Bellefield
Leading Member
Excellent Camera and now, since the new models came out, at an amazing price.
There is lots to love about this camera. Its a true compact, that still managed to get up to a 350mm equivalent lens, and its a Leica lens at that, sharp as anything.
Its no use having a super telephoto without Image Stabilisation and this camera has one that works brilliantly.
Its so simple to use, and while it has limited manual contrls it has a huge amount of pre-programmed features to compensate.
I bought this as a holiday snapper so I didn't have to drag my D70 around with me, and I love it. I carry it to work in my jacket pocket, take it with me in the car, or if I'm going to a sporting event and want to catch some close ups of the action without worrying about where I'm going to leave my camera.
The huge lens range allows you to be really creative with your picture taking; wide sweeping landscapes to foreshortened telephoto shots that allow you to see both the rowing boat and the battle cruiser behind it.
The only downside to all this creativity, fun and features, is the sensor - why do Panasonic persist with a noisy sensor when they have a class leading camera in every other respect?
Having said that, the pictures are perfect for my website and for my picture diary, and for holiday snaps - they wont ever be used for full sized posters, but then again even dSLRs would struggle with that.
Its still a great camera, its just that it could do with a bigger engine!
Problems:
Noise in any low light conditions, some purple fringing around the edge at extreme telephoto. But as I've said, the other features more than compensate for this if you're not using it as a professional camera.
Its a very good creative allrounder that could have been a truly great camera if it weren't for its processor.
There is lots to love about this camera. Its a true compact, that still managed to get up to a 350mm equivalent lens, and its a Leica lens at that, sharp as anything.
Its no use having a super telephoto without Image Stabilisation and this camera has one that works brilliantly.
Its so simple to use, and while it has limited manual contrls it has a huge amount of pre-programmed features to compensate.
I bought this as a holiday snapper so I didn't have to drag my D70 around with me, and I love it. I carry it to work in my jacket pocket, take it with me in the car, or if I'm going to a sporting event and want to catch some close ups of the action without worrying about where I'm going to leave my camera.
The huge lens range allows you to be really creative with your picture taking; wide sweeping landscapes to foreshortened telephoto shots that allow you to see both the rowing boat and the battle cruiser behind it.
The only downside to all this creativity, fun and features, is the sensor - why do Panasonic persist with a noisy sensor when they have a class leading camera in every other respect?
Having said that, the pictures are perfect for my website and for my picture diary, and for holiday snaps - they wont ever be used for full sized posters, but then again even dSLRs would struggle with that.
Its still a great camera, its just that it could do with a bigger engine!
Problems:
Noise in any low light conditions, some purple fringing around the edge at extreme telephoto. But as I've said, the other features more than compensate for this if you're not using it as a professional camera.
Its a very good creative allrounder that could have been a truly great camera if it weren't for its processor.