My last serious camera purchase was a Pentax Spotmatic (yup, early 80's). I added macro lenses a 70-250 zoom and 2x converter. Then built a darkroom at home, so it was serious - for a while. The hassles of processing and experimentation just took too long and were largely more frustration than satisfaction.
Five years ago, I decided that digital could seduce me when I could get a good dSLR equivalent to a mediocre film SLR at a realistic price. This year the choices went up, the quality went up, the features became realistic and the prices came down. I spent nearly 5 months researching, reading reviews and planning best-values.
Although more megapix sounds attractive, I felt there was more to the ideal camera for the non-professional than just high resolution (ask Joey Lawrence). Of course cost is an issue or I'd have either a Canon 1Ds MkII or a Pentax 67. I didn't want to pay for fashion, I wanted a serious working camera that would test me as a photographer and give me the results I could be proud of.
My style of photography came into play as well. I love street candid, structures, light and dark, hard contrasts of everyday objects making them look like somethign completely different. In other words I wanted long glass, serious zoom capability and the ability to use it it tough conditions.
Only one camera came close, the prosumer (between P&S and dSLR) Panasonic FZ20. Sure its only 5 megapix but it has what I believe is the most remarkable lens currently available anywhere. Its a lens which makes redundant a dSLR in most circumstances. It is a 12x Optical Zoom 36-432mm f2.8 Leica Aspherical beautiful piece of optical engineering. This extreme zoom is achieved by a lens which only extends about 35mm out from the camera. But wait, there's more. It's f2.8, not fast you might say , but what about f2.8 for its *entire* zoom range right out to 432mm?
I have added to that a teleconverter and at the cost of half a stop, I have 650mm at my fingertips! Panasonic's image stabilisation is regarded as one of the better ones as I was able to demonstrate 1 hour after taking the camera out of the box and running down to the Michael Campbell (US Open Winner) street parade and getting a head and shoulders of him from 100metres away in which you can read the inscription on the US Open Cup he was holding on the back of a moving truck.
I was lucky enough to get all of this kit for US$783 (value US$1,828). To go the dSLR route, I would need at least 3 lenses plus the body at a cost of around US$3,415. I am delighted with the value for money and wouldn't change a thing. I guess 5th place in "Thirds" has made my choice a fairly rosy one this week.
What am I missing in my choice? A wider aperture range (f2.8 - f8), a wider shutter range (8sec - 1/4000) and the ability to print bigger than A3 but that's all.
Well, it seems us kiwis go on a bit ... but you did ask ... I'm passionate at what I discovered in my research process and wanted to share it with anyone else who is looking.
Message edited by author 2005-09-29 07:45:39. |
