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panasonic fz18

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miker9808

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Hi i have been going back and fourth between the fz18 , and the the olympus 560, 570 my main concern is image quality. I have read to many reviews and i wanted to ask which one would be a better choice i'm leaning toward the panasonic fz 18.

My seconed question is if i go with the panasonic what memory cards 2g 4g leel 4 or 6
if any one could help me with this thanks Mike
or is the nikon p80 better then the olympus and the panasonic thanks
 
miker9808 said:
Hi i have been going back and fourth between the fz18 , and the the
olympus 560, 570 my main concern is image quality.
Click to expand...
Download the entire, full-size sample shots in reviews of your candidate cameras and compare them... that's about the only way to weigh the differences.

Since you're asking this in a panny forum, most of us (including me, since I bought one two days ago) will say go with the '18.

My image issue is purple fringing / chromatic aberration -- irrational or not, that's my main indicator of IQ, that and the ability to see bricks/mortar in brick construction. Pretty specific and pretty idiosyncratic.

I liked what I saw with the FZ18 samples on both counts. I don't like what I see in noise-reduction artifacts in the '18, but I can overcome that when I really need to, by shooting to RAW.

I certainly like the incredible glass on the FZ18. Panasonic should package up just the lens and put it on the pro, DSLR market.
--
Dave G.

EDIT: re: cards. Anything 4 GB or above has to be SDHC (high capacity). The camera will work faster, the manual says somewhere, with fast (type 2) cards. There's a link in the manual: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/index.html

Click on the link that says SD/SDHC Memory Cards and look at the compatibility lists there.
 
These superzooms have a lot of competition from all the big names.
 
I drove myself bonkers a couple of months ago going back and forth on which ultra zoom to purchase. I looked at samples, sensor size, features, ease of menu used, and the way it felt in hand. I ended up with the FZ18. After I had narrowed down my choices within my budget, I held the cameras and liked the FZ18 the best.

I think if money was not an issue I may have gone with the FZ30 or FZ50.

After learning how to use the FZ18, it is growing on me and I am happy with my choice. I especially like the zoom when photographing animals.

When it came to deciding between the FZ18 and the Olympus 560/570, two factors that weighed into my decision were: FZ18 uses SD and Olympus a tiny little xD memory card and the FZ18 has one battery that stays put while Olympus uses 4 AA batteries. Most everything else seemed comparable. Also the 570 had too many pixels for me.
 
I'd get a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III SDHC card if you go with the FZ18. They are about $50 and there is currently a $30 rebate. Pretty good deal. I have no delay between multi-shots with this card in even after the first 3 shots in a row. I'm very pleased and quick downloads too. :)
 
For samples if you look to the header choices to your left under sample galleries you can find examples which each include an opportunity to download a full size example. Check thhe quality of shots like what you want to use the cam for.

Newegg has good deals on sdhc cards including the a-data 16gb class 6 I am happily using in my fz18.
 
There is very little not to like about the FZ18. I think it's an incredible camera with a highly versatile zoom range and little lens distortion.

Among compact cameras, I think the FZ18 has few limitations except in the low light/high ISO department, where I personally find it to be a disappointment. Note I said low light; the FZ18 can do very well in available light such as this photo taken inside near a window:



I don't take a lot of low light photos so it never was a huge concern for me.

I did recently bought my first DSLR; but that's a whole other discussion.

--
DSLR Transition Club
gail ~ http://www.pbase.com/gailb
My digital camera BLOGs: Canon XSi, SD700; Pany FZ18 & more.
http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-logs/index.php
 
That sounds like me lol

My list of cameras that I am interested in are:

Sony H50
Sony H5
Sony H2
Panasonic Lumix TZ5
Panasonic Lumix FZ18
Olympus 570
Nikon P80
Canon SX100 IS
Canon S5 S
Canon A650 IS

I have folders for each camera, filled with hundreds of images taken from Pbase, flicker, dpr, etc to compare images (over 2 gigs!). And I am reading all the reviews and comments. For me its hard to keep track of all the reviews. It will come down to a few features I really want, and image quality based on all the images I have gathered.
JoannH said:
I drove myself bonkers a couple of months ago going back and forth on
which ultra zoom to purchase. I looked at samples, sensor size,
features, ease of menu used, and the way it felt in hand. I ended up
with the FZ18. After I had narrowed down my choices within my
budget, I held the cameras and liked the FZ18 the best.

I think if money was not an issue I may have gone with the FZ30 or FZ50.

After learning how to use the FZ18, it is growing on me and I am
happy with my choice. I especially like the zoom when photographing
animals.

When it came to deciding between the FZ18 and the Olympus 560/570,
two factors that weighed into my decision were: FZ18 uses SD and
Olympus a tiny little xD memory card and the FZ18 has one battery
that stays put while Olympus uses 4 AA batteries. Most everything
else seemed comparable. Also the 570 had too many pixels for me.
Click to expand...
 
Recently I was in your situation, having to decide among fz18, the uz's, and p80. I went w/ fz18 because of price and positive reviews. 570 was new so I couldn't find a comprehensive review then. But its price for being new (~$450) turned me off. I didn't go w/ 560 because some negative reviews stuck in my mind (for good or bad :) ). So it was a toss up betw p80 and fz18. Since fz18 was at least 50 bucks cheaper, with equal or better (according to reviews) performance, it was an easy decision.
But if I had gotten p80, I think I would've been satisfied anyway.

For sample shots you can also go to flickr.com and find photos taken by a specific camera. But beware because how good a photo looks depends on how good the photographer adjusted the settings.

For the card, you can find good deals (~$20 on various sites) for level 6 4G SDHC cards.

I got so sick from obsessively scouring reviews; thankfully I'm happy with my purchase.
 
Regarding low light performance:

When I recently had to decide what superzoom to buy, I couldn't find a review that specifically compares low light performance of various superzooms. It's inevitable that all non DSLR's will have poor IQ in the dark, so such comparison would've helped...
 
I decided against the Nikon P80 because you can't put polarzers or other filters on it and it doesn't shoot in RAW.
 
Thanks Dave for the info i'm going with the fz18.
any suggestions on a good case less then 50 dollars?

also is their any photo shop etc software you would suggest that's not expensive?

one last thing how do you test or see if your camera has what i read some were the blue band on the image thanks Mike
 
rjx said:
I have folders for each camera, filled with hundreds of images taken
from Pbase, flicker, dpr, etc to compare images (over 2 gigs!).
Click to expand...
I wish that everyone who came here looking for advice was willing to do the kind of leg work that you have already done.

But for what it is worth, I would never base a buying decision based on photos taken from a public photo-sharing site. The main reason is that you have no idea how many photos were thrown away to get those keepers or how much post-processing was done before they were posted. On the other end of the spectrum, the root cause of alot of bad-looking photos can be found behind the camera and not in it.

Before the Sony H9 was widely available, there was a person posting great photos on the Sony forum. Alot of people bought the camera based on this compelling evidence only to discover that the camera had serious flaws that were not seen in the earlier ultrazooms from Sony. You can speculate as well as I can on the reasons for posting great photos without sharing any of the downsides from that camera....but he/she was obviously not being honest.

Recognizing that free advice is usually worth what you pay for it....I would suggest looking at photos from the well-known review sites and then ask any appropriate questions on a forum here at DPR. If a camera has draw backs, then there will be enough honest people to tell you the limitations of the equipment in question.
 
Hi i wanted to know did any one buy a 2 or 3 year extended warranty for the fz18 or should i stick with the 1 year warranty from panasonic?

Also any suggestions on a bag, case for this camera i'm not looking for a cheepy case and not to expensive what i mean is less then 80 dollars thanks Mike
 
Steve82 said:
I would never base a buying decision based
on photos taken from a public photo-sharing site. The main reason
is that you have no idea how many photos were thrown away to get
those keepers or how much post-processing was done before they were
posted.
Click to expand...
I've owned plenty of digital cameras and, fortunately, never had a faulty one. I always throw away many photos and post process all of them.

Unlike you, I find the photos taken by camera owners, as well as their comments, much more useful than professional reviews. I want to see what people just like me can get out of a camera.

--
DSLR Transition Club
gail ~ http://www.pbase.com/gailb
My digital camera BLOGs: Canon XSi, SD700; Pany FZ18 & more.
http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-logs/index.php
 
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