FZ7 - First Impressions (Share them Here)

[airconvent]

Hi guys,

As compared to the canon S3 SI, would FZ7 be a better choice not?

Anyone know what is the latest price over at AP now?

MS is selling at 652 excluding GST and comes with only free case.

The S3 is more expensive than the FZ7 but offers no real advantage.
Given a choice, I would still go with the FZ7 for its Leica lens!
The S3 has a flip LCD display, which to many is a plus but for me is a minus, as its another moving part added to its bulk. I also noted from reviews I have read previously that OIS works better than Canon's IS but there is no way to confirm this.

 

[bittbatt]

here are some shots...not very sharp, did not use tripod, hands on windows latch.

iso 100, 10sec, f8.0, normal wide, no pp, just resize

iso 100, 10sec, f8.0, using Giotto 0.5x wide angle, no pp, just resize.

iso 100, 10sec, f8.0, using Giotto 0.5x wide angle with macro lens removed, no pp, just resize. distorsion is very obvious.

 

[airconvent]

one cannot be too greedy when it comes to wide angle lens unless the intention is to make the fish eye effect. from my observation, the lowest you can generally go for the price is 0.7 using the excellent Olympus WCON7 and WCON8 series. (they cost from almost $200 and above for brand new sets). Cheaper wide angle down to 0.5 for under $100 is easily available but i do notice obvious distortion. you can test this by aiming the camera at a horizontal shelf and seeing if it appears curved on the display...

Then there is practicality, I actually bought a WCON7 but only used it once or twice due to it bulky large size...heh heh...in the end sold it off...

 

[airconvent]

I am new here - just purchased FZ7 silver color at Cathay Peninsula $680.00 (include GST) - comes with whatever standard in the box + free camera pouch (hardcover).

Also bought a GIOTTO 0.5 wide angle lens converter 52mm at $55.00 and 1GB SD Card at $50.00 and LCD Screen protector at $15.00. Don't have time to use the camera yet.

I also bought a 3rd party batter at MS Color (AMK) at $30, Cathay only sells original Panasonic bat at $65.00.

good price....! the general package everywhere is no memory card but include the hard case pouch..unless you can arm wrestle the retailer to give one! :bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[armadillo]

2nd attempt to shoot moon :bsmilie:

 

[ExplorerZ]

here is mine... took it for fun

sigma 70-300mm lens at 300mm =x

 

[armadillo]

Nice shoot, clearer than mine.
Nikon D50 sure better ;p

 

[metallilan]

one cannot be too greedy when it comes to wide angle lens unless the intention is to make the fish eye effect. from my observation, the lowest you can generally go for the price is 0.7 using the excellent Olympus WCON7 and WCON8 series. (they cost from almost $200 and above for brand new sets). Cheaper wide angle down to 0.5 for under $100 is easily available but i do notice obvious distortion. you can test this by aiming the camera at a horizontal shelf and seeing if it appears curved on the display...

Then there is practicality, I actually bought a WCON7 but only used it once or twice due to it bulky large size...heh heh...in the end sold it off...

imo the best wideangles are those from raynox..damn solid. but pricey :sweatsm: wcon07 is still my fav, still using... hopefully will test it to the max when i do skate shooting with my friends next week.

 

[ExplorerZ]

Nice shoot, clearer than mine.
Nikon D50 sure better ;p

no la, im pretty sure fz series can do it, i done some with my fz5 long long time ago. try not to use digital zoom and it will looks sharper

 

[armadillo]

no la, im pretty sure fz series can do it, i done some with my fz5 long long time ago. try not to use digital zoom and it will looks sharper

ic, thanks for the tips, will try again :thumbsup:

 

[metallilan]

an old moon shot taken on 11th april. cropped but not resized.

taken with tcon17, bracketed. average exposure in photomatix pro. tuned the mild chromatic and abit of sharpening...

 

[armadillo]

Nice one, metallilan :thumbsup:
I can even see the pole

 

[airconvent]

good shot..!
the patch on the top left is actually the lady on the moon (Chang E) while the bit on the bottom right is actually the rabbit as seen by the ancient Chinese. The crater at the top of the rabbit head is Tyco while the other one at its tail is Copernicus. These are 2 of the more prominent (but no biggest) craters. Neil Armstrong landed around the "arms" of Chang E in the dark patch known as the Sea of Tranquility.

an old moon shot taken on 11th april. cropped but not resized.

taken with tcon17, bracketed. average exposure in photomatix pro. tuned the mild chromatic and abit of sharpening...

 

[Kel3vin]

Hi Guys!!!

I've just bought myself a FZ7!!!

However, I'm not getting any good shots with the camera at the moment!!! I think it's spoilt! For start, all my shots are blur. It does seem like camera shake is the problem. I've tried taking in optical stabilizer mode 1, 2 and even off mode. Everytime I try to take a picture(handheld), the jitter alert (red, on top right) appears. So what I do is I place the camera on the table and tried again. Same thing happens. Surely the camera isn't jittering now right. I've been careful with pressing the shutter.

Does this happens to your camera? Pls advise urgently.

Thanks
:sweatsm:

 

[Kel3vin]

ok... been playing with the camera.

I realise that perhaps due to weak lightings, the shutter speed is often shot at 1/10 or longer. This might be a possible cause for the jitter alert to come on. If I pop up the flash, the jitter alert appears less often. However, even with flash pop up, a little of zooming say 4x with camera resting on table still show jitter alert. This can't be normal right?

Another thing, I tested the optical stabilizier demo of the camera, as instructed in the Operating Instructions booklet. I place the camera stationary on the table and was very surprise to see lots of image shake when the stabilizer is off and a little image shake when stabilizer is on. How can there be any image shake when camera is stationary?

Spoilt or normal?
:hung:

 

[airconvent]

that should not happen!
what mode are you in? Have you tried "P" mode ?
I was thinking maybe you set your mode to macro or something OR you have zoomed way beyond the correct focal length allowable.
try taking an object about 1.5- 2 m away using the flash to test if the problem persist...

 

[Kel3vin]

that should not happen!
what mode are you in? Have you tried "P" mode ?
I was thinking maybe you set your mode to macro or something OR you have zoomed way beyond the correct focal length allowable.
try taking an object about 1.5- 2 m away using the flash to test if the problem persist...

I was trying in P mode and was trying to shoot in short and distance of objects.
:dunno:

 

[armadillo]

I was trying in P mode and was trying to shoot in short and distance of objects.
:dunno:

Jitter alert is automatic shown if the shutter speed is slow, I think if less then 1/30 sec, so nothing wrong with that.
But you mention when u place the camera stationary on the table and see lots of image shake, that is not normal :think:
Can u post some samples in the forum?

 

[ExplorerZ]

iirc, when your shutter goes below certain value, the red alert will appear (tell you that you might get a blur photos). but if you mount it on a tripod, you don have to worry about that alert.

and do you mean ur pic is blurred or just the red alert when resting cam on table?

 

[Kel3vin]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the response.

Basically, I now think it could be due to slow shutter speed that is causing the blur shots when hand held. Those shots fr table are ok. But hand held is mostly blur. So you guys are right.

One concern. How's that almost all shots taken indoor in P mode has shutter speed of 1/15 or longer? Does this happen to you cameras? Does that means that flash is a total must? What happen if I want to take indoor shot but no flash allowed or out of reach of flash? Higher ISO may not be a good solution.

I'll try to upload some pic when I know how to do this... : )