Best camera I have ever owned for macro shots! I had a Fuji X10 but the versatility of the WG-4 lens in macro mode beats it. I had also an older Lumix DMC-LZ5 that does very well at 1080x1920, but again the lens is not as versatile and the image quality is not as good. With the WG-4 I am able to use the JPGs right out of the camera at 1080x1920 resolution, same as I could with the Lumix, but the image quality out of the WG-4 is significantly better.
Battery life is surprisingly good in spite of the very small size of this battery. I recommend carrying an extra battery anyway.
Beyond the subject of macros, the camera is a good-performing rugged compact. Again, I have no complaints here, knowing that compacts such as this cannot be expected to match the image quality of cameras with larger sensors.
Generally I am shooting at less than max resolution to keep the image artifacts minimized. I think my preferred setting is 4M 16x9 since I have some crop room in post, and I prefer this for general shooting. For work related documentation I use 2M 16x9 so I can just paste the images into my work documents.
I wish it had a setting for noise suppression, which unfortunately I cannot control. At lower resolutions I just set sharpness to minimum and that is getting me the results I use.
A typical macro shot, with very little post processing.
Another macro in 1cm macro mode using built-in LED macro lights. Quality is good but depth of field is very shallow (to be expected at this magnification).
Normal shot, with post processing and cropping. Color clouds in darker areas are clearly visible here, which is normal in a compact such as this. Clarity of the image is very good.
Still life. Image quality at this resolution is very good.
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Tom Schum
Celebrate mediocrity (in moderation)