Limux FZ30

So I picked up the new FZ30 this afternoon! It has a nice feel to it, a very
professionally produced piece of equipment.

Now I have a couple of hours of instruction reading, during which I can
charge up the battery, before trying the thing out.

My supplier had ordered 10 cameras, but only received three. There were 40
people on his waiting list so I feel that I did well to get one of the
first.

Best regards,

Robert R.

PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)

Bill Again wrote:
PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)


grin, I've promised my '10 to my dad next year, if/when I buy a '30

pete
--
"Obviously crime pays, or there'd be no crime"-G Gordon Liddy

So......how do you like the new FZ30?? Is the noise a big problem or not?



"Bill Again" wrote in message
...
So I picked up the new FZ30 this afternoon! It has a nice feel to it, a
very
professionally produced piece of equipment.

Now I have a couple of hours of instruction reading, during which I can
charge up the battery, before trying the thing out.

My supplier had ordered 10 cameras, but only received three. There were
40
people on his waiting list so I feel that I did well to get one of the
first.

Best regards,

Robert R.

PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)





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Hello Jack,

So far I am very impressed with it. Workload has meant that I have had
little time to test it, and I have to admit that so far it has merely been
play, but I can give you some first impressions.

I ordered the FZ30 because it seemed to me to have rolled up all the best
functions into one camera.

I particularly like the speed with which it turns on. With its fixed in
position lens there is no need to wait for lens extension, it simply turns
on. Presumably this helps with battery life too, there is no power wasted on
pushing that lens out when you turn on.

Its fast focus mode is very fast, in most circumstances it almost amounts to
simply point and shoot with a good crisp focus in every case. In practice
shutter lag is non-existent. No doubt I could measure it with some sort of
instrument and it may turn out to be .06 of a second, but in practice one
presses the shutter and it takes a shot.

As a long time user of "old" SLRs I was never really happy with digitals
that use a little thumb lever to change the zoom, so going back to a lens
ring is a great pleasure. Ditto the manual focus.

Noise is not a problem, not at least as far as I can see. For instance it
copes extremely well with night shots. Setting it up on a tripod and letting
it decide its own exposure results in a picture of a relatively dark street
scene that is amazingly sharp, noiseless and really quite spooky in the
detail that it has picked out. It is far better in this respect than the
FZ10 and way excels any of the Olympus cameras that have I used.

I am also impressed with the way it holds the contrast in bright sun light.
Shadows remain dark, while lit objects stand out clear and bright. I have
had other digital cameras that tried to smooth out these contrasts and only
ended up making a mess of the scene.

The stabiliser is effective too. Out of 4 or 5 hundred shots very very few
show any sign of camera shake. Far fewer than with the FZ10 that I used. I
should mention that the system is noisy though. Using setting 1, full time
stabilisation, you can hear the system working. Agreed it is only noticeable
as a low pitched variable buzz and it is not intrusive, you really have to
listen hard to hear it.

I have ordered extra batteries and an extension shutter cable which I should
be able to pick up in the next few days. Next week I am off to Sardinia for
a weeks hiking and I hope then to be able to give it a better trial.

Take care,

Robert


Jack Carter" wrote in message
...
So......how do you like the new FZ30?? Is the noise a big problem or not?



"Bill Again" wrote in message
...
So I picked up the new FZ30 this afternoon! It has a nice feel to it, a
very
professionally produced piece of equipment.

Now I have a couple of hours of instruction reading, during which I can
charge up the battery, before trying the thing out.

My supplier had ordered 10 cameras, but only received three. There were
40
people on his waiting list so I feel that I did well to get one of the
first.

Best regards,

Robert R.

PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)





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Bill Again wrote:

Hello Jack,

So far I am very impressed with it. Workload has meant that I have had
little time to test it, and I have to admit that so far it has merely been
play, but I can give you some first impressions.

I ordered the FZ30 because it seemed to me to have rolled up all the best
functions into one camera.

I particularly like the speed with which it turns on. With its fixed in
position lens there is no need to wait for lens extension, it simply turns
on. Presumably this helps with battery life too, there is no power wasted on
pushing that lens out when you turn on.

Its fast focus mode is very fast, in most circumstances it almost amounts to
simply point and shoot with a good crisp focus in every case. In practice
shutter lag is non-existent. No doubt I could measure it with some sort of
instrument and it may turn out to be .06 of a second, but in practice one
presses the shutter and it takes a shot.

As a long time user of "old" SLRs I was never really happy with digitals
that use a little thumb lever to change the zoom, so going back to a lens
ring is a great pleasure. Ditto the manual focus.

Noise is not a problem,

If "Noise is not a problem" then why would the professional reviewers (thus far) make such a large issue in point out noise. Are they mistaken or has the conditions under which noise occurs not be specifically defined. It would seem that with more MP on the same small sensor noise would be comparatively greater than the other cameras in the line.

not at least as far as I can see. For instance it
copes extremely well with night shots. Setting it up on a tripod and letting
it decide its own exposure results in a picture of a relatively dark street
scene that is amazingly sharp, noiseless and really quite spooky in the
detail that it has picked out. It is far better in this respect than the
FZ10 and way excels any of the Olympus cameras that have I used.

I am also impressed with the way it holds the contrast in bright sun light.
Shadows remain dark, while lit objects stand out clear and bright. I have
had other digital cameras that tried to smooth out these contrasts and only
ended up making a mess of the scene.

The stabiliser is effective too. Out of 4 or 5 hundred shots very very few
show any sign of camera shake. Far fewer than with the FZ10 that I used. I
should mention that the system is noisy though. Using setting 1, full time
stabilisation, you can hear the system working. Agreed it is only noticeable
as a low pitched variable buzz and it is not intrusive, you really have to
listen hard to hear it.

I have ordered extra batteries and an extension shutter cable which I should
be able to pick up in the next few days. Next week I am off to Sardinia for
a weeks hiking and I hope then to be able to give it a better trial.

Take care,

Robert


Jack Carter" wrote in message
...


So......how do you like the new FZ30?? Is the noise a big problem or not?



"Bill Again" wrote in message
...


So I picked up the new FZ30 this afternoon! It has a nice feel to it, a
very
professionally produced piece of equipment.

Now I have a couple of hours of instruction reading, during which I can
charge up the battery, before trying the thing out.

My supplier had ordered 10 cameras, but only received three. There were


40


people on his waiting list so I feel that I did well to get one of the
first.

Best regards,

Robert R.

PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)





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Hi Bill: And thanx for the reply.
I've been trying to make up my mind about which one of the 12x-zoom zlrs
to
buy for several weeks. And the FZ30 sounded like it was a perfect fit -
except for the noise problem that the reviewers keep harping on. If it's
something that only shows up in technical reports - and doesn't actually
look bad - I could probably live with it. When Costco gets them in stock,
I'll buy one. So if it's something I just can't tolerate, I know I won't
have a problem returning it. I guess we have to make some compromises when
we buy almost anything. And the FZ30 seems to have ALL of the bases
covered - even with the reviewers, except for the noise.
Have a good trip!


"Bill Again" wrote in message
...
Hello Jack,

So far I am very impressed with it. Workload has meant that I have had
little time to test it, and I have to admit that so far it has merely
been
play, but I can give you some first impressions.

I ordered the FZ30 because it seemed to me to have rolled up all the
best
functions into one camera.

I particularly like the speed with which it turns on. With its fixed in
position lens there is no need to wait for lens extension, it simply
turns
on. Presumably this helps with battery life too, there is no power
wasted
on pushing that lens out when you turn on.

Its fast focus mode is very fast, in most circumstances it almost
amounts
to simply point and shoot with a good crisp focus in every case. In
practice shutter lag is non-existent. No doubt I could measure it with
some sort of instrument and it may turn out to be .06 of a second, but
in
practice one presses the shutter and it takes a shot.

As a long time user of "old" SLRs I was never really happy with digitals
that use a little thumb lever to change the zoom, so going back to a
lens
ring is a great pleasure. Ditto the manual focus.

Noise is not a problem, not at least as far as I can see. For instance
it
copes extremely well with night shots. Setting it up on a tripod and
letting it decide its own exposure results in a picture of a relatively
dark street scene that is amazingly sharp, noiseless and really quite
spooky in the detail that it has picked out. It is far better in this
respect than the FZ10 and way excels any of the Olympus cameras that
have
I used.

I am also impressed with the way it holds the contrast in bright sun
light. Shadows remain dark, while lit objects stand out clear and
bright.
I have had other digital cameras that tried to smooth out these
contrasts
and only ended up making a mess of the scene.

The stabiliser is effective too. Out of 4 or 5 hundred shots very very
few
show any sign of camera shake. Far fewer than with the FZ10 that I used.
I
should mention that the system is noisy though. Using setting 1, full
time
stabilisation, you can hear the system working. Agreed it is only
noticeable as a low pitched variable buzz and it is not intrusive, you
really have to listen hard to hear it.

I have ordered extra batteries and an extension shutter cable which I
should be able to pick up in the next few days. Next week I am off to
Sardinia for a weeks hiking and I hope then to be able to give it a
better
trial.

Take care,

Robert


Jack Carter" wrote in message
...
So......how do you like the new FZ30?? Is the noise a big problem or
not?



"Bill Again" wrote in message
...
So I picked up the new FZ30 this afternoon! It has a nice feel to it,
a
very
professionally produced piece of equipment.

Now I have a couple of hours of instruction reading, during which I
can
charge up the battery, before trying the thing out.

My supplier had ordered 10 cameras, but only received three. There
were
40
people on his waiting list so I feel that I did well to get one of the
first.

Best regards,

Robert R.

PS Anyone want to buy an FZ10 ? :-)





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It has removed 415 spam emails to date.
Paying users do not have this message in their emails.
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measekite wrote:

Noise is not a problem,

If "Noise is not a problem" then why would the professional reviewers
(thus far) make such a large issue in point out noise. Are they
mistaken or has the conditions under which noise occurs not be
specifically defined. It would seem that with more MP on the same
small sensor noise would be comparatively greater than the other
cameras in the line.

There is no doubt that there is noise, but whether it is a major issue
or not depends somewhat on the how individual users perceives these
noise levels in their own photographs. At ISO 100 and shooting in
conditions with plenty of light, it can be relatively easy to spot
noise in the shadows, and also sometimes in other better-lit areas of
the image. Although visible on screen at 100%, I still don't know how
this noise will show up in 6"x4" prints. As there are plenty of pixels,
it may not be all that evident.

In any case, noise levels are but one part of a camera's imaging
performance, and there are many other aspects of the FZ30's image
quality that help to produce nice looking images. Amongst these I would
include a pleasing color rendition and an optically sharp lens that
produces image detail that seems to be very good. In the end, the FZ30
has its own blend of strengths and weaknesses, just like any other
camera. Noise may be a real issue for some people, especially if doing
big prints, but for others it may not spoil many of their photographs.

--
Witold

Bill Again wrote:

Noise is not a problem, not at least as far as I can see. For instance it
copes extremely well with night shots. Setting it up on a tripod and letting
it decide its own exposure results in a picture of a relatively dark street
scene that is amazingly sharp, noiseless and really quite spooky in the
detail that it has picked out. It is far better in this respect than the
FZ10 and way excels any of the Olympus cameras that have I used.

When you get a chance, could you shoot some night shots with both the
FZ30 and your old FZ10? I bet that would help out a lot of us who have
been on pins and needles waiting for images from production FZ30's.

Paul Allen

Even if the FZ30 is better than the FZ20 and would be the choice if one
had nothing; I think that if one has an FZ20 then a DSLR would be the
path to go if you desired an upgrade.

Diamond Dave wrote:

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 20:26:29 -0700, Paul Allen "paul dot l dot allen at comcast
dot net" wrote:


When you get a chance, could you shoot some night shots with both the
FZ30 and your old FZ10? I bet that would help out a lot of us who have
been on pins and needles waiting for images from production FZ30's.



There's a lot of FZ30 pix in the Panasonic forum on DPreview and from what
I've seen they're pretty bad if they contain an shadow area. It may be noise,
I don't know, but shadows are grainy with the FZ30. Whatever it is, it's an
effect that I haven't seen in pictures from my FZ20. If/when I upgrade, it won't
be to the FZ30, it's more likely that I'll go DSLR.

measekite wrote:
Even if the FZ30 is better than the FZ20 and would be the choice if one
had nothing; I think that if one has an FZ20 then a DSLR would be the
path to go if you desired an upgrade.

I'm in exactly that situation. Although the FZ30 and a DSLR have
different strengths and weaknesses, one still only wants to own so many
cameras. Thus, the FZ30 will have to compete with the KM Dynax 5D for
my next camera purchase. A DSLR doesn't have a swivelable LCD, which is
a great plus for the FZ30 over both the Dynax 5D and my FZ20. OTOH,
reviewers say that the swivelable LCD in the FZ30 is rather awkward and
impractical compared to the competition.

Jan B=F6hme