What's next for FZ7?

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for a new camera for a very specific purpose. I take horse racing photos as a hobby, so I need a digital camera that has a good telephoto lens (12x) and is fast enough to freeze high-speed action. Although bright daylight is typical, it is not unusual to be faced with overcast/rainy weather or late afternoon/evening dusk/shadows.

Most of the photos are for website use rather than printing.

I have just about decided on a FZ7 (price is an issue), but noticed that Panasonic seems to put out new versions of cameras almost exactly a year to the day. The FZ7 came out in Jan'06. Has anyone heard what the new version will be? I'm guessing it will just be more megapixels and the Venus III engine. Good guess? Will that really be an improvement for my application?

The age-old question: Buy now or wait?

Advice appreciated.

Thanks,

Greg

hebegb said:

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for a new camera for a very specific purpose. I take
horse racing photos as a hobby, so I need a digital camera that has
a good telephoto lens (12x) and is fast enough to freeze high-speed
action. Although bright daylight is typical, it is not unusual to
be faced with overcast/rainy weather or late afternoon/evening
dusk/shadows.

Click to expand...

If the new FZ offers a decent 400 ISO, you probably would prefer such a camera over the FZ7, which is a very decent all-around camera, but does not perform well shooting rainy horse races.

hebegb said:

Most of the photos are for website use rather than printing.

I have just about decided on a FZ7 (price is an issue), but noticed
that Panasonic seems to put out new versions of cameras almost
exactly a year to the day. The FZ7 came out in Jan'06. Has anyone
heard what the new version will be? I'm guessing it will just be
more megapixels and the Venus III engine. Good guess? Will that
really be an improvement for my application?

Click to expand...

Your guess matches mine. The pattern seems pretty obvious, so far. I do think you will be glad you waited for the next model. Others, with different needs, should probably stick with the FZ7, even when the new camera comes out.

--

I have an FZ7. I bought it in February, when it cost me about $370 (list was and is $399). Now you can buy it for $100 less any time, from almost anywhere (check Amazon). If money is an issue, you can bet that the replacement of the FZ7 - if there is indeed one - will also not be deeply discounted when it first comes out.

I personally like the FZ7 very much, I keep it on NR low, sharpening low, and contrast low. If necessary in PP I can always increase contrast (I rarely do) and sharpen (I also rarely do). If most of your shots are in daylight, the FZ7 should be quite will be good. Noise is not an issue at ISO 80, and ISO 100 is nearly as good. Don't be afraid to use ISO 200 but there will be some noise in dark areas; if you really care about it Neat Image will clean it up easily. At ISO 400 noise is, well, twice as much as at ISO 200. NeatImage will still do a good job with it. If the scene you photograph doesn't have dim areas (fairly evenly lit) then even ISO 400 may be acceptable - noise is more obvious in dim areas.

About Venus III: it does even heavier handed in camera noise reduction. Most posts here are from people who set it on NR low and sharpenning low, and there's a petition to ask Panasonic to let people turn NR off. I am not sure that Venus III is an advantage over Venus II, if you're willing to do any post processing. On the other hand, there are some people who just love the fact that noise reduction is better and are happy with the Venus III.

There are many fine FZ7 pictures on this forum. Take a look. If you decide it's good (as I think it is) you will probably save $100 and you will definitely have a camera at least 3 months earlier than if you wait to find FZ7's replacement.

My Guess:

-8 Megappixels (Hence FZ8)
-Venus III
-ISO Up to 1600 Full Res.
-RAW
-abilty to use 4GB SD cards

Hopefully:
-No video degradation like the FZ50 (won't even consider it if this happens)
-Maybe 1024x768 Video mode (they gotta ad something eyecatching)
-Hopefull keep the Joystick

Wonder what they will name them after the FZ9

Consistent with what they have done with LX2 and FZ50 (I think), on the FZ7 replacement, it may be possible to change metering mode via the joystick (currently, this must be done through the menu system). While I would view this as a welcome improvement, I, too, share the Venus III/more megapixel concerns, i.e., that any new combination of more megapixels and VIII is not necessarily a guarantee of better image quality and may, in fact, produce less acceptable results.

While I'm a big fan of the FZ7, I do wonder whether it is the ideal camera for action, given that the lag/freezing issues with regards to the EVF/LCD. Its absolutely not a problem for me since I don't take much in the way of action shots, but there is (a) a lag; and (b) if you set to to quickest AF, there is a slight 'freezing' effect. Having never been to a horse race (gasp!), I'm not sure whether the speed involved makes this a big issue or not (as I'm guessing that tracking is fairly predictable, but I don't know for sure).

Finally, I will point out, as a matter of interest, although there is often confusion on this point, the FZ7 does offer a panning mode for the anti-shake system, but on the mode dial, not through the OIS button itself.

Bad Sneakers said:

Consistent with what they have done with LX2 and FZ50 (I think), on
the FZ7 replacement, it may be possible to change metering mode via
the joystick (currently, this must be done through the menu
system). While I would view this as a welcome improvement, I, too,
share the Venus III/more megapixel concerns, i.e., that any new
combination of more megapixels and VIII is not necessarily a
guarantee of better image quality and may, in fact, produce less
acceptable results.

While I'm a big fan of the FZ7, I do wonder whether it is the ideal
camera for action, given that the lag/freezing issues with regards
to the EVF/LCD. Its absolutely not a problem for me since I don't
take much in the way of action shots, but there is (a) a lag; and
(b) if you set to to quickest AF, there is a slight 'freezing'
effect. Having never been to a horse race (gasp!), I'm not sure
whether the speed involved makes this a big issue or not (as I'm
guessing that tracking is fairly predictable, but I don't know for
sure).

Finally, I will point out, as a matter of interest, although there
is often confusion on this point, the FZ7 does offer a panning mode
for the anti-shake system, but on the mode dial, not through the
OIS button itself.

Click to expand...

I never use the quickest auto focus because of the lag but find the regular autofocus to be so fast it doesnt matter to me. Glad we have the option of manual prefocus as well.