Product Review: Panasonic Lumix FZ5
from Cameras and Imaging (387 articles)
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Image Gallery ( 27 images )April 18, 2005 The digital camera market continues to grow at an astonishing rate and the major competitors continuing to shoehorn new features into new cameras at an ever more affordable price – one example of just how far we have come in such a short period of time is the Panasonic FZ5, a camera we recently spent some time with. The 5.0-megapixel FZ5 LUMIX has a 12 times zoom lens – that’s equivalent to a zoom lens on a traditional camera having a ranbge from 36mm to 432mm. As it is TINY, and weighs 320 games with battery and memory card included, Panasonic has also included an Optical Image Stabilizer to compensate for handshake. The result is a camera that’s more than good enough for professional quality imagery – at a street price under US$450.
The high zoom market is currently growing much faster than the overall digital camera marketplace – the market seems to have been kickstarted by people experiencing the high zoom capabilities of digital video cameras and picked up pace from there.
Available now, the DMC-FZ5/FZ4 is the heir to the 3.1-megapixel DMC-FZ3, but enhanced its excellence not only with the total number of pixels but also with other innovative technical improvements such as faster AF.
Panasonic is introducing the incoming model DMC-FZ5 with MEGA O.I.S., that compensates the handshake, incorporating a newly developed 12x optical zoom ( (FZ5) / 35mm to 420mm(FZ4) on a 35mm film camera) lens. and various design development on the grip or the position of shutter button, to encourage higher-level shooting with comfortable operation. Panasonic has already introduced the DMC-FZ20, 5-megapixel 12x optical zoom model in 2004 for high-end prosumers. DMC-FZ5, however, makes clear distinction in the point of body size and usability, by which nonexclusive users can enjoy the deeper world of photography.
The remarkable 12x optical zoom combined with 4x digital zoom magnifies images by as much as 48x and can capture large frames of photo subjects even a long distance away. Furthermore, Panasonic’s MEGA O.I.S. assures stability of the magnified image and resolves the problem of blurring when the zoom photography is operated by hand without the assistance of a tripod. Same as the FZ20, the camera is equipped with a LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens for high resolution imaging with very little distortion. Moreover, the combination of 3 aspherical lenses preserves an astonishingly compact body size even for a 12x optical zoom digital still camera.
The engine, or the brain, driving high picture quality and quick response of the camera is once again the leading-edge image processing LSI Venus Engine II, which boasts excellent resolution in the horizontal and the vertical, in addition to the diagonal. An industry-leading release time lag of 0.008(FZ5)/0.006(FZ4) sec minimum and shutter interval of approx. 0.4(FZ5)/0.3(FZ4) sec minimum, allowing you to precisely capture your target subject. What’s more, consecutive shooting performance boasts the capability of sequential shots at a rate of 3(FZ5) / 4(FZ4) frames per sec at full resolution. An unlimited consecutive shooting function allows you to take photos in succession until the memory card or built-in memory is full.
The LUMIX DMC-FZ5/FZ4 are the higher-resolution model out of FZ3, retaining the advantages of compactness and ease, but still satisfying 12x powerful zoom and MEGA O.I.S., to use for every level of users in need of a digital still camera a cut above ordinary ones for shootings of the subject at a distance like child’s sports activities.
The number of recordable picture depends on the memory card size, battery life, picture size, and compression.
1. A Remarkable 12x Optical Zoom in a Compact Body
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