Thread for Lumix FZ18 and FZ28 Series

[Clunk]

Ok lets use KISS principle, arrange an initial meeting place with the main objective to get to Botanic Gardens, walk there from Orchard taking candids on way. Then after shooting the B/G for a while play it by ear, carry on if you like or pull the pin and go separate ways. The main idea is to have an enjoyable afternoon, with new friends, relax, exchange ideas, get some advice and take some nice shots. Not a 20km hard slog with full packs at double time, Sargeant Sir!!
Hey if we have a good time then we can do another one some time. Maybe one evening to do night shots of Christmas lights, if people are a bit weary. See how we go, we can decide while having a cool drink at the Bot/Grdns. Amy and I find the best holidays are the ones that are a bit free and easy, nothing worse than having a really tight schedule because things have been over planned.
The weather may turn bad, who knows, just have to wait and see lah!:sweatsm:

 

[ombre]

Haha opps! =X sorry about my heavy suggestion. Lol, although I just did that two days ago. It was a 3 hour candid walk =X Got carried away haha, but its just my style to do 10-15km long "photo treks" =X

But yea, sorry about it. I think Clunk's idea sounds fine, Botanic g. as a main objective, and then we can play by ear.


I'm looking for a belt pack too! ugh!!

 

[ombre]

Vinze... how on earth did you shoot this?:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinze/2988665318/

with the FZ!? You actually managed to get DOF with 3x zoom at F3.6?!~ I want my camera back ! lol. kidding.

 

[Clunk]

This is the Lowepro EX140 that I use now it also has belt fit loops on th back which I fit my monopod through. I think the Department Store I bought the bag from priced them wrongly at $26, everywhere else the same model was $45+

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Monopod Manfrotto 790B small and light weight, good for travelling I find.

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[skyguy]

Ok lets use KISS principle, arrange an initial meeting place with the main objective to get to Botanic Gardens, walk there from Orchard taking candids on way. Then after shooting the B/G for a while play it by ear, carry on if you like or pull the pin and go separate ways. The main idea is to have an enjoyable afternoon, with new friends, relax, exchange ideas, get some advice and take some nice shots. Not a 20km hard slog with full packs at double time, Sargeant Sir!!
Hey if we have a good time then we can do another one some time. Maybe one evening to do night shots of Christmas lights, if people are a bit weary. See how we go, we can decide while having a cool drink at the Bot/Grdns. Amy and I find the best holidays are the ones that are a bit free and easy, nothing worse than having a really tight schedule because things have been over planned.
The weather may turn bad, who knows, just have to wait and see lah!:sweatsm:

sound like a good plan... haha, wow cheaper by $20+...

 

[Convoy]

How much is a FZ18 original and third party battery nowadays? I'm looking to get a backup battery for my new second-hand FZ18.

 

[coolzephyr]

Coolzephyr sounds familiar haha, I remember trying to buy the FZ18 adaptor from zephyr or riscal, and both dont want to reply me! grr...

haha it can't be me! i don't have any add-ons to my precious fz-18!! and yes i am still considering if i shld go for the outing.. so many guys!

are there alot that we can take at ubin?

 

[ombre]

haha it can't be me! i don't have any add-ons to my precious fz-18!! and yes i am still considering if i shld go for the outing.. so many guys!

are there alot that we can take at ubin?

Com'on we need the girls! haha, I'll try my best to persuade my friend to go, though she can be curfewed quite badly sometimes. Non FZer tho, beginner dSLR user like me =X

We can definitely try to macro the mosquitos on our skin at ubin. =X

To be quite honest, I am for mainland...

 

[ombre]

How much is a FZ18 original and third party battery nowadays? I'm looking to get a backup battery for my new second-hand FZ18.

I was quoted 25-35 for 3rd party battery. However, it was from a rather iffy store that cheated me of 200 dollars. You best do your homework. =)

How much was the 2nd hand FZ18 btw?

 

[Convoy]

I was quoted 25-35 for 3rd party battery. However, it was from a rather iffy store that cheated me of 200 dollars. You best do your homework. =)

How much was the 2nd hand FZ18 btw?

It's $400 for a half-year old FZ18 with many extra accessories. Haha.

Can PM me the shop's name? I'll try to avoid that shop.

 

[ombre]

It's $400 for a half-year old FZ18 with many extra accessories. Haha.

Can PM me the shop's name? I'll try to avoid that shop.

If you ask me go straight to John 3:16 or MS Color. Avoid ALL the rest. I've come to accept that Cathay has occasional good service if you find the right person, however, I only felt so when I owned a dSLR... they don't seem to treat PNS users equally.

Anyway, what does many extra accessories include?

 

[Convoy]

If you ask me go straight to John 3:16 or MS Color. Avoid ALL the rest. I've come to accept that Cathay has occasional good service if you find the right person, however, I only felt so when I owned a dSLR... they don't seem to treat PNS users equally.

Anyway, what does many extra accessories include?

UV filter, ND filter, teleconverter and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment.

 

[quest2destroy]

Guys!
Which conversion lenses is good for FZ28?
Any recommended cheap shops?

Regards...

 

[vinze]

UV filter, ND filter, teleconverter and a couple of others I can't remember at the moment.

Was just wondering - Is a Necessity to have the Uv & ND filter ?

 

[skyguy]

Guys!
Which conversion lenses is good for FZ28?
Any recommended cheap shops?

Regards...

MS colour not bad... conversion lens try not to buy from clubsnap, cause all the user are selling at very high price... a 0.45x wide angle no matter wat brand (other than famours brand like canon or raynox) should not cost more than $70 (digital king, vitacon etc) but they are selling at $150+...

FZ can use different type of filter and conversion lens... but will depend on wat u really need.

anyway u will also need a adapter before using tele or wide con lens

 

[skyguy]

Was just wondering - Is a Necessity to have the Uv & ND filter ?

UV will be like put on ur camera for the rest of the life type of stuff... its more like a lens protector to me

ND filter is depend on situation... there was once a sg freeze at ngee ann city.. but its 4pm, sun was glaring... i wanted the long shutter effect as the people freeze and some people walking... but due to the sunlight, my photo all over expose... so can't get the effect... with a ND filter, it will help lower the amount of light coming in, like a sunglasses... I'm not gonna use ND filter everytime i shoot, but its good to have when needed, always bring it out with be... so far got 2 ND4 filter, stack become ND8

 

[ombre]

Was just wondering - Is a Necessity to have the Uv & ND filter ?

I figure you'd go very far with an ND filter Vinze, considering the type of shots you take, and you've got the patience. Tripod should be next on your list as well.

On top of 'balancing' the color tones out, ND filters reduce light entering the lens. This may seem like a bad thing, but some shots call for it. Skyguy's example of a bright sunny day is one. Secondly, your FZ18 only goes down to F8... that's not very small. I'm sure by now you've seen those 'flowy' waterfall pictures, takes about 8 seconds to get a good one. If you're there on a sunny day, you're probably going to shoot at F8 with 1/15 shutter and its still over exposed. What do you do? Stack up 2 ND8 filters for a ND16.. (exaggerated), and you can drag the shutter speed for the flowy effect.

Alternatively, long shutter speed photography has its uniqueness. It eliminates transient objects. Say you want to take a picture of Orchard road's landscape, but everyone keeps walking past your camera! Stack up your ND filters, expose for 30 seconds... you realize all cars + humans will 'disappear' from your picture. =)

Unfortunately, I for one do not have the patience for this.

UV is highly recommended... I bought two new lenses last saturday, guess what, one of my girl-friends handled my camera for awhile, when I went home, I found a finger print smudge and 10 scratches (probably my fault too due to the lens cap). And its a Hoya dual-side coated filter somemore! apparently the glass(plastic) is not scratched but the coating got scratched off. And this is only 3 hours after the lens came out of the box. Imagine the sorrow I was drowned in! Fortunately it wasn't the lens itself or I'd have really done something pretty silly. After that moment, I decided that all my lenses should have hoods + filter.

Contraversially, there are those who disagree with filters. Their reasoning is pretty logical too. Lenses these days are made of strong glass and are not subjected to user marks that easily. Neither do you want to have high quality glass obstructed by a cheap front objective... Imagine always shooting through a window...Filters also increase the chances of flaring. Some more than others.

Guys!
Which conversion lenses is good for FZ28?
Any recommended cheap shops?

Regards...

Your best bet is a Olympus TCON 17 (~135 brand new - should be TK photo) followed by Raynox 2020/5 ($380 brand new - McJill's shop). All, make sure you really need the range before getting. That includes doing things like birding, and candid sniping. Quality loss is noticable when using the TCON, but controlled, pretty good in my opinion.

Besides a TCON, the only other conversion worth getting is either a raynox macro or close up filter.

MS colour not bad... conversion lens try not to buy from clubsnap, cause all the user are selling at very high price... a 0.45x wide angle no matter wat brand (other than famours brand like canon or raynox) should not cost more than $70 (digital king, vitacon etc) but they are selling at $150+...

FZ can use different type of filter and conversion lens... but will depend on wat u really need.

anyway u will also need a adapter before using tele or wide con lens

I disagreee!! I wouldn't buy digital king for sure... Neither will I buy Vitacon because I had a CRAP! experience with it... Although Skyguy has one copy that seems decent... Eitherways I say 30-50 is a more accurate price.

All in all, especially after upgrading to dslr did I realize the importance of optical quality. The Leica lens' wide angle is quite exceptional already. (Notice there is no barrel distortion!!!! Something I have to live without on my dSLR) Put on a wide angle adaptor and all the distortions will come in.


All that said, I'd like to share my shot of the day, really love it.

 

[ricsal]

Coolzephyr sounds familiar haha, I remember trying to buy the FZ18 adaptor from zephyr or riscal, and both dont want to reply me! grr...

alo, I got post right.....? I think....

So old 26, my memory not good. lols.;p

 

[ricsal]

I figure you'd go very far with an ND filter Vinze, considering the type of shots you take, and you've got the patience. Tripod should be next on your list as well.

On top of 'balancing' the color tones out, ND filters reduce light entering the lens. This may seem like a bad thing, but some shots call for it. Skyguy's example of a bright sunny day is one. Secondly, your FZ18 only goes down to F8... that's not very small. I'm sure by now you've seen those 'flowy' waterfall pictures, takes about 8 seconds to get a good one. If you're there on a sunny day, you're probably going to shoot at F8 with 1/15 shutter and its still over exposed. What do you do? Stack up 2 ND8 filters for a ND16.. (exaggerated), and you can drag the shutter speed for the flowy effect.

Alternatively, long shutter speed photography has its uniqueness. It eliminates transient objects. Say you want to take a picture of Orchard road's landscape, but everyone keeps walking past your camera! Stack up your ND filters, expose for 30 seconds... you realize all cars + humans will 'disappear' from your picture. =)

Unfortunately, I for one do not have the patience for this.

UV is highly recommended... I bought two new lenses last saturday, guess what, one of my girl-friends handled my camera for awhile, when I went home, I found a finger print smudge and 10 scratches (probably my fault too due to the lens cap). And its a Hoya dual-side coated filter somemore! apparently the glass(plastic) is not scratched but the coating got scratched off. And this is only 3 hours after the lens came out of the box. Imagine the sorrow I was drowned in! Fortunately it wasn't the lens itself or I'd have really done something pretty silly. After that moment, I decided that all my lenses should have hoods + filter.

Contraversially, there are those who disagree with filters. Their reasoning is pretty logical too. Lenses these days are made of strong glass and are not subjected to user marks that easily. Neither do you want to have high quality glass obstructed by a cheap front objective... Imagine always shooting through a window...Filters also increase the chances of flaring. Some more than others.



Your best bet is a Olympus TCON 17 (~135 brand new - should be TK photo) followed by Raynox 2020/5 ($380 brand new - McJill's shop). All, make sure you really need the range before getting. That includes doing things like birding, and candid sniping. Quality loss is noticable when using the TCON, but controlled, pretty good in my opinion.

Besides a TCON, the only other conversion worth getting is either a raynox macro or close up filter.



I disagreee!! I wouldn't buy digital king for sure... Neither will I buy Vitacon because I had a CRAP! experience with it... Although Skyguy has one copy that seems decent... Eitherways I say 30-50 is a more accurate price.

All in all, especially after upgrading to dslr did I realize the importance of optical quality. The Leica lens' wide angle is quite exceptional already. (Notice there is no barrel distortion!!!! Something I have to live without on my dSLR) Put on a wide angle adaptor and all the distortions will come in.


All that said, I'd like to share my shot of the day, really love it.

Power man this shot!

I always got problem taking potraits. I'm not that expert in that area..(nor on others too) ;p. but surprisingly, people booked me for engagement shots and wedding too...and yeah. I used FZ18 to take the pics quite recently.

Btw, bro. I agree on ya for Vitacon products...to each his own. I got problem using its macro lens and even telephoto lens.. Now its in the camera bag...I havent touch it for quite some time already. I should get Raynox telephoto instead of this..

 

[Clunk]

Hi ombre, really nice shot, colour so vibrant and flesh tones very natural. :thumbsup: