David J Taylor wrote:
Pete D wrote:

"David J Taylor"

wrote in message
. co.uk...

RichA wrote:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Pana...Z30/page14.asp

I would take the Panasonic FZ5 or FZ20 over a DSLR, for my own
photographic needs. If your needs include low noise at high ISO,
then the FZ30 isn't for you.

ISO 400 is hardly hi ISO, the Panasonic has high noise at low ISO and
that is very bad.


The performance of the Panasonic at ISO 400 is typical of cameras using
the smaller sensor format compared to the DSLR format - it is not "very
bad" at all. The higher noise level is a well-known trade-off. Fuji seem
to have done some work in this area which may improve usable sensitivity
by a stop or more, and it would be interesting to see the Fuji sensor
coupled with a good image-stabilised long zoom.

David


I get really offended when I see these lop sided reviews pumping up
Canon at the expense of other brands. dpreview is well known for this
sort of behavior and really ought to stop it before their credibility is
shot. You can't keep taking money from a company and deny you are
manipulating stories to their benefit and still expect to be believed.

The truth lies somewhere between two extremes of statistics. FZ cameras
don't need as high ISO settings in low light as a Canon DSLR does so
attempting to make a Panasonic look bad at high ISO is distorting the
truth for the sake of promoting Canon.

If the Panasonic had mirrors and hinges flapping around at the time of
exposure it would be perfectly fair to say it's images are noisy at high
ISO and it can't take a low light picture as well as a Canon. It
doesn't. It actually performs quite well in low light situations. I
don't ever recall having a need to shoot bottle labels at high ISO just
for the hell of it. You only need high ISO to capture moving objects or
in low light, to boost shutter speed.

The Canon "S" series DSLRs have a particularly bad mirror design which
shudders more than most SLRs during exposure. The Canon's (ands nearly
every other SLR - film and digital) actually need high ISO in order to
maintain high shutter speeds in low light and produce a sharp (or clear)
picture. The Panasonic does not.

The pictures here http://www.technoaussie.com/gallery/FZ20-Pics are from
a FZ20, the forerunner of the FZ30 but none the less, relevant to this
discussion. You simply could not take these pictures with the same ISO
settings as the Panasonic, using a Canon DSLR. Not even on a tripod. The
only way is to wind up the ISO.

A truly fair comparison then, would be to compare the two cameras in the
same lighting but with each camera's best settings... Something dpreview
never does, with any of their Canon comparisons. They would have you
believe it's impossible to take a good picture if you don't have a Canon
DSLR... Total bull****!

--
Douglas...
Have gun will travel... Said his card.
I didn't care, I shot him anyway.
1/125th @ f5.6. R.I.P. Mamiya.