Back to Olympus, thanks Panasonic

After a couple of years with my FZ 150 I've decided to get an Olympus Stylus 1. I still like the FZ but traveling for a month with it in China dampened my enthusiasm for it as a travel camera. Too heavy and bulky for most of what I used it for. The alternative 25-720 travel zoom offered by Panasonic now has an electronic viewfinder but its entry into the zoom race has resulted in an anemic lens and even smaller pixels than the FZ.

I'll still be using the FZ for close to home birding but not for travel or a walking around camera. I hope Panasonic will offer something to compete with the Stylus 1 but I fear that the Stylus 1 might be a "one off", catering to a commercially non-viable user niche. I hope my fears are unfounded.

HJ2

Humboldt Jim2 said:

The alternative 25-720 travel zoom offered by Panasonic now has an electronic viewfinder but its entry into the zoom race has resulted in an anemic lens and even smaller pixels than the FZ.

Click to expand...

The recently-announced Panasonic TZ70/ZS50 may sport the same lens but uses a new sensor that promises a 1-stop noise improvement over its predecessor while using the same 12 MP resolution/pixel size as your FZ150.

It's been interesting what Panasonic has done by going larger than expected for sensor sizes in both the FZ1000 and LX100. I'm waiting to see how they and the competition respond.

--
Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter

Indeed. Interesting how history repeats itself. This is like the FZ 100 to the FZ150. Had panasonic gone with a lens similar in speed and range to the Stylus 1, it would have been a really tough choice for me. Nice try Pany, but you succumbed to the zoom range race. A 25 to 500 f 2.8-5.6 would have clinched it.

HJ2