM]

Thanks - he certainly does great work...

k wrote:
> "DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
> | Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
> | about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
> | dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
> | dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?
>
> not the same as your came3ra but worth a read anyway :-)
>
> http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-6468-7844
>

[endeavour53]

I haven't used one apart from playing with one several times in stores
and doing lots of research and comparison. Was ready to buy one, and
if a couple of places had had them in stock, or at the right price, I
would have been the owner of one. I'm sure I would have been very
happy with the output.

I wouldn't even dare to try and compare it with my digital SLR. They
are quite different beasts. I was looking for something with a
reasonable zoom range, with good quality output, that I could take
with me on holidays or at other times when I don't want to cart the
whole SLR kit and kaboodle along with me.

In the end, I was pleased that no-one had one in stock, because I
ended up deciding that I couldn't live with the 38-420 (may not have
remembered that correctly) lens and that wide angle was much more
important to me than telephoto. I bought a Canon Powershot Pro-1
(28-200mm) and have been impressed with the results. It also had the
advantage of compatibility with my SLR in things like CF cards,
batteries and external flash.

In summary, I thought the Panasonic seemed to be about the best of the
super-zooms, and it was only availability at the time that fortunately
saved me from making what was an incorrect decision for my needs. If
it meets your needs, then I'm sure it won't disappoint you; but a
digital SLR it definitely IS NOT. Neither is my Powershot, which feels
like a toy in comparison.

Chris

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 07:02:21 +1000, "Ryadia@home" <ryadia@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>
>"DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
>news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
>> Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
>> about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
>> dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
>> dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?
>>
>> Thanks
>
>I have one of these cameras. I bought it last week for those moments when
>silent shutter is critical. It is not in any way equal to a DSLR but in it's
>own right, it is a nice camera. Shooting in jpg mode will produce images I
>find quite hard to manipulate due to the considerable artefacts but in TIFF
>mode it really does produce good pictures.
>
>The lens is not a "real" Leica, it's made in Asia under licence and has some
>plastic elements. Nothing wrong with that in the context of what the camera
>is but you need to be aware that a name like Leica on a lens is no guarantee
>it is a "real" Leica lens.
>
>The SD card that comes with the camera is a joke. Three tiff images and it's
>full! As for buying one in substitution for a DSLR? Hmmm. There is a more
>expensive Panasonic model which looks like a leica rangefinder camera. This
>would be a substitute but then a 300D is cheaper!
>
>Incidentally... The FZ20 is being discontinued. In August the new model
>arrives so right now is a great time to buy one. RRP of just on $1000, I
>bought mine from Photo Continental in Brisbane for $860. I see them in other
>stores for the full retail price so maybe they don't sell all that well here
>in Australia.
>
>Douglas
>

[witwald]

DM wrote:

> Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any
> comments about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's
> hundreds of dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great
> reviews on dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?

There's really no catch - the FZ20 is an excellent performer for pits
price, and certainly the optical image stabiliser and a good quality
f/2.8 lens give it a good level of versatility. The images can be a
little bit noisy, especially at higher ISOs. The amount of image
compression used with JPEGs is quite high, so some quality loss can be
expected (I don't understand why Panasonic did this). The "Leica" lens
is certainly not manufactured by Leica (e.g. a Leica 50mm f/2 lens
probably costs over $2000 on its own), although the "Leica" label
implies it is a Leica design, which appears to be very good considering
the low price. A DSLR offers better image quality, but at about double
the price, and a less wide-ranging zoom range unless you get extra
lenses or opt for a 18-200mm lens that gives you an equiavelent field
of view of a 28-300mm lens on a film SLR. The more affordable DSLR
lenses are slower than the f/2.8 lens on the FZ20, but you can make up
for this by shooting at ISO 400 or ISO 800 and still having much less
noisy images than the FZ20 at ISO 100. The wide angle end on the FZ20
is a little lacking compared with the typical kit lens offerings on a
DSLR (35mm equivalent field-of-view versus a typical 28mm equivalent on
a DSLR).

--
Witold

[Rod Out back]

"Ryadia@home" <ryadia@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:42adf461$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
>
> "DM" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:42ad60c2@news.comindico.com.au...
>> Has anyone used this camera? I would be interested to read any comments
>> about it especially in comparison to digital slrs. It's hundreds of
>> dollars cheaper, with 12x zoom Leica lens and gets great reviews on
>> dpreview and steve's. So, what's the catch?
>>
>> Thanks
>
> I have one of these cameras. I bought it last week for those moments when
> silent shutter is critical. It is not in any way equal to a DSLR but in
> it's own right, it is a nice camera. Shooting in jpg mode will produce
> images I find quite hard to manipulate due to the considerable artefacts
> but in TIFF mode it really does produce good pictures.
>
> The lens is not a "real" Leica, it's made in Asia under licence and has
> some plastic elements. Nothing wrong with that in the context of what the
> camera is but you need to be aware that a name like Leica on a lens is no
> guarantee it is a "real" Leica lens.
>
> The SD card that comes with the camera is a joke. Three tiff images and
> it's full! As for buying one in substitution for a DSLR? Hmmm. There is a
> more expensive Panasonic model which looks like a leica rangefinder
> camera. This would be a substitute but then a 300D is cheaper!
>
> Incidentally... The FZ20 is being discontinued. In August the new model
> arrives so right now is a great time to buy one. RRP of just on $1000, I
> bought mine from Photo Continental in Brisbane for $860. I see them in
> other stores for the full retail price so maybe they don't sell all that
> well here in Australia.
>
> Douglas


Douglas,

Where did you hear the FZ20 is being discontinued? I spent about an hour
searching for more info, but no joy. I would like to read more about the
replacement model(s).
I have one(FZ20), and have found it a great stop-gap till I can justify a
20D or similar. For what I spent purchasing it($1020 incl 512mb Ultra II SD
& second battery), it has more than paid for itself.

Cheers,

Rod.......Out Back

[Ryadia@home]

"Rod Out back" <someone@IHATESPAM.BIGPOND.COM> wrote in message
news:If5ue.116$oJ.105@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

> Douglas,
>
> Where did you hear the FZ20 is being discontinued? I spent about an hour
> searching for more info, but no joy. I would like to read more about the
> replacement model(s).
> I have one(FZ20), and have found it a great stop-gap till I can justify a
> 20D or similar. For what I spent purchasing it($1020 incl 512mb Ultra II
> SD & second battery), it has more than paid for itself.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Rod.......Out Back
>
>
Photo Cotinental had about 40 in a stack with a price of $880 each. I
queried why the best P&S camera made, was being discounted. Given that 6
month's ago they were in short supply and was told there is a new model
release iminent. Later in the conversation I was told August is the release
date and when all the FZ's are gone they are gone. No "Industry Rumours" I
can find other than the rush to dump current stocks.

Douglas