Do I go for Panny FZ28 or Olympus 565/570

Some reviews seem to have the Panasonic slightly ahead but others say there is little to choose between a range of the bridge cameras.

I like the looks of the FZ28 but my favourite camera has been an Olympus 5060 which is now broken and not worth repair. So it is between the two and I am not able to make my mind up so any help would be very good.

It really depends on what you like more, feature wise and photo wise. The Olympus is a nice camera and I can not say either one is better than the other one,, it all depends on what your looking for in a camera feature wise as to which one is best. You say you already had I Olympus, so I assume you already have the xd cards that Olympus uses, Panasonic uses SD, what other entries do you have for your Olympus that may only be for the Olympus, then I would go with the Olympus. But to ne honest, it really depends on what you like and do not like as to which camera is best. Too many fanboys on various forums like to fight just like children, my camera is better than your camera when in reality it is the person behind the camera that makes good photos and not so much the camera. Both are good cameras.
JD

Itsjustme said:

Some reviews seem to have the Panasonic slightly ahead but others say
there is little to choose between a range of the bridge cameras.

I like the looks of the FZ28 but my favourite camera has been an
Olympus 5060 which is now broken and not worth repair. So it is
between the two and I am not able to make my mind up so any help
would be very good.

Click to expand...

You might want to investigate little insignificances such as focus speed & or accuracy differences between them... It's been a long time since Oly's made a cam as good as your 5060... DSLR's notwithstanding.... It's been a while since I've checked but I remember reading complaints about speed of & miss-focus issues with the SP line... Most if not all FZ's after the FZ20 are pretty quick & accurate focusers regardless of which end of the zoom range. So hypothetically, even should the SP have some slight measure of better IQ, what good is it if it's a miss either by taking too long to focus or missing focus or both.... I believe Panny's menu system may be simpler & easier to navigate, unless Oly has done a complete redux since the Camedia days.... I have an 8080 but prefer just slapping a Wcon on my FZ50 instead although I've since adopted an LX3 in the 8080's stead & prefer that as a WA supplement to my FZ50 rather than the wcon, which the 8080 was supposed to be..

And if those SP's have that stupid zoom ring that merely actuates a motor as opposed to being a true manual non-motorized zoom mechanism, now really what sense does that make?
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Itsjustme said:

Itsjustme said:

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... I would go for the panny for two reasons:

1. I owned an oly and a Fuji and my major complaint was with the XD cards erroring out. It is the main reason I would never buy another camera that relied soley on this format.

2. The Leica lens on the Panny easily beats the Oly's. Just purchased a Fuji s8000 which has the same lens as the Oly SP560 for my mother (it was dirt cheap and she didn't want to spend too much) and it in no way matches my FZ28. I cannot imagine that increasing this zoom range (sp570) would improve the optics. I would go so far as to bet that you could probably take a shot at longest tele with the fz28 and blow up the central area and still have more detail than the oly at 520mm. Shame, since olympus used to be known for its great optics.
Just my opinion.
Djedi

--
Old timer

Thank you all for your very helpful replies.

The shots I take are buildings and landscapes.

I talked to a semi pro photographer this afternoon. His other job at Jessops selling cameras and he said he felt there was little to choose between the two and if pushed felt the Panasonic would get his vote. However he then said if I wished to move up the budget he would go for the canon G10, which he owns, as well as his DLSR!!!

I have manged to get my hands on the Panasonic but no shops within a long range have the Olympus in stock -- frustrating!

The SP series has alot going both for and against it. I have the original from the series, the SP550. Focus was extremely slow and the lens is not up to the quality of the Panasonic. Ergonomically the SP series is extremely nice. It's as good a "feeling" non-DSLR camera I've used and the high rate, lower resoltion burst options are a lot of fun, but again, the AF issues were really a pain and it's just flat stupid for Olympus to continue crippling their cameras by making the XD card the main storage option. Many also either love or hate the AA battery option. I don't mind one way or the other. The higher spec rechargeable AA's give you lots of shots per charge.

Being an Olympus DSLR owner, the SP 570 with it's hot shoe and wireless flash technology would seem to be a no-brainer since I already have flash units that would work, but I chose the FZ28. It is a better camera.

I own both the FZ28 and the SP570. If you have a few minutes, read this relatively current thread which essentially addresses the same question: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=31248383

In the thread I've posted links to several galleries I have from both cameras and presented my opinions on both the Fuzzy28 and the Oly SP570. The Oly is a bit larger and noticeably heavier than the FZ28, very solidly built - you'd think the latter is a toy by comparison but it's actually quite a capable little camera. The SP565 does not have the "manual" zoom ring; frankly, I don't mind the zoom ring other than it makes shooting one-handed almost impossible

In all honesty, if I'd have purchased the Panasonic first I doubt that I'd have kept looking for another camera.

Hope it helps some!
--
I sometimes think I know what I'm doing. That's only a temporary illusion

AnniM said:

I own both the FZ28 and the SP570. If you have a few minutes, read
this relatively current thread which essentially addresses the same
question:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=31248383

In the thread I've posted links to several galleries I have from both
cameras and presented my opinions on both the Fuzzy28 and the Oly
SP570. The Oly is a bit larger and noticeably heavier than the FZ28,
very solidly built - you'd think the latter is a toy by comparison
but it's actually quite a capable little camera. The SP565 does not
have the "manual" zoom ring; frankly, I don't mind the zoom ring
other than it makes shooting one-handed almost impossible

Click to expand...

That's exactly my point, it destroys the only benefit a motorized zoom has over a true manual zoom ring... clearly a ploy by Oly to falsely emulate the FZ30 & 50 & I know there've been several people disappointed that the ring is a joke & were expecting a real zoom ring..

Be honest, when fine tuning the zoom for a tweener kind of framing. Which is easier to make minute zoom adj's? The Fuzzy28 with its normal toggle around the shutter button or a hand on the ring of the Oly? I'm betting the Fuzzy toggle, regardless if a single hand or both are in play....

Oly had no real reason to put a ring on the lens barrel other than cosmetics.. The zoom aspects are a stickler for me, probably like how you feel about the handling of red by a cam & if in my research i missed the fact of how that ring works & got the cam... No sooner as I found out of how it works it would be back in the box & returned or sold...

AnniM said:

In all honesty, if I'd have purchased the Panasonic first I doubt
that I'd have kept looking for another camera.

Hope it helps some!
--
I sometimes think I know what I'm doing. That's only a temporary
illusion

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AnniM said:

AnniM said:

The Amateur Formerly Known as 'UZ'pShoot'ERS' 'Happy Shootin' Comments, Critique, Ridicule, Limericks, Jokes, Hi-jackings, EnthUZIastically, Encouraged... I Insist!



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Rossuziers said:

That's exactly my point, it destroys the only benefit a motorized
zoom has over a true manual zoom ring... clearly a ploy by Oly to
falsely emulate the FZ30 & 50 & I know there've been several people
disappointed that the ring is a joke & were expecting a real zoom
ring..
Be honest, when fine tuning the zoom for a tweener kind of framing.
Which is easier to make minute zoom adj's? The Fuzzy28 with its
normal toggle around the shutter button or a hand on the ring of the
Oly? I'm betting the Fuzzy toggle, regardless if a single hand or
both are in play....

Click to expand...

Actually, I CAN get finer control with the "manual" zoom ring. It's one of the features that I actually LIKE on that camera. I often overshoot with a toggle (and I have 3 cameras with those - you'd think I'd say those work better). It's just that the Fuzzy does so well in nearly everything else

Don't misunderstand, I'm NOT saying that the Fuzz's toggle (and the ones on my old Oly C4000 and my Fuji S8000fd) are ineffective and difficult to use. They work just fine. But - at least, in my experience - the SP570's faux manual zoom ring works VERY well. It just requires two hands

--
I sometimes think I know what I'm doing. That's only a temporary illusion

AnniM said:

Rossuziers said:

That's exactly my point, it destroys the only benefit a motorized
zoom has over a true manual zoom ring... clearly a ploy by Oly to
falsely emulate the FZ30 & 50 & I know there've been several people
disappointed that the ring is a joke & were expecting a real zoom
ring..
Be honest, when fine tuning the zoom for a tweener kind of framing.
Which is easier to make minute zoom adj's? The Fuzzy28 with its
normal toggle around the shutter button or a hand on the ring of the
Oly? I'm betting the Fuzzy toggle, regardless if a single hand or
both are in play....

Click to expand...

Actually, I CAN get finer control with the "manual" zoom ring. It's
one of the features that I actually LIKE on that camera. I often
overshoot with a toggle (and I have 3 cameras with those - you'd
think I'd say those work better). It's just that the Fuzzy does so
well in nearly everything else

Don't misunderstand, I'm NOT saying that the Fuzz's toggle (and the
ones on my old Oly C4000 and my Fuji S8000fd) are ineffective and
difficult to use. They work just fine. But - at least, in my
experience - the SP570's faux manual zoom ring works VERY well. It
just requires two hands

Click to expand...

I'm genuinely surprised but I believe you. On my c2100uz & e100rs, which have a two-speed, closely stepped zoom, nudging the toggle for minute tuning when the zoom overshot was never hard. Motorized zooms are just slow no matter how variable their zoom & I'd have thought performing the same small nudges with a ring-linked motor more difficult for the smaller nudges.. Even my 8080 isn't as easy to fine tune as the Uzi & Ezi but none are as fast & accurate as my FZ30 & 50...

Consider me corrected & surprised but still not accepting losing one-handed zooming & shooting worth it... That is the single thing I miss with my real manual ring but one handing isn't something I ever did often anyway...

And I still think Oly using the ring was born out of shady appearance reasons rather than being of any real benefit over the conventional toggle lever... Casio also has them but they can be used for both focus & or zoom, I think, plus I beleive they left the zoom toggle lever on their cams as well so there's still the choice....

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AnniM said:

AnniM said:

The Amateur Formerly Known as 'UZ'pShoot'ERS' 'Happy Shootin' Comments, Critique, Ridicule, Limericks, Jokes, Hi-jackings, EnthUZIastically, Encouraged... I Insist!



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Don't misunderstand me - if you're used to a DSLR's zoom lens there's no comparison. I owned a Pentax K1000 workhorse for many years with a Vivitar 70-200mm zoom, so I know what a true manual zoom should feel like. I'm not saying that the SP570 is AS smooth (NOPE) or as FAST (not a chance) as a true zoom lens; I AM saying that IF you're lucky enough to get one where the zoom motor is working well (and from what I've read, that's a big IF - I seem to be one of the fortunate ones), that motorized zoom really isn't as bad as you might think. It can move relatively smoothly and accurately throughout its range. It IS NOT FAST - if you're used to grabbing a camera and twirling the zoom into position in a blink of an eye, that will NOT happen with the SP570.

People rip on that camera all the time for that faux zoom ... mine works well and in all honesty, I cannot fault the camera for having it. It does what it's supposed to, and its "feel' is close enough to a true manual zoom that I enjoy using it. Now, if I could only work out some of its OTHER quirks -
--
I sometimes think I know what I'm doing. That's only a temporary illusion

Speaking about manual focusing ... that's one thing I WISH that Oly had done, make the zoom ring multifunctional. Its manual focus is a pain; it works, but it's tedious. The FZ28's manual focus is MUCH faster.
Anna
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I sometimes think I know what I'm doing. That's only a temporary illusion