DPReview of FZ150 just released....!!!!!

I'm thinking of buying FZ150. You're right; it is a great camera. Maybe it should have ranked a few points higher. It wins for me on raw, movie specification, and being able to take an external microphone. And you're right, I'm sure the prints are wonderful from this camera. I guess you'll have to see how they rate the SX40HS to see if they are being fair or not.

Maybe part of it is that the reviewers see so many good cameras, that it is tough to impress them. So while the FZ150 is amazing for a superzoom, it might seem a little lackluster when you just got done spending a week with a Nikon D800 and so on. I don't know.

I was an Olympus owner before I had the G2, and everybody over there thought that dpreview was unfair too.

Anyway, lots of people are buying the FZ150, so I think that the word has gotten out.

Indoor performance is terrible, it could not track my 4yr. old running around...it was way too slow.

A superzoom indoors you say...yeah, it's supposed to be an all-around camera.

I feel a little like I lit blue-touch paper

Having now read the review it does seem a little cautious and, I guess, inflammatory in its qualification/justification of marks. The delay in publishing this review has not helped. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, demand appears to be keeping the price high. If you think it is overpriced in the US, try UK prices Stuart

Bob,

I was trying to upload some whale watching shots; but it wasn't letting me. However, here's a casual FZ150 shot of a little guy that happened along. This is SOOC, AWB, and +1 sharpening in-camera, 600 mm, and a Nikon L37c UV filter on the end of the lens.





I'll try the whale shots later.

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Jerry

Gerald,

That's a beautiful shot, and useful to me since I am thinking of getting this camera for wildlife.

I'd love to see the whale-watching shots if you can find them.

Bob

Bob,

Here are three out of over 100 I took. We were on a boat with about 30 people sitting on seats arranged crossways in the boat. Made it difficult to get the whales in the frame when they popped up. The fast AF was a Godsend - literally point and shoot. It was a great day, the whales were very active, numerous, and came very close to our boat, even swimming under it. Camera setup was the same as the squirrel shot, but I did have the hood on this time.





This guy rolled over with a big splash.





The back of one of the humpbacks, the bulge is the blow hole with the nose to the right.





This last one is my favorite. Note the shocked expression on the faces of the folks in the smaller boat.

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Jerry

Here are two indoor shots taken with my FZ150. The shot of my granddaughter playing hockey was shot at ISO1600 through some very puck-marked glass around the rink. However, inspite of the low light and smeared glass, I had no problems obtaining focus on these fast moving little kids. Note that her back foot is blurred. The stuffed tiger is in my den and is my mascot and indoor test subject. He's very sharp; but doesn't move around much.









For a point and shoot model it's as close to an all around as I've found. AF speed is very good, almost DSLR level and quite reliable. It uses filters, has a TTL hot shoe and an articulated LCD. May not be the best for an active 4 year old in the living room; but not many cameras are good for that and even a DSLR can have some issues.
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Jerry

Very nice, Gerald, thank you. I'm jealous, not only of the pictures, but the expedition! Looks like it must have been an amazing experience.

GeraldW said, "It's a bit like Olympic gymnastics judging. You give an impressive performance a 10, and then in later performances, what do you give an even better performance?"

Well stated. Hopefully the only camera to beat the FZ150 will be another FZ in the future. Panasonic has the capability to be the industry leader in this highly desirable category.

People are evolving as digital camera enthusiasts. Whereas the DSLR was the be all and end all a few short years ago, there are newer options. The DSLR is still a fine piece of equipment, but does have its drawbacks (weight, price, multiple lenses, inconveniece). Many who have gone this route have decided it's not what they expected.

Sure IQ can't be beaten, but there is something to be said for simplicity. Thus, Panasonic is poised to attract photographers who want a full-featured, single lens, lightweight, and reasonably priced camera that performs well in a variety of conditions. Maybe not as well as a DSLR, but certainly well enough to satisfy the majority of people who shoot for pleasure.
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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

The one great failing of the FZ150 and most of the FZ line has been the EVF. Panasonic's resistance to give customers what they really want is sad. I shouldn't be expected to buy an ILC (aka G series) in order to obtain a more usable EVF and one that has a rubber surround that protects eyewear. Who in the heck is the brains of this company? Maybe it's all beans and no brains at Panasonic.

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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

I'm so sick of companies downsizing products in order to save a few cents. Given the choice, I'll pay a little more. Remember when toilet paper was 5 inches wide? Now, it's 4 inches. How ingenious of the paper companies--they save money and I use more so I buy more. Yeah, gotta admire the logic of making a profit at the expense of the consumer. How innovative of Panasonic if they polled current owners of the FZ100 and FZ150 as to how much they would be willing to pay for a better, larger, rubber guarded EVF in future generations of the FZ line. That would truly be customer service.
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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

Maybe when the FZ60 will be out, they will take time on it...

The FZ---WHAT???

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!! Oh, that's a good one!

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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

Gerry said, "What does 76% mean to me? Very little with respect to FZ150, which I consider to be a really great camera. A bit more with respect to the (lack of) credability of "dpr camera reviews" once considered the "gold standard" of the camera world -- now just a bunch of advertising specs and a bunch of highly subjective ratings."

I agree that 76% means little. If I were content with 76%, I wouldn't have mastered several graduate degrees. So, I think that's a low grade for the best of the class.

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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

Vandyu said:

Maybe it's all beans and no brains at Panasonic.

Click to expand...

Often it's the bean counters that get to make the call. Although the FZ150 is a marvel, it would be nice to see Panasonic step up to the plate and hit that home run.

For me, it wouldn't take too much - here's my top 10 list for improvements:

1. Updated EVF - higher resolution with rubber eyecup option
2. Double the resolution of the LCD
3. Manual zoom ring - preferably in addition to the power zoom
4. Full-resolution stills during video
5. Longer shutter speeds
6. Easier manual focus

7. User-configurable menu selections rather than or in addition to a couple of canned menu choices - like setting the self-timer delay and number of shots, sleep delay, auto-review duration, etc.
8. Allow naming of custom settings
9. In-camera panorama mode

10. Allow a single "black" noise-reduction image be applied to multiple long exposures

I'll pay $599 if Panasonic will add these improvements. Anyone for $649 or is $100 over the MSRP of the FZ150 about right?
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Are you ready to make someone's day a little brighter?

Vandyu said:

I'll pay $599 if Panasonic will add these improvements. Anyone for $649 or is $100 over the MSRP of the FZ150 about right?

Click to expand...

I think it would be tough for them to ask a much more even if all of these improvements were made. Several should essentially be near-zero cost, some have already been adopted by lower-cost competitors and thus would be hard to justify, while a couple could justifiably cost more.

However, if my dreams could really come true, I'd like to see a trade-up program to make this upgrade more realistic to many.

Bob,

That was an excursion off a cruise ship anchored in Semana Bay in the Dominican Republic. It's a prime calving spot for humpback whales, so we saw several mother and calf pairs. They stay until the calf gains enough strength and fat to withstand the cold waters in the Arctic. My wife and I are retired and we like to travel. As a hobby photography goes very well with travel.

That was the first major outing for the FZ150 and it did very well. I also had a Canon SX230HS and an S90 with me on the trip. After comparisons to the FZ150 on similar scenes, I sold the SX230HS and bought the Panasonic ZS15 as it uses the same sensor and processor as the FZ150. I also have a Canon G9, and a Canon 60D DSLR. The FZ150, ZS15, and S90 are my travel suite and I always take the S90 and at least one other for backup and a different focal length range. There is a 1.7x tele extender, a small shoe mount flash, and filters for the FZ150. The 60D stays home unless I go by car, as I hate lugging the weight and bulk. It gets used for my grandkiid's sports (ice hockey and soccer) and for portraits - two things the P&S cameras don't do as well. The G9 doesn't have a well defined role; but I like it, so it gets to stay around. It shares 58 mm filters and flash with the 60D.
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Jerry

Im thinking..... mostly you see something in the end conclusion like this:

"it's a pity a cam like this doesnt has RAW "
"we wish it had more manual control"
"It only has 5 FPS at max MP, but there are faster ones"

Now this cam has a impressive complete arsenal
that is NOT found on ANY other...... BRIDGE.....
and it scores.... 9 out of 14 on the "scale-of-BRIDGE" compacts"

because of the new standard??, ok i can accept that...

but if that scale it THAT tough, that ALL these options is just giving a 9 of 14

thán... im realy curious about the score's from future BRIDGE cams,
when they have much LESS complete features
especialy when i think about the amount of points that RAW adds to the credits

brand "x"new ABC model 2 out of 14??

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This is just my RAW avatar....

Good example. It would be a nice exercise to count overall costs of such photo using DSLR .
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Best regards, swnw.

Nice shot...I was a able to get some good ones, but not consistant ones and you sometimes only get one chance.

I do have to disagree with you saying the focus is almost DSLR level, even my "old" Rebel was way faster and more reliable.