Got the ZS50

Needed a carry-everywhere/pocket camera when I don't want to take the big gear. Lots of options out there, but liked this one because of EVF, 30X zoom, and only 12Mp so hopefully less noise than the 20Mp newer versions, also reasonably priced at $299. So far I'm impressed. I usually shoot raw in A or S mode, but found a scene setting for taking through glass, never heard of that before. Tried it this morning and seems to work well. I like to take the birds around my feeder but usually have to do it through the patio door to keep from scaring them away. Right now lots of cardinals and doves around, made a nice scene in the fog.

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Nice photo. I have the ZS70 and find it quite capable in many situations. I don't recall a scene mode for shooting through glass on my ZS70. I'll have to check. You will find the 30X zoom good for birds at reasonable distances.

I use my ZS70 on a Monopod most of the time and get shots like this shooting from my vehicle with the window down.





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Enjoy your new camera and post some more bird shots.

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Nice birds, Here are some of my backyard doves and a squirrel who also likes my feeder.

Wonder how the "through the glass" setting works? Maybe by limiting focus? Anyway, not too bad for this class of camera, especially in poor light today.











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**** Barbour said:

Nice birds, Here are some of my backyard doves and a squirrel who also likes my feeder.

Wonder how the "through the glass" setting works? Maybe by limiting focus? Anyway, not too bad for this class of camera, especially in poor light today.





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Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with those shots. I wish we had fox squirrels in our neighborhood. We have only grays, but photograph them fairly often.

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Congrats on the getting the ZS50.

Been happy with my ZS50 overall IQ.

Good that you do not mind shooting RAW as the one drawback to the ZS50 for JPG only shooter is the ZS50 does not have the typical JPG settings; i.e., Sharpness, Noise Reduction, Saturation, etc. RAW will allow you greater opportunity to get the max IQ from the lens/ sensor.








1322mm EFL w/ i.Zoom: With good daylight, low ISO, and subject filling the image area as much as possible can get decent IQ for display size resolution.




RAW 1600 ISO inside dimly restaurant.

Can see some other 1600 ISO indoor shots at my "ZS50 for low lighting/ action shots?"

Cheers,
Jon

Jon_T said:

Congrats on the getting the ZS50.

Been happy with my ZS50 overall IQ.

Good that you do not mind shooting RAW as the one drawback to the ZS50 for JPG only shooter is the ZS50 does not have the typical JPG settings; i.e., Sharpness, Noise Reduction, Saturation, etc. RAW will allow you greater opportunity to get the max IQ from the lens/ sensor.








1322mm EFL w/ i.Zoom: With good daylight, low ISO, and subject filling the image area as much as possible can get decent IQ for display size resolution.




RAW 1600 ISO inside dimly restaurant.

Can see some other 1600 ISO indoor shots at my "ZS50 for low lighting/ action shots?"

Cheers,
Jon

Click to expand...

Great shots, makes me even happier I got this little camera!

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**** Barbour said:

Wonder how the "through the glass" setting works? Maybe by limiting focus? Anyway, not too bad for this class of camera, especially in poor light today.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Panasonic doesn't really document what their scene modes actually do very well. My FZ150 had an AERIAL PHOTO scene mode, intended for use when shooting through airplane windows. When I upgraded to the FZ200, it had changed to GLASS THROUGH scene mode - possibly for broader application or they may have tweaked it a bit - we'll never know!

The scant notes in the manual regarding the GLASS THROUGH scene mode hints that it may do some sort of color correction, possibly to remove some of the haziness that might occur when shooting through glass. Some have suggested that the camera may also try to focus further back in an attempt to not focus on any dirt on the glass itself - though the manual warns that the camera may focus on a dirty window, which may be a disclaimer for those hoping it might.

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Bruce
You learn something new every time you press the shutter

kkardster said:

**** Barbour said:

Wonder how the "through the glass" setting works? Maybe by limiting focus? Anyway, not too bad for this class of camera, especially in poor light today.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Panasonic doesn't really document what their scene modes actually do very well. My FZ150 had an AERIAL PHOTO scene mode, intended for use when shooting through airplane windows. When I upgraded to the FZ200, it had changed to GLASS THROUGH scene mode - possibly for broader application or they may have tweaked it a bit - we'll never know!

The scant notes in the manual regarding the GLASS THROUGH scene mode hints that it may do some sort of color correction, possibly to remove some of the haziness that might occur when shooting through glass. Some have suggested that the camera may also try to focus further back in an attempt to not focus on any dirt on the glass itself - though the manual warns that the camera may focus on a dirty window, which may be a disclaimer for those hoping it might.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I've also noticed in previous glass shots some slight reflection outlines around objects so maybe they also take those out. In any case it seems to work pretty well. Another thing I like is that at least some of the scene modes, including through-the-glass, allow shooting in raw which I don't remember seeing in other cameras, although I don't follow the compact market a lot.

I also like the 30X zoom as shown below, and it does OK on close-ups. All in all this is an amazingly versatile camera, especially for 5-year-old tech.

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**** Barbour said:

Needed a carry-everywhere/pocket camera when I don't want to take the big gear. Lots of options out there, but liked this one because of EVF, 30X zoom, and only 12Mp so hopefully less noise than the 20Mp newer versions,

Click to expand...

The images from the ZS50 seem to be cleaner. And they are definitely cleaner in the Imaging Resource image comparison tool. 12MP seems to be the optimum/maximum for sensors of this size.

**** Barbour said:

also reasonably priced at $299. So far I'm impressed. I usually shoot raw in A or S mode, but found a scene setting for taking through glass, never heard of that before. Tried it this morning and seems to work well.

Click to expand...

Nice shot! My own experience was that when shooting through double-glazed windows it was best to not use the 'shoot through glass' feature. But obviously yours works great!

**** Barbour said:

I like to take the birds around my feeder but usually have to do it through the patio door to keep from scaring them away. Right now lots of cardinals and doves around, made a nice scene in the fog.

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Click to expand...

Great photos!

That squirrel looks so comfortable. Nice one.

I have a ZS40 and, in culling photos the last several weeks, found scores, even hundreds, that were slightly fuzzy, not that crisp. I don't shot RAW, IS is on, and I have stable hands. I've used Glass mode, too, which does prevent (often, but not always) focusing on the window and gets some good results.

Any thoughts about what the problems could be?



Some in old threads have suggested relying on Aperture mode; others have touted the automatic mode as being quite good.

One issue is that the days here are often gray and cloudy. So, the photos are too— drab and washed out! Another has been snowy backdrops so the exposures are off. Or, with overall gray, wintry conditions, the problem has been photographing *gray* squirrels, chipmunks, and birds without major color contrasts in the scene. Or, wide field photos with deer too far away. I even tried some post-processing to add punch, but those often end up looking artificial.

My keepers were often highly zoomed in photos, with brightly colored birds against snowy limbs. The cardinal photos look like Christmas cards!

But, in general, the bulk of the photos are weak.

I wonder if a ZS50 would be an improvement. The ZS40 is 18mp. It also could be a poorer unit.

Of course, typically, the issue is the photographer, not the camera!

lorenzo said:

Great photos!

That squirrel looks so comfortable. Nice one.

I have a ZS40 and, in culling photos the last several weeks, found scores, even hundreds, that were slightly fuzzy, not that crisp. I don't shot RAW, IS is on, and I have stable hands. I've used Glass mode, too, which does prevent (often, but not always) focusing on the window and gets some good results.

Any thoughts about what the problems could be?

Some in old threads have suggested relying on Aperture mode; others have touted the automatic mode as being quite good.

One issue is that the days here are often gray and cloudy. So, the photos are too— drab and washed out! Another has been snowy backdrops so the exposures are off. Or, with overall gray, wintry conditions, the problem has been photographing *gray* squirrels, chipmunks, and birds without major color contrasts in the scene. Or, wide field photos with deer too far away. I even tried some post-processing to add punch, but those often end up looking artificial.

My keepers were often highly zoomed in photos, with brightly colored birds against snowy limbs. The cardinal photos look like Christmas cards!

But, in general, the bulk of the photos are weak.
I wonder if a ZS50 would be an improvement. The ZS40 is 18mp. It also could be a poorer unit.

Of course, typically, the issue is the photographer, not the camera!

Click to expand...

Sorry, don't know about the ZS40, but I chose the ZS50 specifically because it was "only" 12mp which I think fits the sensor size better. As for settings, the conditions you describe are tough on any camera and make it difficult to get a good photo. In the right light these small sensor cameras are capable of good results, though. Mine is permanently in the car for whatever opportunities arise. Whatever the conditions, any photo is better than nothing!

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Appreciate your observation and reasoning about going for the ZS50!