FZ38 vs FZ28: some comparisons

My new FZ38 has arrived, so I did some comparisons with my FZ28. The idea was to see what effect the Power OIS has and also how things look at high ISO.

I did the tests indoors on a clock at about 5m distance and max zoom (18x); handheld; A mode; f/4.4; AWB; at different ISO settings. The lighting was mixed, with overhead fluorescents and some daylight coming through a window. I took the best of three shots for each setting.

First, a reduced sized shot of the whole clock, then 100% crops (no PP at all).

FZ38, Base ISO, ISO 80, 1/4sec:

FZ28, Base ISO, ISO100, 1/6 sec:

FZ38, ISO 200, 1/13 sec:

FZ28, ISO 200, 1/13 sec:

FZ38, ISO 400, 1/20 sec:

FZ28, ISO 400, 1/25 sec:

FZ38, ISO 800, 1/50 sec:

FZ28, ISO 800, 1/50 sec:

FZ38, ISO1600, 1/80 sec:

FZ28, ISO 1600, 1/100 sec:

I wasn't able to get a sharp image at ISO 100 and 1/6 sec with the FZ28, but the image for the FZ38 at ISO 80 and 1/4 sec was fairly sharp. At ISO 200 I was able to get a sharp image with the FZ38 at 1/13 sec but not for the FZ28 at 1/13 sec. This seems to demonstrate that the Power IOS was helping.

The FZ38 seemed better able to handle the mixed lighting, whereas the FZ28 results were yellowish, and more so at higher ISO. The noise levels at the same ISO seem about the same for both cams.

I hope this is of some help to potential buyers/upgraders.

Cheers,
Ian
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Ianperegian