FZ50 Pictures

I upgraded from the FZ20 to the FZ50.
I love the feel, but I am very frustrated with my pictures.



I cannot add more light on the subjects.

Any help would be appreciated.

FZ20user said:

I upgraded from the FZ20 to the FZ50.
I love the feel, but I am very frustrated with my pictures.
I cannot add more light on the subjects.

Click to expand...

Have you tried flash?
--
Cloverdale, B.C., Canada
Panasonic Lumix FZ50
http://joesiv.smugmug.com

Unfortunately 99% of the time I cannot use a flash

Hi, first of all, next time you post a full res. pic, please post a resized one (max. 800 x 600) and link to the original (especially with a slooow server).

Your result 'suffers' for 3 reasons: handshake, subject movement, and some under exposure. At 280mm, the 2-3 stop advantage of the O.I.S. translates to (280/4=70) 1/70 sec. or 1/35 sec at best. You were well beyond the limit at 1/20 sec. You should have moved in closer to use the flash. If flash is no option, a shorter focal length will enable you to use a longer shutter speed. Eg. at 35mm. you can normally use shutter speeds as long as 1/8 sec. Of course, it's a hit and miss if the subject is moving (you get even more motion blur), but just fire at will! Afterwards, you can always pick the one. Alternatively, you could have raised the ISO to 1600, but at iso1600 the results will always require a lot of noise reduction in post processing and will only give small prints (the same goes for ISO 800 more or less).

Your picture show a very challenging setup. Only a DSLR with a fast stabilized lens could have nailed the picture. Keep experimenting and come here for advice. Photons come for free, get out and practice ;-) Good luck!

forget the noise. crank it up. 30th of a second should do it at short focal lengths. Make a custom profile for noiseninja and lightly scrape it if you absolutely must. Chances are you won't for anything smaller than an 8x10.

Don't let the dslr afficionados scare you. Crank up the iso. Just enough for 30th of a sec shutter. You may not need more than 400 or 800.

The ISO is 800 and the camera selected 1/20 second.

With moving subjects it is hard to adjust the camera, I just have time to click.

FZ20user said:

I upgraded from the FZ20 to the FZ50.
I love the feel, but I am very frustrated with my pictures.
Any help would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

I am guessing that the cause is the absence of image stabilization. Here's why I suspect that: on the FZ20 you are accustomed to I am fairly sure it is on by default. On the FZ50 there is a button on top of the camera that has to be pressed.

There is another possibility. It could be you are touching that button and switching it off when your intention was to have it on.

GregGory,

I appreciate your review and will post a smaller image next time. (I thought it would just include a link, not post the picture inline.)

I believe I understand how to trade shutter/f-stops, Speed/DOF, etc. (That is what is so cool about a EVF verses a real DSLR)

But I don't understand your calculation of focal length and the OIS 2-3 advantage to derive a shutter speed???

This seems to jump units to me???

After the "office party" I went back into the same room to take pratice shots. I was still taking blury pictures of walls at ISO800, using P and [A] modes.

I really appreciate your help.

Best,
Adam

File takes too long to download on wide band. Those poor people on dial up!
Gave up trying to see it.

--
Ron in Vernon, B.C.
Canon 30D
Panasonic FZ50
Panasonic FZ30
Canon 10D
Argus C3
Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

--
JF

280mm and 1/20 means tripod and still subjects, seems the light is just too low. FZ20 at f2.8 and iso400 would not give you any better shutter speed.

You need more light in the room, whether by flash or other means, just no way around it.

If more light is not possible try getting closer so that you do not need 280mm, will give you more chance of holding steady, or try a tripod or some other technique to keep the cam steady, brace it on a wall, or on something on a table, whatever you can.

Or of course buy a dslr with an f1.4 lens with all the added $$$ and hassles
--
Gerry,
http://gerryd.smugmug.com/ discount code on homepage

D5O, 7O-21O, 24-I35 Tam sp, 6O micro, I8-55, 24-5O, 5O 1.8. 7O-3OO APO dg, 80-200 D twin ring
FZ2O, Sunpac 3-eight-3, PSE-3

This is typical of the images I get from my FZ50 indoors.
Outdoors during a bright day it captures nice pictures.

I need to know if I'm doing something wrong, or am I at the limits of the camera?

OIS is set to mode 2

Missing a shot is VERY frustrating and not a joke.
I can't go back in time and recreate the perfect moment.

Best,
Adam

Gery,

What is "280mm"?

The EXIF for that image:
Focal length: 59mm
Shutter: 1/20
ISO: 800
F: 3.6

Just trying to understand.

Thanks,
Adam

You need to learn the basic of photography. too much zoom for such slow shutter speed!

--
Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida
D Two XS
Leica M7

280mm in 35mm equivalent terms, the actual focal length of the FZ50 lens is 7.4mm-88.8mm, but because of the small sensor used it has the effect of multiplying the effective focal length of the lens, in the fz50 case by a factor of about 4.73 times, so the real length of the lens is 7.4mm-88.8mm, multiplied by 4.73 giving you the effective length of 35mm-420mm.

For your shot the actual focal length is 59.2mm, the effective 35mm equivalent is 280mm (59.2 x 4.73), your exif is below showing both listed. All very confusing



--
Gerry,
http://gerryd.smugmug.com/ discount code on homepage

D5O, 7O-21O, 24-I35 Tam sp, 6O micro, I8-55, 24-5O, 5O 1.8. 7O-3OO APO dg, 80-200 D twin ring
FZ2O, Sunpac 3-eight-3, PSE-3

The common rule to avoid camera shake is to use 1/280th of a second or faster without IS. Even with IS, your shutter speed was way slow.

--
Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida
D Two XS
Leica M7

1. Scope out the room first, before you start shooting, if possible. If the lighting is steady, chances are one or two shutterspeeds will do. In other words, shoot manual, not auto. Meter a few places around the room representative of your targets, make a few test shots, and adjust -- then leave the settings alone. That's pretty much how I shoot indoors when I have to be on the move. Think ahead, not during.

2. Practice. You'd be amazed how low you can go with OIS. of course, OIS won't stop motion - but it can remove shaky hands from the equation.

3. If the ISO you're using only allows for 1/20th, then go next higher ISO -- it'll get you 1/40. And at 1/40 you should be able to shoot sharply, provided you stay out of the longer reaches of the zoom. If your'e using 800, try 1600.

4. I mentioned it before, but I'll mention it again -- shoot short, close-in, wide-open. It'll minimize camera shake, and the wider apertures at the shorter end will let more light in.

FZ20user said:

GregGory,
I appreciate your review and will post a smaller image next time.
(I thought it would just include a link, not post the picture
inline.)

Click to expand...

No problem. Personally, I don't mind at all (have a 3 Mb cabel), but few of us still struggle with dial-ups.

If you just drop the .jpg link into text, the picture will pop up like this:



With " " around it you can link to it:

"



"

FZ20user said:

I believe I understand how to trade shutter/f-stops, Speed/DOF,
etc. (That is what is so cool about a EVF verses a real DSLR)

Click to expand...

Good, but in this case, you were already at max aperture => nothing to trade! DOF wasn't the issue either. You could have traded ISO performance for speed (eg. iso 1600 => 1/40 sec), but at ISO800, you were already pushing the limit for image quality. However, as Tigerplish pointed out, high ISO is still a lot better than extreme handshake/ motion blur.

FZ20user said:

But I don't understand your calculation of focal length and the OIS
2-3 advantage to derive a shutter speed???

Click to expand...

The FZ50 has a 35-420mm equivalent lens. You can see the equivalent focal length you are using on the top of the lens barrel. The golden rule of handshake is this: 1/mm = sec In other words, if you want to avoid handshake at 280mm you have to use a shutter speed faster than 1/280 sec. BUT the O.I.S. 'gives' you 2-3 stops for free This means you can use 2-3 stop slower shutter speeds, and still avoid hand shake. One stop slower (1/280sec => 1/140sec) two stops slower (1/140sec=1/70sec) three stops slower (1/70sec => 1/35sec). Note, 2 stops is the same as dividing by 4 and 3 stops is the same as diving by 8. 1/35sec and 1/70sec are not available in the camera of course, so you have to round it up to 1/40 and 1/80sec respectively. The 3 stop advantage is a very optimistic estimate, most people only get consistent results at the 2 stop estimate (1/80sec at 280mm). As you can see, when you shot at 1/20sec you were 'violating' the golden handshake rule ;-)

FZ20user said:

This seems to jump units to me???

Click to expand...

Hope it's clear now

FZ20user said:

After the "office party" I went back into the same room to take
pratice shots. I was still taking blury pictures of walls at
ISO800, using P and [A] modes.

Click to expand...

The programs don't work magic. Go back to the room and sit closer to the object this time and use 35mm focal length. At 35mm the golden rule says 1/35sec limit, but with the O.I.S. 35/4= 1/11sec or 35/8= 1/4sec. Once again, the golden rule is more like a rule of thumb, quite individual actually (depends on how steady your hands are, and very importantly, use the EVF not the LCD, pushing the camera against your head really helps minimizing handshake).

So get back to that room and practice!

Good luck

FZ20user said:

This is typical of the images I get from my FZ50 indoors.
Outdoors during a bright day it captures nice pictures.

I need to know if I'm doing something wrong, or am I at the limits
of the camera?

OIS is set to mode 2

Missing a shot is VERY frustrating and not a joke.
I can't go back in time and recreate the perfect moment.

Click to expand...

Your problem is that your shutter speed isn't fast enough to freeze subject movement. OIS freezes YOUR movement, not the movement of the subject, so the only blur that OIS reduces is blur caused by you moving the camera.

The simple solution is that you need a faster shutter speed. There are a couple ways you can do it:

1) Use flash
2) Use a higher ISO

3) Manually set the shutter speed -- even if it means your photo turns out dark -- and boost the histogram via levels and the shadow/highlight tool in Photoshop.

To answer your question, you are NOT "at the limits of the camera" ... you are just doing something wrong.
--
http://www.jjjphotography.com