Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ50: where next?

[amipal]

Hello all! This is my first post to these forums, though I have had around over the last couple of months - please be gentle.

I have always had an interest in photography and was able to learn the basics of setting up a good shot via my first digital camera, the Olympus µ700. This served my purposes adequately, but I began to yearn for something a bit more versatile in terms of image quality and use. This was met by my ever-trusty Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ50, which has travelled with my from China to Austria and given me a couple of years of good service.

However, I am well aware of its limitations, particularly in low-light, and am now on the lookout for something a bit more SLR-like, which also has the versatility that the integrated lense does in my current Lumix (12x zoom). My knowledge of lenses is rather limited; my investigations haven't delved into what sized lense constitutes a 12x zoom.

My eye is currently on the Panasonic Lumix GH1, as I am used to the Lumix controls and the Micro-Four-Thirds system should help weight-wise while travelling. I am open to other options though, so please fire away!

[ianpinion]

Hello amipal,

Welcome to the forums and please feel free to post any photography related questions you have within the appropriate thread on here.

Now, are you looking to purchase a DSLR camera or are you thinking more of what is termed as a 'Bridge' camera? The major differences between them are:

• A DSLR camera has interchangeable lenses where as a Bridge camera has one lens
  A Bridge camera has a larger sensor than a compact but is still a much smaller sensor than a DSLR would have
  A DSLR has an optical viewfinder, where as a Bridge camera has an electronic viewfinder i.e. the image you see through a bridge camera's viewfinder is a small jpeg produced by what the sensor is seeing

If you like your Panasonic Lumix cameras then you have a choice between the FZ28 or FZ38 Bridge cameras or the GF1 or GHF1 Micro Four-Thirds DSLRs. All are fine cameras, but with the last two you can purchase different focal length lenses for them if you want to take landscape shots, do some close-up or macro photography or a telephoto lens for some sports or wildlife shots for instance. With a bridge camera you have to make do with the lens that is built into it. It will be a variable focal length lens that will probably be from a focal length of around 28mm at the wide end to possibly as much as 550mm at the telephoto end. These are often described as a so many x zoom lens, i.e. if the lens went from 28mm - 280mm then it's a 10x zoom. If it's a 28mm - 560mm then it would be a 20x zoom lens etc.

When choosing between these fine cameras the one thing you really have to pay closest attention to is what you are going to be photographing. If you want to travel light buy a Bridge camera. If you don't mind lugging round some extra equipment with your camera then buy a DSLR, as with this type of camera you will probably add more lenses, filters, flashguns and a tripod as time goes on to achieve the images you want.

I hope that has given you a little more incite, but I must reiterate that you must buy the camera that best suits your needs, so decide what those needs are and you should have your answer.

Best of luck.

[amipal]

@ianpinion
Many thanks for your swift response, you've given me a lot to think about!

I think the LCD viewfinder on my FZ50 does a fantastic job at showing you exactly what is hitting the CCD, so would like to keep the digital viewfinder.

I've read up previously on the G1 and GH1, but hadn't looked into the GF1. This looks like it fixes a couple of the niggles of the G1 (such as video), but also loses the viewfinder - you have to add this as an extra and the £200 this costs could well go towards other lenses.

Thanks for the explanation on focal length! That has increased my knowledge on the subject by one hundred percent! In terms of the GH1, which comes supplied with a 14-140mm, I guess this means that it has up to 10x zoom?

I have quite an extensive gallery of my photography here, but have yet to define exactly what my specific needs are - I'm still a bit up in the air when it comes to that!

Thanks again.

[xavier]

hi amipal
I see Panasonic & Sony more as produsers of [B][I][U]quality home entertanmant products( T.V.s, DVDs, HI-FI & so on) not quality DSLR products. If I want a good T.V. yes to Panasonic and like-wise if Nikon or Cannon started makeing T.V.s and such like I would say no thanks!! thought both are strong names in their own feild of electrail good. Call me a crack pot if you like but I think Panasonic & Sony should keep to what they know best (T.V. DVDs &HI-FIs)

[Indrid Cold]

Originally Posted by xavier

hi amipal
I see Panasonic & Sony more as produsers of [B][I][U]quality home entertanmant products( T.V.s, DVDs, HI-FI & so on) not quality DSLR products. If I want a good T.V. yes to Panasonic and like-wise if Nikon or Cannon started makeing T.V.s and such like I would say no thanks!! thought both are strong names in their own feild of electrail good. Call me a crack pot if you like but I think Panasonic & Sony should keep to what they know best (T.V. DVDs &HI-FIs)

What a wonderful appreciation of photography...

Sony can of course recently trace its heritage to Minolta, so obviously no history in the field of photography there. Which OEM led the way in the introduction of LiveView in DSLRs, and which still has the best implementation of such? Ah, yes - Sony.
Panasonic has a long association with Leica, and is now co-developing the MFT format with Olympus, so again obviously no history in the field of photography.

Have you actually looked at the worldwide product portfolios of Canon/Nikon?

[amipal]

Originally Posted by xavier

hi amipal
I see Panasonic & Sony more as produsers of [B][I][U]quality home entertanmant products( T.V.s, DVDs, HI-FI & so on) not quality DSLR products. If I want a good T.V. yes to Panasonic and like-wise if Nikon or Cannon started makeing T.V.s and such like I would say no thanks!! thought both are strong names in their own feild of electrail good. Call me a crack pot if you like but I think Panasonic & Sony should keep to what they know best (T.V. DVDs &HI-FIs)

Thanks for the comments xavier, but I feel I've done pretty well with my existing Panasonic to begin with!

What model from either Canon or Nikon would you suggest?

[ianpinion]

Originally Posted by amipal

Thanks for the comments xavier, but I feel I've done pretty well with my existing Panasonic to begin with!

What model from either Canon or Nikon would you suggest?

That would be either the Canon 1000D or the Nikon D3000 in the DSLRs and the Canon SX1 or S200Xis or Nikon Coolpix P90, but the Panasonic cameras get a very good right up on the whole and the four cameras I mentioned are some of their best along with the TZ6 and TZ7 compacts too!

Now one thing I should add regarding the 14 - 140 lens you mentioned. It will actually perform as a 28 - 280 lens because the camera has a 2x cropped sensor. In other words, if you compare the size of the sensor to a piece of 35mm film in an old school SLR, it's surface area is half the size of the film exposed when the cameras shutter opens. This cuts down your field of view (FoV), hence if you're taking a shot of a sweeping landscape, you will not see as much of it in your photo. You may here other members of the forums talking about full-frame cameras which have a sensor eqivalent in size to a section of 35mm film for an SLR, so when you use the lens on the SLR at it's 14mm focal length it will capture a FoV of about 83 - 85 degrees as with the Panasonic will only achieve around 92 - 94 degrees.

The only other camera that's similar to the Panasonic GF1 is the Olympus Pen camera, as it too uses the micro four thirds system.