FZ-20 I would like some final opinions

01/25/2005 09:16:37 AM · #1

I have pretty much made my mind to go for the Lumix FZ-20.
I did my homework and read the dpreview, dcsource, imageresourse, megapixel, epinions,stevedigicams, some threads on photo.net and I am pretty aware of the pros and cons (good lens vs noise and the fact the can not relly on it in dim light conditions, tiff and no RAW - is this that important?)
My dealer gave me the final price (here in China after a long bargain):
548USD for the Lumix FZ-20, 512M SD card, extra 3rd party battery and a camera bag.
Of course I dream of a DSLR but again if I get it where I will stop with the glass hunting :-) I am not really ready (money) for that!
So, please, any advice?
PS I almost have the money...

Message edited by author 2005-01-25 13:34:06.

colda

Nikon D800

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/25/2005 09:25:22 AM · #2

I fell in love with the FZ20 when it was released (also fell in love with the Leica D2 - but that's another story), in the end I decided on a Minolta A2 (but ended up getting a dSLR).

I borrowed a Minolta 7i for a while and loved to manual feel that it has, the A2 is, in my opinion, the best prosumer on the market, 8mp, RAW support, image stabilization, near 1mp EVF, very low shutter lag <0.3s.

Sorry if this adds confusion :/

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

01/25/2005 09:26:09 AM · #3

The Panasonic FZ20 is a great camera with great color and the 432mm zoom [12x] with IS-1 and IS-2 is great. It does take pretty good night shots as well.

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

01/25/2005 09:52:58 AM · #4

Originally posted by Tiberius:

548USD for the Lumix FZ-20, 512M SD card, extra 3rd party battery and a camera bag.

Sounds like a good deal to me, go for it. The only other thing you might want to get is another card. The 512 is big enough but having a spare is useful. I have a 512 and a 128 in addition to the 16 that came with the camera.

You've done your homework well.

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/25/2005 12:01:38 PM · #5

I loved my FZ10, and wouldn't have dreamt of upgrading if I hadn't been considering going pro at some point. Now I have my Minolta 7D, I can't imagine how I lived without it. My FZ10 will gather dust for quite a while, unless my Minolta packs in. However, it's one hell of a lot more expensive!

01/25/2005 12:04:29 PM · #6

Thanks to all!
Any other suggestions?

01/25/2005 12:55:15 PM · #7

That sounds like quite a good deal with the 512 card, extra battery and bag included for that price. You will be happy with the FZ20 - I love mine. I've never had any problem with mine in low light, either.

You might want to get a few filters for it, it uses 72mm. I have two ultra violet filters and two neutral density. At the high altitude where I live the Ultra Violet filters really help with haze in landscape shots.

Also, an external flash is nice. I have a sunpak 383 that works really well.

GoldBerry

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

01/25/2005 01:13:43 PM · #8

Sorry, never even heard of Lumix before. Sounds like you've done some research though.

01/25/2005 01:18:54 PM · #9

Originally posted by GoldBerry:

Sorry, never even heard of Lumix before. Sounds like you've done some research though.

:)
Panasonic Lumix FZ-20

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

01/25/2005 01:22:30 PM · #10

I say go for it--the FZ20 looks like a wonderful camera. The only real negative I saw in the whole Z line is the noise. Check out a blue sky in a full crop shot. I don't know if I would have minded that in practice, but it worried me.

I was set to buy the FZ3 as a second camera before going for the Canon IS 1.

The only feature the FZ20 lacks in my opinion is a swivel LCD. I loved that feature on my G2. I bought the IS S1 over the Z3 for the swivel screen, the fact that it uses compact flash like my dRebel and dead G2, and the fact that it uses AA batteries like my kids cameras--so I have one less charger to carry.)

Sometimes I wonder if I'd be happier buying a Z20 in addition to my other cameras for those days when I might need a long telephoto or a lot of focal length range. I can't imagine carrying that much equivalent glass around for my SLR. The Z20 has it all in one, including IS!

Mark

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

01/25/2005 01:54:17 PM · #11

I was also thinking about getting one. I like the 12X stabalized lens, especially because it's Leica glass. My only concern was noise. It's not too bad. Steves digicams has a good set of sample photos. If I was going to buy a non-SLR camera, It would be the FZ-20.

SDW

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

01/25/2005 02:08:02 PM · #12

Here are a few examples from DPC FZ20 owners for viewing.

And here is one with a blue sky of mine [please forgive me its a flag photo LOL]; but the blue sky is what I wanted you to see.

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

01/25/2005 02:25:00 PM · #13

Originally posted by SDW65:

Here are a few examples from DPC FZ20 owners for viewing.

And here is one with a blue sky of mine [please forgive me its a flag photo LOL]; but the blue sky is what I wanted you to see.

Scott--I do see some noise in this sky, but it's not a problem for this shot, and it could be jpeg artifacts as well as noise. For my never-ending curiosity, could you post a small, unresized and hopefully unprocessed patch of the sky from the original capture? Thanks.

01/25/2005 02:27:11 PM · #14

Here's another sample with some sky. This hasn't been edited except to resize. I think the noise issue with the FZ20 is not really a problem - the pictures I take aren't overly noisy and if they do have a bit of noise Helicon Noise Filter does a super job.

01/25/2005 03:21:41 PM · #15

Here are a couple more unedited pictures from my FZ20:

These have only been resized, nothing else done to them. I think the FZ20 takes great pictures. It would be nice if the pictures would come out of my Rebel looking this nice without piddling with them.

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

01/25/2005 03:25:42 PM · #16

Originally posted by Sammie:

Here are a couple more unedited pictures from my FZ20:

These have only been resized, nothing else done to them. I think the FZ20 takes great pictures. It would be nice if the pictures would come out of my Rebel looking this nice without piddling with them.

Those do look very clean. Can you crop a bit of sky without resizing and post? I do admit to being tempted to buy one of these for travel in stead of my SLR, maybe selling my 70-200F4L to pay for it.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

01/25/2005 03:36:40 PM · #17

Here's a 100% crop of the sky from the cliff picture:

It does have a bit of noise, Neil, but not that much. It doesn't show at all in prints and is very easy to remove - I use Helicon.

My Rebel pictures have less noise but they have to be piddled with more in other areas - to get a nice finished looking picture I have to boost the saturation and sharpen a lot more than pictures from the FZ20. It actually takes far less time to edit the FZ20 pics. If you just want to print them you can usually do it with no editing at all for snapshots.

To me, the FZ20 is just about your ideal camera. While it's not that small - it's a lot smaller and lighter than the Rebel if you have it hanging around neck on a long walk.

I LOVE my FZ20!!!!

faidoi

Pentax K10D

01/25/2005 05:55:19 PM · #18

I have a friend that just bought the FZ20 after playing around with my DMC-FZ3. He liked my camera but wanted the 5 megapixel of the FZ20 and it has a manual setting, but I paid around $275 for the DMC-FZ3.

I still use my Sony for wide-angle shots but also have the Panasonic around my neck for those burst mode and faraway subject moments.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

01/25/2005 05:57:39 PM · #19

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Originally posted by GoldBerry:
Sorry, never even heard of Lumix before. Sounds like you've done some research though.

:)
Panasonic Lumix FZ-20

Lumix cameras are Panasonic made cameras with Leica lenses on them.

GinaRothfels

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

01/25/2005 07:05:26 PM · #20

I've also been considering buying one. I love my Olympus 2100, but it just doesn't provide the picture quality I need any more (2mp). I've been using a Canon A80 for most of my photos for a while now, but I miss the big zoom and the stabilizer.

There are 2 things worrying me about the FZ-20:
1) as mentioned earlier, the fact that it takes TIFF rather than RAW
2) the fact that it is only 5 megapixels, rather than the 8mp that a lot of manufacturers are making now. I'm wondering whether the Nikon 8800 would be a better option for me. It's a lot more expensive though, and I've read it's low light focusing isn't too good. It's got lots of other great features too. Does anybody know anything about it? I'm really not sure which way to go.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/26/2005 01:22:44 AM · #21

Thanks a lot one more time!
Still got some financial issues but hopefuly I will join the Panasonic/Leica team

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

01/26/2005 07:09:48 AM · #22

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

The Nikon looks like one nice camera, but I personally wouldn't use it because the zoom doesn't reach as much as the FZ10/20, and you can't use F2.8 at the far end of the zoom. This would affect a huge amount of the shots I take.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

01/27/2005 11:40:23 AM · #23

My wifw and my daughter had to go back to Romania. So there is a money issue and I think I will postpone the upgrading. :-(
Maybe is better. I have to squize everything out of my Powershot A70 and hope I will jump straight to a D70 or other DSLR.
Thanks for all the opinions!

faidoi

Pentax K10D

01/27/2005 02:10:54 PM · #24

Canon A70 with some special set-up. More examples of his work with it.

Message edited by author 2005-01-27 14:13:04.