Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20

What canera is the best? -
Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20


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Cheers _ Hunibal _

Hunibal wrote:
What canera is the best? -
Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20
Cheers _ Hunibal _

How does one answer that question? It really depends on your needs.

I needed a light-weight, compact, take anywhere, anytime, high
performance camera. The FZ5 is near perfect for my needs.

The FZ20 is an impressive camera, but is larger and has the older image
processing engine (slower, noisier). If you need manual focus and/or
hot shoe and don't mind the larger chassis, then the FZ20 is your
ticket.

For me, I love the FZ5 and have no regrets. I take it with me at times
that a larger camera would be left at home. It is light and small
enough to forget while I am carrying it around. At a recent school
function a couple of parents brought along their SLR cameras. I noticed
both of them had to keep one hand on the camera, (to keep it from
swinging and taking a load off their neck), while they were walking
around. It just plain looked uncomfortable.

I recently posted a review at amazon.com. Please check it and the
others out for more user input on the Panasonic DMC-FZ5.

I would love to see Panasonic morph the FZ20 into a higher quality
prosumer camera, like the Olympus C8080. Bring the size down a bit,
upgrade the processing engine, reduce the noise a bit at high ISO, and
wrap the whole thing in a sweet magnesium chassis.

So far, the FZ5 is performing beyond my expectations.

Good luck, TR

Hunibal wrote:
What canera is the best? -
Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20

A better question would be, "How do these cameras differ and
which differences are most immportant to me?"

The FZ20 is bulkier both in size and weight.

The FZ20 has a flash hot-shoe.

The FZ20 has an ED element in the lens, so it might have
better sharpness under some circumstances. I don't think
I've seen a good analysis of this on any of the review
sites.

The FZ20 has a very nice ring-operated fly-by-wire manual
focus, while the FZ5 has no manual focus. People are saying
this doesn't really matter. Both cameras appear to have
some sort of multi-zone autofocus scheme. If you can force
the camera to focus on a particular zone, that would be
almost as good as a real manual focus. The manuals are
unclear and I have not seen any owner of one of these
cameras describe how the multi-zone focus actually works.

It looks as if it might be simpler to adapt filters to
the FZ20 than to the FZ5, but this may be just because the
FZ5 has not been around as long. I'm to the point where
I know I want to use ND and polarizing filters for some
shots, so this is important to me.

The FZ5 is a little less expensive.

My current camera is an Olympus C700UZ. Either of the FZ5
or the FZ20 would be a nice upgrade. I'd rather have the
smaller camera, but I'm held back over not knowing how the
autofocus works and not knowing exactly what the lens
tradeoff is.

Paul Allen

Paul Allen" "paul dot l dot allen at comcast dot net wrote:
[]
The FZ20 has an ED element in the lens, so it might have
better sharpness under some circumstances. I don't think
I've seen a good analysis of this on any of the review
sites.

I tried telephoto shots with both the FZ5 and FZ20 (we have both cameras)
and under "normal" conditions you couldn't see much difference at all.
I'd be interested in a good analysis as well!

It looks as if it might be simpler to adapt filters to
the FZ20 than to the FZ5, but this may be just because the
FZ5 has not been around as long. I'm to the point where
I know I want to use ND and polarizing filters for some
shots, so this is important to me.

55mm filters fit directly onto the lens-hood adapter of the FZ5, supplied
with the camera. I got a polarising filter and use it occasionally to
good effect. (From the FZ20 manual, it looks to be the same, perhaps
requiring a larger filter, though.

Cheers,
David

"Hunibal" wrote in message
news
What canera is the best? -
Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20

Not either one. The FZ5 is more general consumer oriented.

Monroe wrote:
Another poster had mentioned an older/slower/noisier (as in audible
noise?) processor on the FZ20. I'm interested if there is actually a
difference in speed or audible noise between these two? The FZ20
seems ideal for amateur wildlife photography. The audible noise may
be an issue.

Just compared the two and, yes, there is a difference. The shutter noise
in the FZ5 is almost inaudible, in the FZ20 a quiet whisper (so, no
precise measurements!). The processor might cause more image noise,
rather than more audible noise, although I've not been aware of any
significant difference.

I would check in a shop. I'm not a wildlife photographer, but I would be
very surprised if the shutter noise was an issue. There is no other
noise. A twig cracking would be much louder by comparison. All these
cameras have vastly less acoustic noise than any DSLR.

Cheers,
David

Hunibal wrote:
What canera is the best? -
Panasonic FZ5 - or - FZ20

Objectively? FZ20. Subjectively? You might find the FZ5 suits your needs
and your budget, in which case why spend more?

pete
--
"There's no room for enigmas in built-up areas" - HMHB

Monroe wrote:
Another poster had mentioned an older/slower/noisier (as in audible
noise?) processor on the FZ20. I'm interested if there is actually a
difference in speed or audible noise between these two? The FZ20
seems ideal for amateur wildlife photography. The audible noise may
be an issue.


The FZ20 uses an earlier image processor engine (Venus I vs. Venus II)
that is a somewhat slower and per some of the reviews I have read does
not do quite as effective a job on image noise suppression. This has
nothing to do with audible noise. The FZ5 is virtually silent, I
imagine the FZ20 is also quite stealthy soundwise.

TR

David J Taylor wrote:

Paul Allen" "paul dot l dot allen at comcast dot net wrote:
[]


The FZ20 has an ED element in the lens, so it might have
better sharpness under some circumstances. I don't think
I've seen a good analysis of this on any of the review
sites.



I tried telephoto shots with both the FZ5 and FZ20 (we have both cameras)
and under "normal" conditions you couldn't see much difference at all.
I'd be interested in a good analysis as well!



I would be more interested in an analysis between the Canon S2 and the
Pan FZ5 relating to photo quality and field use not just a comparison
of features that one can do by themselves.



It looks as if it might be simpler to adapt filters to
the FZ20 than to the FZ5, but this may be just because the
FZ5 has not been around as long. I'm to the point where
I know I want to use ND and polarizing filters for some
shots, so this is important to me.



55mm filters fit directly onto the lens-hood adapter of the FZ5, supplied
with the camera. I got a polarising filter and use it occasionally to
good effect. (From the FZ20 manual, it looks to be the same, perhaps
requiring a larger filter, though.

Cheers,
David

measekite wrote in
m:

I would be more interested in an analysis between the Canon S2 and
the Pan FZ5 relating to photo quality and field use not just a
comparison of features that one can do by themselves.

You will see plenty of those comparisons, but you might need to wait
for the S2 to have been on the streets for a little while, first. :-)

--
Bill