Paramose
Forum Enthusiast
Ho keep there FZ70 and sent there 's back mine went back
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FZ70?
- Thread starter Paramose
- Start date
Dogglet
Leading Member
I started off scratching quite a bit, but now I'm guessing you meant to write "Who's keeping their FZ70 and who's sent their's back? Mine went back" LOL .. I'm probably going to buy myself one, regardless of how poor your pics appear, because I've actually seen lots of "acceptable" quality bird pics. It's probably in the camera settings somewhere
Gary S
Veteran Member
So far I still have mine. Samples below. I know these are just web sized samples. I still haven't printed anything from mine. But I believe Michael Reichmann when he says he printed a very nice 13x19 print from it. And looking at my own shots I'm sure they would print fine at that size too, as long as I don't try to crop much. With a 1200mm lens you shouldn't need to crop a lot.
I don't use it as "my only camera", if I could only keep one compact it would be my FZ200. Instead, I use it as a long reach camera when I want to travel extra light.
I don't use it as "my only camera", if I could only keep one compact it would be my FZ200. Instead, I use it as a long reach camera when I want to travel extra light.
Dogglet
Leading Member
Excellent shots, Gary. This says a lot for the camera actually which is why I'll probably get it just for the sake of birds.
Have you ever compared the IQ of the 70 versus the FZ200 + a T/C lens + eZoom?
wolfd
Senior Member
These are awesome shots, Gary.
I am going to have to check the FZ70 out as a companion to my FZ200.
I am going to have to check the FZ70 out as a companion to my FZ200.
MedTechWriter
Member
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Gary--Gorgeous shots! May I ask: Were you using a monopod/tripod when taking those shots? I'm wondering if that's the real key to getting a good shot at distance with this camera.
Gary S
Veteran Member
Sherm, what are the scenarios when you use the remote shutter? I have one for my FZ200, used it a little when I first got it by setting up the camera where some small birds would perch. Haven't used it for a while now though.
Gary S
Veteran Member
Thanks. It's kind of a difficult camera to use, sort of. Slower aperture with such a long focal length. It really takes a steady hand. The image quality is OK and it takes a little more aggressive work in post to get what I like. What I mean is, more aggressive noise reduction and more aggressive sharpening after that. You have to be careful not to over-sharpen.
I think a common misconception of big zoom cameras is that people expect to shoot subjects a half mile away and get good photos. Way too much atmosphere or heat haze. Your subject still needs to be pretty close. I think it's useful for smaller closer subjects, not so much for large subjects far away, for those reasons I mentioned.
Gary S
Veteran Member
Only with the Panasonic LT55 and the Olympus B300. In both cases the FZ70 produced better results. I have not tried the larger Nikon TC that is popular with some people in this forum. That looks like the best TC to use with these zooms. I haven't purchased one or tried one at this point. I was pretty discouraged with the previous TC experiences which is why I bought the FZ70. The Nikon might be a different story.
Gary S
Veteran Member
Thanks. That's how I view mine. I take it when I know I'll want the extra reach, and the lighting is mostly good. I live in So California so it's sunny most of the time. That really helps with such a slow aperture. If I don't care about the reach then I take the FZ200 instead.
Gary S
Veteran Member
Thanks. No, they were hand held. If the lighting is fairly good you can shoot it by hand. More difficult on overcast days. Especially if it's kind of a dark overcast. A monopod would certainly help then. Or you could boost the ISO setting to get better shutter speeds, but it would probably result in pretty grainy looking photos. I try to keep the ISO at 200 or below.
danielsonkin
Forum Pro
Excellent shots, Gary. We are going to South Africa next summer and I am contemplating buying a FZ200 for the game reserve. Though I am wondering if the ZS25 (or whatever model is out then), with the clearviewer would be sufficient. Any thoughts?
Paramose, I wouldn't give up on the camera until you've had some time to work with it (if that's an option at this point). I have have seen some excellent shots from the 70 (like Gary's posted here) that makes it a tempting buy, especially for wildlife photography.
Daniel
Paramose, I wouldn't give up on the camera until you've had some time to work with it (if that's an option at this point). I have have seen some excellent shots from the 70 (like Gary's posted here) that makes it a tempting buy, especially for wildlife photography.
Daniel
My hands shake a bit more than I'd like them to, so I use a tripod for high zoom shots, and the remote shutter lets me trigger without touching the camera.
Not being able to flip the LCD toward the camera to protect it is also a bummer. At $320 it's a steal - but ....
Sherm
Gary S
Veteran Member
Unless you favor a smaller camera, it's hard to beat the FZ200. That f2.8 lens helps in lower lighting, overcast skies, etc. Very fast burst rate when needed also. Nice electronic viewfinder. Not everyone likes an electronic viewfinder, they're usually pretty small on cameras like that and not the easiest to use when wearing glasses. But it has the nice flip-out LCD for times when that works out better for someone. The FZ200 also has excellent video options. It's hard for me to recommend anything over the FZ200 unless something more pocket-sized is really needed or wanted.
Gary
Paramose
Forum Enthusiast
Look at these two 1 Taken at 39mm the other at 215mm i think i had a bad Lens i m gonna try another one see if its any better
Dogglet
Leading Member
Oh Gary, my man .. you're saying something I can totally relate to !! I already have the LT55 for the FZ150, which produces quite decent images. Appears that the FZ70 is no pushover in terms of its optics and long focal lengths. Shall I even ask if you tried out the LT55 on the FZ70 or would that be pushing my luck ?
Gary S
Veteran Member
I did, yes. Here's the result. Especially notice the foot/claw area, you can really see how in this case cropping is giving me better results. You also have to consider that shooting 2040mm by hand is nearly impossible. For this shot I had the camera steadied on a backpack sitting on a cement table. For those people who have the larger Nikon TC, the results might be noticeably better. I also don't discount that I might have a sub-par LT55. However my Olympus B300 gives me nearly identical results.Dogglet wrote: I already have the LT55 for the FZ150, which produces quite decent images. Appears that the FZ70 is no pushover in terms of its optics and long focal lengths. Shall I even ask if you tried out the LT55 on the FZ70 or would that be pushing my luck ?
Gary S
Veteran Member
Try shooting much, much closer subjects at full zoom, see how they look. There have been a few days when the air was very dry and very clear where I live. On those days shooting distant subjects looked reasonably good. Most of the time, they look about like yours. I don't bother shooting distant subjects, too much haze in the air to shoot though. And if it's warm you'll get lots of heat distortion.
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