Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Preview

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mowse
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Preview

Post by mowse »

For those who haven't yet found it:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/panasonicfz30/

This is expected to be a very solid camera. I'd love to hear from some fz20 owners, as I've never had to chance to shoot with one.

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Post by nzmacro »

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panas ... ndex.shtml

Few full sized images on there. Slight noise but no noticeable PF (Purple fringing). So compared to the new Canon S2 and the Sony HS1, I would go for the FZ30 IMO. :D

All the best and it is an interesting beast, especially with those specs compared to other cameras in that range..

Danny.

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Post by twebster »

Hi y'all :D

I don't know, Danny. I'm going to play devil's advocate here. I read the review closely and 2 things jumped out at me about this camera...

1) The noise levels are pretty high. I think they are trying to cram too many pixels on the very small ccd. This always increases ccd noise. One of the reasons that dSLRs have low noise levels is that the pixels are spread over much larger ccd/cmos chips. You can use Neat Image to reduce noise but it also reduces resolution. The noise levels in the Panasonic ISO 80 images look as bad as the noise levels on my Canon D30 at ISO 400.

2) I think Panasonic took a unique path to reducing chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) in the images. You can't produce a lens with such a wide zoom range without chromatic aberrations. Panasonic has chosen to minimize chromatic aberrations through the software. Each image is processed in-camera to reduce the chromatic aberrations. I think this is a neat idea that ought to be offered as a firmware update on the other Panasonic FZ series of cameras.

I think this model would be ideal if it only had the lower noise 5 MP ccd sensor instead of the 8 MP sensor. :D

Best regards as always, :D

(Oops :!: :oops: I originally wrote that "Sony took a unique path to reducing chromatic aberrations.". I got my Sonys and Panasonics mixed up :!: :shock: I have corrected my statement to say "Panasonic took a unique path to reducing chromatic aberrations." I have corrected to Panasonic all references I made to Sony. Sorry for the confusion, mate. :D )
Last edited by twebster on Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by nzmacro »

I agree about the noise M8t. No arguments there :D :wink:

The biggest issue is purple fringing and CA. So I go by the full sized shots of the whitish buildings.

If we look at the Panasonic FZ30

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panas ... 000141.JPG


http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panas ... 000142.JPG

I can live with with that edge detail and almost non existent purple fringing. Noise I know how to get rid of fairly well. PF and CA is a real pain in the butt :D

If we take the same full sized shots from the Sony

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/ ... C00080.JPG

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/ ... C00081.JPG

If we download those and zoom in, its interesting. Noise is far in the favour of the Sony for sure. Thats a real plus.

Its those colours showing up in the sharp lined widowed edges that would get me for sure. Less noise, no doubt about that, but some of the worst PF I've ever seen M8t :wink: A touch of green in there as well as blue. Might well be CA mixed in with PF.

Another interesting point and what might make me stay with what I have now, is this comment from DC resource.
"The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 is a very good ultra zoom camera that isn't quite as good as the best models in this class (the Panasonic FZ5 and FZ20), mainly because of its above average purple fringing levels. It does offer a lot, though, and if you look past the purple fringing you'll find a very capable camera."
Anyway, its interesting but I would wait until the crash test dummies have taken it for a spin for a few months first :D :wink: , never rush into anything and just cruise. The cleanest full sized images I've ever seen are from the Nikon 8800. But again, I'll stick to what I have for a few more generations :wink:

All the best and only IMHO.

Danny.
Last edited by nzmacro on Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by nzmacro »

Oh dear, can't link from there so might have to copy and paste those URLs :shock: :roll:

Danny.

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Post by twebster »

Hi ya' mate :D

Oh well, the links don't work for me either. I "don't have permission to view the topic". No sweat, mate. :D

There is a lot of confusion on the Internet as to "purple fringing", "green fringing", chromatic aberrations, and "ccd bloom". Actually, the ccd and cmos sensors used in todays digital cameras are very well shielded against "ccd bloom". CCD bloom is a very rare occurance. You have to practically point your camera at the sun with the aperture wide open to cause ccd and cmos bloom. The green and purple color fringing are the results of under-corrected chromatic aberrations in the camera lens design.

I ran a little experiment a while back to convince myself, and others, that the green/purple color fringing was the result of under-corrected chromatic lens aberrations. If the green/purple color fringe is the result of "ccd blooming" then images made with film should not show the color fringing. Well, film images exhibit the same green/purple color fringing, too. I used my microscope a while back to make an image of the color fringing recorded on film. I took a little time off from our packing to write up an article on color fringing and posted it on the photomacrography website...

"CCD Bloom" or Chromatic Lens Aberrations?

Enjoy, my friends :!: :D
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Post by nzmacro »

Heres a couple of crops that worry me M8t.

http://www.macrophotos.com/panson/panson.htm

From full sized un-edited shots. So I just cropped the areas that stand out even in the full frame.

The noise on the Sony is at a much less level. Its that CA or PF that worries me the most. I know how hard it is to get rid of :D :wink: I'll have to go check out your article mate.

All the best Tom, no heavy lifting when you shift ok :wink:

Danny.

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Post by twebster »

Oops :!: :D Sorry, mate :!: :oops:

I got my Panasonics and Sonys mixed up. I was really talking about the Panasonic FZ30 having the least CA. Panasonic removes the CA from the image with the in-camera software, not Sony. I think this would be a great firmware update to the FZ5 or FZ20 that have ccd sensors with less noise.

Sorry for the confusion, mate. :D
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Post by nzmacro »

LOL, sign of getting older...........man I know how that feels :D :wink:

I just added a couple more to that link. It is a huge difference IMO, the Canon S2 and the Sony HS1 are very similar. Also what seems to be interesting is the amount of detail in those crops. The Panasonic might have a higher sharping in their algorithms and that could well be where the extra noise is showing up from, along with the extra details. I would like to see the same shots taken at the lowest sharpening setting from within the menu setting of the FZ30. Might be interesting because the sky certainly shows less noise on the Sony. Sony needs a big pat on the back for that.

Anyway, it will be awhile away before I'm convinced to get a new camera. Man things change fast now days Tom.

All the best M8t, must get around to your article. :D :wink:

Danny.

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