no review from DPREVIEW

[edward II]

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com. Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

 

[Ramblin]

Bias has nothing to do with it. Panasonic is too stupid to send a cam to Phil to review. FZ10 is not released in the UK, thus no camera to review.

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the
great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my
results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows
them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to
be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com.
Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also
suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be
amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for
screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My
indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the
length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory
card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video
camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom
in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken
in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a
little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time
check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

--

Olympus C5050, Panasonic FZ1, FZ10K
http://www.pbase.com/ramblin_mo/galleries

 

[edward II]

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the
great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my
results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows
them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to
be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com.
Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also
suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be
amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for
screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My
indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the
length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory
card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video
camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom
in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken
in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a
little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time
check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

--And his excuse for the FZ1?

Olympus C5050, Panasonic FZ1, FZ10K
http://www.pbase.com/ramblin_mo/galleries

--
Edward II

 

[John_Reed]

Ramblin, maybe we who have discovered these fine cameras should be thankful to Panasonic for its bass-ackward marketing policy (spell that "absense of publicity"); if everyone had one of these things, that girl across the street you're zooming in on would instantly know that you were taking a closeup. We'd lose the "stealth" factor!

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the
great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my
results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows
them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to
be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com.
Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also
suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be
amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for
screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My
indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the
length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory
card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video
camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom
in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken
in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a
little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time
check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

--

Olympus C5050, Panasonic FZ1, FZ10K
http://www.pbase.com/ramblin_mo/galleries

--
John Reed

Nikon CoolPix 4500 Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade)

 

[Ramblin]

I keep wondering about the stealth factor. Stirs strange feelings like your seeing things your not supposed to see.

I can't wait to try out the Tcon 1.7. With Tcon attached, FZ10 doesn't look too stealthy. It looks pretty huge!

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the
great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my
results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows
them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to
be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com.
Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also
suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be
amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for
screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My
indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the
length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory
card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video
camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom
in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken
in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a
little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time
check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

--

Olympus C5050, Panasonic FZ1, FZ10K
http://www.pbase.com/ramblin_mo/galleries

--
John Reed

Nikon CoolPix 4500 Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade)

--

Olympus C5050, Panasonic FZ1, FZ10K
http://www.pbase.com/ramblin_mo/galleries

 

[fmoore]

--And his excuse for the FZ1?

Panasonic never did send Phil an fz1. The same thing could happen with the fz10. Hard to believe.
--
Fred
c2100 & FZ1/2

 

[John_Reed]

You seem to be implying that Phil is making excuses for not having reviewed a Panasonic Zoomer yet. I just thought you might note something about the way he does his work. First of all, he doesn't review as many cameras per month or year as do Steve and Jeff (of dcresource). When he reviews a camera, you can see by the amount of work he's done, it's a major project. His reviews are extremely thorough.

By contrast, Steve's reviews, if you look closely, have many parts that seem to have come right out of the marketing literature for the particular camera. He does throw in opinions here in there, but many folks think his reviews are on the "sugar coated" side, frankly.

As for dcresource, I think Jeff does a good job, and he "tells it like it is," but he basically really only creates one long page per camera, plus a gallery of photos, a process obviously taking less time than Phil's thorough approach. And Jeff had trouble getting an FZ1 - it was 4 months after I bought my FZ1 that Panasonic finally got one to him for reviewing. With the FZ10, they only let him have it for a few days.

I don't think Phil needs to make any excuses at all, but I wonder what excuse Panasonic makes for not sharing their cameras with Phil, who is recognized as a guy of global impact in this field?

I have been using the Z10 for about a month and cannot believe the
great results. I am a new user but I have been comparing my
results with other friends (canon, nikon, hp) and the Z10 blows
them away. It is disappointing to see the DPREVIEW only seems to
be interested in Canon, Sony, Olympus.

My suggestion is to go to steves-digicams.com or dcresource.com.
Both sites have done reviews and have been very helpful. I also
suggest taking the time to review the manual. You would be
amazed what this camera can do (voice on picture, dubbing for
screen show (easy), fantastic zoom with no picture shake. My
indoor and outdoor pictures have been great. My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out. But it the
length of the video is only limited by the capacity of the memory
card and the quality is better than my fairly old sony video
camera. I also love the quick review mode and I can review, zoom
in 4 times closer to see the detail (even if the picture is taken
in zoom).

I will only believe that DPREVIEW is unbiased when they give a
little press time to this wonderful product. In the mean time
check out the other sites. They helped me alot.

--
Edward II

--
John Reed

Nikon CoolPix 4500 Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (w/FZ2 upgrade)

 

[Effzeeone]

You seem to be implying that Phil is making excuses for not having
reviewed a Panasonic Zoomer yet. I just thought you might note
something about the way he does his work. First of all, he doesn't
review as many cameras per month or year as do Steve and Jeff (of
dcresource). When he reviews a camera, you can see by the amount of
work he's done, it's a major project. His reviews are extremely
thorough.

By contrast, Steve's reviews, if you look closely, have many parts
that seem to have come right out of the marketing literature for
the particular camera. He does throw in opinions here in there, but
many folks think his reviews are on the "sugar coated" side,
frankly.

As for dcresource, I think Jeff does a good job, and he "tells it
like it is," but he basically really only creates one long page per
camera, plus a gallery of photos, a process obviously taking less
time than Phil's thorough approach. And Jeff had trouble getting an
FZ1 - it was 4 months after I bought my FZ1 that Panasonic finally
got one to him for reviewing. With the FZ10, they only let him have
it for a few days.

I don't think Phil needs to make any excuses at all, but I wonder
what excuse Panasonic makes for not sharing their cameras with
Phil, who is recognized as a guy of global impact in this field?

I have found Steve's reviews to be very useful, and he seems to provide more of a normal user perspective than a "this is what a pro photographer who uses $30,000 dSLR systems all day thinks of this consumer level digicam and all it's inherent limitations." Unfortunately, that's what I find in a lot of Jeff's reviews at DCResource. Steve seems to be coming from the perspective of "I'm going to tell you what I think of this digicam" whereas Jeff seems to be coming more from the perspective of "I'm going to see what I can find wrong with this digicam". Given that the consumer level digicam market is FAR from perfect on just about any digicam available, it's not difficult to find many flaws in each camera. Another thing that I've just never forgiven Jeff for is that HORRIBLE red-eye shot that he has in his review of the FZ1 -- something I couldn't reproduce with my FZ1 if I tried (and I have). I don't understand what he did to get such a bad red-eye shot, but he was obviously doing something wrong (haha).

Despite my criticism of Jeff's reviews, I admit that I read all reviews available for a camera before making a decision. Even if I don't like a reviewer's particular style, methods, whatever, I can still find their prospective to be useful in my camera buying decisions. Because of that I was disappointed that I didn't find a FZ1 review here, but I never assumed that it was because Phil hates Panasonic or something silly like that. To be honest, I just assumed that all cameras being reviewed were obtained as loaners, and that he just couldn't get a Panasonic for whatever reason.

 

[dring1]

I am glad that Panasonic does not spend tons of money marketing their products. If they did, then I would bet that we would not have been able to buy this most excellent camera for under $600.

I have read all of the reviews that were available for the FZ10 and for my last camera (Canon S30). Honestly, they may have helped a little, but because of my complete ignorance and inexperience in the field of photography, I thought that most of the detail provided is way over my head. It is the discussions in these forums that I depend on to make my decisions. I have learned almost all of my photographic knowledge from other users here. Thanks to everyone.

Dennis

 

[Charlie Howard]

My only complaint so
far is that you cannot zoom in and out while in video mode. You
can start in zoom but you cannot zoom in and out.

Although my own (very amateur) home movies from camcorders often have zoomed scenes, in "real" movies (the kind we pay to see in theaters), they hardly ever zoom, and when they do, it is soooo slowly that you hardly notice it; and they're doing it for emotional effect.

With a digicam, you can momentarily stop shooting, adjust the zoom, and resume. Only a second or two will be lost, and it probably will be easier on the eyes when people watch the playback.
--
Charlie Howard
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288488059&code=7311150&mode=invite

 

[edward II]

You seem to be implying that Phil is making excuses for not having
reviewed a Panasonic Zoomer yet. I just thought you might note
something about the way he does his work. First of all, he doesn't
review as many cameras per month or year as do Steve and Jeff (of
dcresource). When he reviews a camera, you can see by the amount of
work he's done, it's a major project. His reviews are extremely
thorough.

By contrast, Steve's reviews, if you look closely, have many parts
that seem to have come right out of the marketing literature for
the particular camera. He does throw in opinions here in there, but
many folks think his reviews are on the "sugar coated" side,
frankly.

As for dcresource, I think Jeff does a good job, and he "tells it
like it is," but he basically really only creates one long page per
camera, plus a gallery of photos, a process obviously taking less
time than Phil's thorough approach. And Jeff had trouble getting an
FZ1 - it was 4 months after I bought my FZ1 that Panasonic finally
got one to him for reviewing. With the FZ10, they only let him have
it for a few days.

I don't think Phil needs to make any excuses at all, but I wonder
what excuse Panasonic makes for not sharing their cameras with
Phil, who is recognized as a guy of global impact in this field?

I have found Steve's reviews to be very useful, and he seems to
provide more of a normal user perspective than a "this is what a
pro photographer who uses $30,000 dSLR systems all day thinks of
this consumer level digicam and all it's inherent limitations."
Unfortunately, that's what I find in a lot of Jeff's reviews at
DCResource. Steve seems to be coming from the perspective of "I'm
going to tell you what I think of this digicam" whereas Jeff seems
to be coming more from the perspective of "I'm going to see what I
can find wrong with this digicam". Given that the consumer level
digicam market is FAR from perfect on just about any digicam
available, it's not difficult to find many flaws in each camera.
Another thing that I've just never forgiven Jeff for is that
HORRIBLE red-eye shot that he has in his review of the FZ1 --
something I couldn't reproduce with my FZ1 if I tried (and I have).
I don't understand what he did to get such a bad red-eye shot, but
he was obviously doing something wrong (haha).

Despite my criticism of Jeff's reviews, I admit that I read all
reviews available for a camera before making a decision. Even if I
don't like a reviewer's particular style, methods, whatever, I can
still find their prospective to be useful in my camera buying
decisions. Because of that I was disappointed that I didn't find a
FZ1 review here, but I never assumed that it was because Phil hates
Panasonic or something silly like that. To be honest, I just
assumed that all cameras being reviewed were obtained as loaners,
and that he just couldn't get a Panasonic for whatever reason.

--
Edward II

Thanks you comments have been very helpful. The only thing I would disagree with is that you mentioned "I seem to be implying". Actually I am implying. Have you noticed the advertising on the home page. Check it out along with their recommended brands (i.e. buy from them helps this site). I think if Phil really wanted to get a Z10 he could. You think he would be interested just because the Z10 has been getting "good word of mouth". But I do not see a Panasonic ad on his site. Maybe I missed it. If their are there are not many. Is that Panasonics fault? Could be. But I would like to think that his "in detail" look at cameras is not influenced by the ones that support him. I would tend to believe he is unbiased if he did an "in depth" look at a camera from a company that has not spent alot on advertising. Panasonic won't send him a camera.....order one in the mail. Over to you Phil. What do you say!

Anyway, that's just my opinion and I do appreciate the fact that Phil allows Panasonic users a forum for discussion.

 

[SirLeicaLot]

Edward II,

I'm with you. Word for word I share your opinion on the FZ10. Isn't it amazing just how much of the basics you can learn just by reading the manual? Doing so would have saved so many others on this forum the time posting their questions along with their unfounded criticisms about the FZ10. I too love the zoooooom factor with its more than capable OIS. As for the detractors of the FZ10's performance in low light conditions, pooh pooh on them. I've had amazingly incredible results (in-camera, computer monitor, and print) with indoor and outdoor shots. Honestly, I can't understand how others can be so sour about the FZ10. As well, you have your fence sitters who just can't seem to make up their minds about this camera until the next post or review comes along and then you have them nodding their heads. In short, there simply is no pleasing some people, no matter what they have.

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savy business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured. Wake up people, it doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. Many other sites and real world business resort to tactics using exclusivity so why shouldn't Phil?

I'm rather impressed that Edward II caught this and is the only one willing to share his observation. Short of being accused of blasphemy when one chooses to criticize's a well known reviewer, Edward is speaking up and helping to put matters into perspective.

Thank you Edward II.

Cheers

 

[pjskelti]

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I
don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert
in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savvy
business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select
group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the
cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does
not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured. Wake up people, it doesn't
take a genius to figure this one out. Many other sites and real
world business resort to tactics using exclusivity so why shouldn't
Phil?

I'm sure Phil is a canny businessman, but it's a tad on the presumptuous side to say he's only reviewing certain brands of DCs because of exclusivity factors. Phil, last time I checked, doesn't actually sell products, the manufacturers use his site as a captive audience to advertise to!

Also, since Phil's based in the UK, and the FZ10 is only Japan and USA/Canada released, then maybe Panasonic have no plans to send one for review until Europe are caught up.

Equally, maybe Panasonic are more aware of the hype around this camera than we know, and don't want Phil's honesty costing them sales. Can you honestly say you KNOW the other reviews haven't been made as politically correct as possible to appease Panasonic for their LC1 model?

We can all throw accusations and incinuations around, and make them stick - bottom line is unless you know something for sure, best keep it to yourself and wait and see what happens in the long run.

Maybe Phil's turned down previous models due to time constraints, and Panasonic have thrown their toys out of the proverbial pram.
Who knows? Moreover, who cares? Seems word of mouth is doing nicely for them!

 

[Mareda]

SirLeicaLot wrote:

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savy business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured.

I think it's incorrect to suggest that Phil is motivated by those paying him to advertise here, as is the case with some of the photo rags on the market. Do a search of his posts and you'll find that he's stated he only reviews what he considers to be more top of the line camera's. He feels the site is geared more toward prosumers than the point and shoot crowd. Also, if a company doesn't send him a camera to test and review (and Panasonic has not), they must not be interested in having it marketed which isn't his fault. One wouldn't expect a book reviewer at a newspaper to go buy a book so he or she could write a review. The publisher sends the book to reviewers with the hope that a favorable review will be written. It's a marketing tool for the seller, therefore the reviewer isn't expected to go chase the goods down.

 

[SirLeicaLot]

Guys, please, take a thorough study of Phil's site and its contents. Once done, please review the content of your posts on this thread. Finally, please, ask yourself who's being presumptiuous.

I know the above question will irk you. But people, please, get with it! We all have our biases and Phil is certainly entitled to his. Nothing wrong with that.

That Phil has not personally reviewed any Panasonic cameras does not affect me. I already have the FZ10 and anything anyone else says about this excellent camera will only confirm its multitude of strengts and petty, subjective weaknesses.

Again, feel free to do an exhaustive research of Phil's site and its brand name contents reviewed. Then, look at it from a consumer's point of view (newbie or pro). Imagine if you were a first time visitor to his site and were hoping to rely on his expert review on X camera. You find it's not there. Next, you learn that the majority of camera's reviewed correspond to the ones advertised on his site. Hmmmmmmmmm, how unlike Steve's Digicams.

Cheers

Edward II,

I'm with you. Word for word I share your opinion on the FZ10.
Isn't it amazing just how much of the basics you can learn just by
reading the manual? Doing so would have saved so many others on
this forum the time posting their questions along with their
unfounded criticisms about the FZ10. I too love the zoooooom
factor with its more than capable OIS. As for the detractors of
the FZ10's performance in low light conditions, pooh pooh on them.
I've had amazingly incredible results (in-camera, computer monitor,
and print) with indoor and outdoor shots. Honestly, I can't
understand how others can be so sour about the FZ10. As well, you
have your fence sitters who just can't seem to make up their minds
about this camera until the next post or review comes along and
then you have them nodding their heads. In short, there simply is
no pleasing some people, no matter what they have.

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I
don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert
in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savy
business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select
group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the
cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does
not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured. Wake up people, it doesn't
take a genius to figure this one out. Many other sites and real
world business resort to tactics using exclusivity so why shouldn't
Phil?

I'm rather impressed that Edward II caught this and is the only one
willing to share his observation. Short of being accused of
blasphemy when one chooses to criticize's a well known reviewer,
Edward is speaking up and helping to put matters into perspective.

Thank you Edward II.

Cheers

 

[edward II]

SirLeicaLot wrote:

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I
don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert
in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savy
business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select
group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the
cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does
not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured.

I think it's incorrect to suggest that Phil is motivated by those
paying him to advertise here, as is the case with some of the photo
rags on the market. Do a search of his posts and you'll find that
he's stated he only reviews what he considers to be more top of the
line camera's. He feels the site is geared more toward prosumers
than the point and shoot crowd. Also, if a company doesn't send
him a camera to test and review (and Panasonic has not), they must
not be interested in having it marketed which isn't his fault. One
wouldn't expect a book reviewer at a newspaper to go buy a book so
he or she could write a review. The publisher sends the book to
reviewers with the hope that a favorable review will be written.
It's a marketing tool for the seller, therefore the reviewer isn't
expected to go chase the goods down.

--
Edward II

OK everyone, let's just all take a deep breath. No one is "accusing" anyone of anything.....implying yes, accusing no. It would be nice if Phil could contact Panasonic and request a "loaner" be shipped to him. Refer Panasonic to our concerns. Then Phil could let us know what the reply was from Panasonic. That should keep everyone happy. What do you say Phil, why not get the ball rolling.

I just hope that you don't have to check with Canon before you contact Panasonic. (just kidding)

One thing we all seem to be in agreement with, the Z10 is a great camera. Cheers and have a great new year.

 

[pjskelti]

Guys, please, take a thorough study of Phil's site and its
contents. Once done, please review the content of your posts on
this thread. Finally, please, ask yourself who's being
presumptiuous.

I know the above question will irk you. But people, please, get
with it! We all have our biases and Phil is certainly entitled to
his. Nothing wrong with that.

That Phil has not personally reviewed any Panasonic cameras does
not affect me. I already have the FZ10 and anything anyone else
says about this excellent camera will only confirm its multitude of
strengts and petty, subjective weaknesses.

Again, feel free to do an exhaustive research of Phil's site and
its brand name contents reviewed. Then, look at it from a
consumer's point of view (newbie or pro). Imagine if you were a
first time visitor to his site and were hoping to rely on his
expert review on X camera. You find it's not there. Next, you
learn that the majority of camera's reviewed correspond to the ones
advertised on his site. Hmmmmmmmmm, how unlike Steve's Digicams.

Cheers

Not wanting to turn this into a heated debate or argument, but it's obvious you're view of Phil's reviews are based on the glass being half full method, rather than half empty.

Ultimately, I stand by what I said, since the FZ10 isn't a worldwide release yet, then as Phi's in the UK, there's an element of not bothering to include him as a reviewer until such time.

That having been said, Panasonic's marketing people have made a concious decision not to advertise the camera proactively (or so it seems) and rely on F1 and Toyota to advertise them as a company rather than a collection of specific consumer products.

Bottom line, if you want to see a review here, then perhaps the best place to point your words is in Panasonic's direction, and ask them to explain their reasons for not having done so.

Like yourself, I've just organised to import an FZ10 to the UK (hopefully in time for Xmas) and have already sent Phil a message telling him he's more than welcome to borrow mine should he wish. As of yet, I've heard no word back, so I guess he's up to his eyes at the moment, or feels it's Panasonic's job to do that, rather than myself.

Also, as a first timer into photography, let alone digital photography, I came to my decision as a direct result of reading reviews here and the other sites you've mentioned before.

Since an UZI wasn't an option at it's current daft ebay prices, then new was the only option. After reading reviews of S602, S5000, Z1, G3, FZ1, then it was pretty much a no-brainer after playing with (briefly) an S5000 and Z1, and A70. Straight away, I knew I needed/wanted big zoom. A combination of FZ1 praise, and a "sod it" attitude, made my decision for me, to finally opt for an FZ10. That and the fact that Leica are a partner - not that Leica means anything to me! They're just a brand name that appears to be well reknowned and respected. And a few other features - burst mode, manual settings (in the future), etc.

So, at the end of the day, irrespective of whether Sir David Bailey gave this camera his blessing or not, I felt it was the one for me. But, and it's a big but, the reviews here and elsewhere were instrumental in helping me whittle down the selection, and yes, as a result, they influenced me as well as educated me.

I could have done as most would do, and let a sales person 'tell' me which one I wanted - but I'm wise to the whole sales thing, although not all are that way inclined, but it's hard to know for sure. So, thanks to Phil and others, including members here, I think I've made the right choice - only time will tell.

 

[Barry Kernerman]

I think that is a very unfair and baseless accusation to make against Phil.

Whenever I look at his HOME page I usually see mostly Minolta advertising, and one cannot exactly say that Phil has had kind words over the years for Minolta's cameras.

If anything, he's shown significant partiality to Canon, Nikon and Sony - whose cameras he usually praises - whereas his overly picky, and sometimes negative shots at Minolta's D7xx and A1 cameras have cost them tons of sales.

As evidence of that, he absolutely had nothing but extraordinarily high praise for the Minolta A1 Sample images that he took on his holiday in Thailand and posted them in a First Look of the camera - basically saying its images were of extremely high quality, and that it was possibly the BEST prosumer camera out there. But later, when he published his review, he simply ignored every superlative he had used about the camera and its images. He said its images ranked at the bottom end of all 5 megapixel cameras. As happened with the D7 camera, it once again cost Minolta loads of sales of the A1 camera from many people who were about to buy one, and imediately fled thew Minolta forum.

Many people who have asked that he explain his sudden change of opinion have never received a reply from him. In fact, some have claimed that their messages relating to that question have been mysteriously deleted from the Minolta Forum. As a result, he has created some questions about the credibility of certain of his reviews.

But the fact still remains that no matter what gripes we may have about Phil's reviews, they remain the best, and most in-depth of them all. There is no question that his reviews are the ones that carry the most weight among camera users and potential buyers. That's why he has an even bigger obligation to be completely unbiased in EVERY review, and not let his personal likes or dislikes enter into the picture. It is unfortunate that his reviews are so technical, and rarely have anything to do with real-world shooting.

So if Panasonic is not ready to expose their cameras to Phil's scrutiny you can hardly blame him for it. He has clearly said that they have not sent him an FZ10 for testing, and that should be enough. Your blame should be aimed at Panasonic, not at Phil.

Either Panasonic is ready to take the chance of posibly getting a bad review, or they are just stupid when it comes to promoting their cameras.
Barry

As for your take about Phil and his site, again, I'm with you. I
don't know Phil. I'm sure he's a nice guy and is quite the expert
in his field. It's clear, however, that he is also one savvy
business man. His reviews are detailed but only covers a select
group of brand names. It also just so happens that these are the
cameras advertised on his site. Hence, no surprise that Phil does
not have the PANASONIC FZ10 featured. Wake up people, it doesn't
take a genius to figure this one out. Many other sites and real
world business resort to tactics using exclusivity so why shouldn't
Phil?

I'm sure Phil is a canny businessman, but it's a tad on the
presumptuous side to say he's only reviewing certain brands of DCs
because of exclusivity factors. Phil, last time I checked, doesn't
actually sell products, the manufacturers use his site as a captive
audience to advertise to!
Also, since Phil's based in the UK, and the FZ10 is only Japan and
USA/Canada released, then maybe Panasonic have no plans to send one
for review until Europe are caught up.
Equally, maybe Panasonic are more aware of the hype around this
camera than we know, and don't want Phil's honesty costing them
sales. Can you honestly say you KNOW the other reviews haven't been
made as politically correct as possible to appease Panasonic for
their LC1 model?

We can all throw accusations and incinuations around, and make them
stick - bottom line is unless you know something for sure, best
keep it to yourself and wait and see what happens in the long run.

Maybe Phil's turned down previous models due to time constraints,
and Panasonic have thrown their toys out of the proverbial pram.
Who knows? Moreover, who cares? Seems word of mouth is doing nicely
for them!

 

[AO]

Thanks you comments have been very helpful. The only thing I
would disagree with is that you mentioned "I seem to be implying".
Actually I am implying. Have you noticed the advertising on the
home page.

Right now I see an ad for The Minolta Z1 on the left and one for the Sigma SD10 on the right. All the other ads are not for camera manufacturers.

Both of these cameras have been reviewed by Phil, althought the SD9 was (recommended)

Phil, as most commercial sites, does not chose whose ads to display. He sets a price and advertisers willing to pay this price submit ads.

Panasonic choses not to buy ad space from Phil. Is that a problem? Incidently, how many ads for the Panasonic digital cameras you can find on independent sites?

Check it out along with their recommended brands

Is there a specific recommendation that you feel was unjustified AT THE TIME OF THE REVIEW?

It is a fact of life that Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus produce a large number of cameras (Canon will add 20 more next year) that are, on the average, of high quality.

Just for fun, I compiled the statistics of Phils recommendations

Highly Recommended:
Canon - 16
Nikon - 10
Sony - 9
Kodak - 2
Minolta - 2
Fuji - 1
Olympus - 1
Pentax - 1

Recommended:
Nikon - 7
Olympus - 7
Minolta - 6
Sony - 5
Canon - 4
Fuji - 4
Kodak - 3
Casio - 2
Pentax - 2
Sigma - 1

Above Average:
Canon - 5
Olympus - 4
Fuji - 3
Kodak - 2
Nikon - 2
Casio - 1
HP - 1
Pentax - 1
Sony - 1

Average:
Fuji - 3
Kodak - 2
Epson - 1
HP - 1
Kyocera - 1
Pentax - 1
Sony - 1

Below Average:
Fuji - 2
Minolta - 2
HP - 1
Kodak - 1

Average Score:
Canon - 4.44 (25 cameras reviewed)
Nikon - 4.42 (19 cameras reviewed)
Sony - 4.38 (16 cameras reviewed)
Sigma - 4 (1 camera reviewed)
Olympus - 3.75 (12 cameras reviewed)
Casio - 3.67 (3 cameras reviewed)
Minolta - 3.6 (10 cameras reviewed)
Pentax - 3.6 (5 cameras reviewed)
Kodak - 3.1 (10 cameras reviewed)
Fuji - 2.92 (13 cameras reviewed)
Epson - 2 (1 camera reviewed)
HP - 2 (3 cameras reviewed)
Kyocera - 2 (1 camera reviewed)

Also, cLick stats here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/stats.asp

(i.e. buy from them helps this site).

I do not have an MBA in marketing (my wife has though) but I can say with a high degree of confidence that you have absolutely no idea how advertising works.

I think if Phil really wanted to get a Z10 he could.

First, there is no "Z10" digital camera. The name is "Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10", usually abbreviated as "FZ10". Similarly, the Z1 is a Minolta, not a Panasonic.

Second, yes - he could if he "really wanted" but consider this: some manufacturers send him cameras for reviews (for a limited time), other cameras he has to get himself (either buy them, which costs or abuse return policies, which is dishonest). Now, you tell me which he should review first.

Panasonic UK consistently refuses to send cameras to web-based review sites - such is their policy.

You think he would be interested just because
the Z10 has been getting "good word of mouth".

See above.

But I do not see a
Panasonic ad on his site. Maybe I missed it. If their are there
are not many.

On which sites do you see Panasonic Lumix ads?

Is that Panasonics fault? Could be.

Definitely. Ad space is sold , not given. Panasonic is not buying.

But I would
like to think that his "in detail" look at cameras is not
influenced by the ones that support him. I would tend to believe
he is unbiased if he did an "in depth" look at a camera from a
company that has not spent alot on advertising.

He's choices on what cameras to review are based on the ease of him obtaining the cameras. I believe that the review contents and conclusions are detailed, explained and unbiased.

If you have a problem with Phil accepting advertisements, how do you suggest he pay for the web space, bandwidth and time spend reviewing?

Panasonic won't
send him a camera.....order one in the mail. Over to you Phil.
What do you say!

If you are so interested in Phil's review of the FZ10, why won't you order one in the mail and send it to Phil? Over to you Edward. What do you say?

Anyway, that's just my opinion and I do appreciate the fact that
Phil allows Panasonic users a forum for discussion.

Um, he does not "allow" it. He created it and pays for it (storage and bandwith).

By the way, he said that he will review the FZ10 in 2004.

 

[AO]

As evidence of that, he absolutely had nothing but extraordinarily
high praise for the Minolta A1 Sample images that he took on his
holiday in Thailand and posted them in a First Look of the camera

• basically saying its images were of extremely high quality, and

that it was possibly the BEST prosumer camera out there. But
later, when he published his review, he simply ignored every
superlative he had used about the camera and its images. He said
its images ranked at the bottom end of all 5 megapixel cameras.

Huh? The same A1 that he gave a "recommended" rating to (saying that he'll give it a "highly recommended" once they improve their firmware processing)?

See: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/minoltadimagea1/page21.asp