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just got an FZ35, now a few questions

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Michel F

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I've been shooting with Nikon DSLR's for a few years but wanted something much smaller and lighter that I could bring with me on long treks and would give me some serious zooming capabilities as well as macro.. I chose the FZ35 and it's my first Panasonic camera ever. I'm still getting used to the menu system and haven't had time to do some serious shooting yet.

From my first tests, it's obvious that the noise levels are high even at low ISO compared to my Nikon's but I was expecting this. What I'd like to know from the regular users here is "Do you process most of your shots for noise or only the ones that exceed ISO 200 or 400 ?"

I don't know if this has been mentioned here before but is it possible to damage the zoom lens when powering on the camera with the lens cap attached ? I powered it on once and forgot to remove the lens cap. The zoom lens seems to retract automatically when something is blocking it. It's my first automatic camera with a lens that moves out of the barrel. With my DSLR's, I often leave the lens cap on when I power on the camera just to format the card, view my pictures or quickly change a setting for a future shoot so I'm not used to removing the cap every time I turn the camera on. I guess I'll have to remember.

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http://www.pbase.com/michelfleury
 
As a new FZ35 user too, I like your questions. Here are my answers (as a WIP):
  • Noise removal : I certainly use Topaz DeNoise at ISO 400 (RAW images, of course); 200 and below I usually use Noise Ninja. (And BTW, I find the chroma noise quite low, but luma noise is unpleasant.)
  • The lens cap problem : I've forgotten many times to remove the lens cap before starting up the camera in capture mode. I usually panic and remove it as quickly as I can. But I think Panasonic has anticipated this behavior and built a function into the camera to cope with it. I haven't had the nerve to let it go until something definite happens, so I too will be interested in others' responses.
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http://www.pbase.com/morepix
 
I had a UV filter on the lens hood adapter ring on my FZ8 so when the camera powered on, the lens was always protected by the adapter. The FZ35 UV filter fits directly onto the lens and I once again have the issue of remembering to remove the lens cap before powering the camera on. To help, I'm getting into the habit of switching the camera to "review" before turning it off. Since the lens doesn't telescope out in review mode, it gives me an additional step to help prevent bumping the lens into the lens cap.
 
You will be surprised-

As you become more familiar with the FZ-35, things progressively becomes easier.
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Sarah Joyce
 
As to noise, I only shoot in JPEG, and the performance is really pretty good. Shooting JPEG also gets you correction for chromatic aberration, corner shading, and geometric aberrations.

As to the lens hitting the lens cap, I eliminated the 55.8 mm Panasonic cap by using a 46 mm cap on the lens itself. I also keep a Hoya HMC UV(0) filter on the lens-mainly as a protector. A cheap generic cap had the "ears" that stick out to the sides, and which are too big to allow the lens to retract. However, I found I could file down the ears until the cap will retract fully without interference, and still be able to press in the ears to remove and replace the cap.

So now the camera turns on with the cap in place without interference and no "remove the cap" messages. The only caveat is that you need to replace the cap before you turn the camera off. This works very nicely, as the cap is protected when the lens is retracted, and impossible to knock off accidentally.
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Jerry
 
Buy a decent uv/skylight and leave the lenscap at home. Replace the uv/skylight if/when damaged. Problem solved.
 
brucefulton said:
Buy a decent uv/skylight and leave the lenscap at home. Replace the uv/skylight if/when damaged. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
That seems a good solution. The only downside I think of is that if you use a polarizer, do you have to remove the UV, or is there no vignetting with two filters on the lens?
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http://www.pbase.com/morepix
 
anchor722 said:
As you become more familiar with the FZ-35, things progressively becomes easier.
Click to expand...
Nice to think so. What sort of noise reduction processing do you do with ISO 800 images? Or don't you do any?!

Hmmm ... Maybe you shoot JPEG, which provides built-in noise reduction. However, in my book, in-cam noise reduction in the FZ35 sacrifices a lot of fine detail that I'm not willing to do without.
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http://www.pbase.com/morepix
 
Thanks.
That review button will come in handy.
WonderingOne said:
I had a UV filter on the lens hood adapter ring on my FZ8 so when the camera powered on, the lens was always protected by the adapter. The FZ35 UV filter fits directly onto the lens and I once again have the issue of remembering to remove the lens cap before powering the camera on. To help, I'm getting into the habit of switching the camera to "review" before turning it off. Since the lens doesn't telescope out in review mode, it gives me an additional step to help prevent bumping the lens into the lens cap.
Click to expand...
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http://www.pbase.com/michelfleury
 
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