Panasonic DMC-FZ50S
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Reviews
: I agree in full with what everyone says about the image quality and ability to take raw pictures. It is a remarkable camera. One complaint I had was its ability to autofocus in low-light levels. Even manual focusing, which appeared on the screen to be in focus later turned out to be out of focus. I would recommend to them to use a white light focusing mechanism instead of the red light that comes on in low light, near object situations.
Cameras I have used with this white light have always autofocused better for me. What confused me was the inclusion of this camera in a ‘point and shoot’ category. By definition, it is a point and shoot in that it doesn’t have a mechanical shutter like the SLR cameras. However, the camera is rather large, and if one is expecting to take this camera in a carry-on on a plane, please refer to the pictures I uploaded using 2 other camera types against this camera.
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Reviews: This is the best camera I have ever owned, and I think this one is the perfect transition camera if you want to move onto a real SLR. The FZ-50 has a lot of functions you can control manually, which allow you to take some fantastic crisp pictures and the Mega OIS is a major plus.
Any one who wants a lot or little manual control but great pictures, this is the camera for you. The sensors are not at par with SLR’s which are twice or thrice as much in cost, but the Leica lenses wont let you down.
All in all its a great buy, its very ergonomic as it is not as bulky as traditional SLR’s fits nicely in the hand, and once you get to know all its intricacies its a fantastic toy.
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Description: The 10.1 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 features a powerful f2.8 Leica DC lens with 12x optical zoom. The lens focal length is equivalent to 35-420mm on a 35mm film camera and is enhanced by Mega Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) system. The DMC-FZ50’s 10.1-megapixel high resolution CCD for its image sensor and Venus Engine III for the image processing LSI makes it possible to record a image at maximum ISO 1600 high sensitivity setting at full resolution. Furthermore, by dramatically reducing the noise levels that challenged its predecessor, the DMC-FZ50 is able to capture 10.1-megapixel full resolution images even in high sensitivity recording.
The DMC-FZ50 is equipped with a new Function Button which serves as a shortcut to quickly set frequently-used settings such as recording image size, light metering, AF area, white balance, and ISO sensitivity. The 2-inch LCD flips out to 180 degrees, making it easier to view even when shooting from high or low angles. Finally, the battery life is greatly extended by approximately 29% compared with its predecessor allowing the FZ50 to shoot approximately 360 images on one charge. In addition to standard VGA 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second (fps) motion image recording, the DMC-FZ50 also records full-size movies in wide-aspect VGA 848 x 480 at 30 fps.
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Reviews: I am a photojournalist with 30+ year’s experience, and have been searching for some time for a good point and shoot to carry on my off days. After much research, I narrowed the field down to the Panasonic. I have not been dissapointed. The picture quality is excellent, and the build of the camera is sturdy and substantial. I like to kayak, and really wanted a point and shoot with a substantial zoom to shoot nature while out on the water. This camera has proven a good choice. I wish it were a little wider on the short end of the zoom, but you can’t have everything in one camera. The controls are friendly, and after a little handling, it becomes very intuitive. Highly recommended.
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Reviews: Most definitely I am not a professional photographer yet part of my income has been from shooting photos. I changed to digital cameras in 1997 to a Kodiak 50. Most of the photos were for online catalogs and usually were just snap shots. This is about my 6th digital camera because I don’t want to start carrying all those lens and light meters aropund any more. I have really enjoyed the progess that has been made in digital photos in just 10 short years. I use this camera daily or at least 3 times a week.
In my opinion this is the very best camera that most of us will ever need unless you shoot photos of sports or NASCAR or other such moving activities. At higher ISO the camera does not match the really nice DSLR’s yet most of us will be satisfied with even these results from this camera. If you want to spend 3000 on a camera and maybe 4000 to 5000 on a couple of lens and other accessories you can take better photos a few DSLR’s however in some shots this camera has even match there performance. Everyone now seems to use Photoshop or other software to enhance there photos. It is not necessary, but if you are publishing photos you almost have to have both. The 1st thing you should do is take at least a weekend just to study the manual and if you use it often it will just take a few seconds to setup for every shot. I do shoot in both auto, manual,and scene modes. It really only take a little pratice to shoot great shoots with this GREAT camera.
Panasonic DMC-FZ50S Reviews: After taking about 650 photos with this camera, I think the FZ50 is a great camera! The most important requirement that I had was that the camera I bought had sharp focus. The leica lens on this camera is superb. All of my shots are crystal clear on what I wanted to focus on.
The center weighted auto focus works superbly allowing me to get sharp focus on close or distant objects and disregarding unwanted objects like a car or bushes or a stranger that can’t be avoided. There are also 9 point, 3 point and spot focus if you want them. There is an auto focus assist lamp built-in to allow focusing in dim light.
The optical image stabilization in the lens is also superb. I can hand hold at full 420mm zoom (12x) and still get sharp focus. There would be no way I could do that without the OIS in the lens. Goes without saying that the OIS works superbly at the wide end of the lens too since the long end is the hardest.
The manual zoom ring on the lens. This is absolutely superb and I can never go back to toggle button zoom. The focus ring on the lens when manually focusing on a bird through branches or a subject through glass is superb and I can’t imagine not having it. BTW, the zoom is non-extending and completely contained within the lens. Therefore air is not sucked into the camera by an extending lens when zooming which can allow sucking in dust too. The hot shoe allows mounting an external flash and using TTL exposure metering. I bought a FL50 flash and it works perfectly with the FZ50 using TTL. I can take bounce flash photos at parties that can look like the pro photos now.
This camera can take great, clean looking shots in those conditions using no flash or the built-in flash. With an external flash it’s even better. 99% of my photos are in prints of 4×6 or 5×7 inches. They look great. The few 8×10 photos also look great. I’ve read that 13 x 19 inch prints from this camera also look great. There may be a slight issue with noise in low light situations where you cannot use flash but those shots will probably be better than your current point & shoot so not to worry. But what percentage of your shooting is in a low light situation? If shooting low light, switch the camera to RAW and remove noise in post processing.
There are so many other functions that are super. Live histogram overlay on the LCD screen or in the viewfinder allows setting the right exposure “before” taking the shot under difficult situations. Tic-tac-toe grid overlay allows composing the shot properly and level. Exposure bracketing with 3 rapid shots to insure you get the right exposure. Burst mode when you need to take photos rapidly, either 3 shots or to the end of memory if you like. The list goes on and I can’t mention them all.
Price: $656.50