My life with the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 - An on-going review

jamski07

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First thoughts
So I thought having only had the camera a little over 24 hours I would start with 'first thoughts' I will be comparing the camera to a nearly 10 year old Nikon D50. It's been a faithful servant with the kit lens, a Nikon 50mm f1.8 and a sigma 70-300mm. All lenses got used and the camera got used for everything from motor racing, still life, family snaps, landscape and everything in between. My reason for finally deciding to change was when I was at a cross country race that my wife was running in. I thought I struggled at the time, and when I reviewed the images I had indeed hardly got a single frame which was either in focus anywhere or focused on the area I wanted. I have always struggled in low light too, with anything over iso400 being very noisy.

Anyway, only the Lumix. Firstly, at the very least it is equal to the D50 in good light. And I'm sure once I get to grips with all the features it would well surpass it. The camera is very comfortable, quick, and a real joy to use. It really is a lovely thing to own, and is an excellent all-in-one package.

During rather brief spells of being able to get out of work to take some shots I have somewhat forced trying to get good shots, and never really achieved anything I would want to share. I took some snaps around the house, trying to set up little shots, and on my way to sit down at the laptop I passed my cat on the sofa. And without even trying I got the shot that proved to me this camera is and will be worth every penny. Shot at iso1600 (not even possible on the D50) I took the below shot. It was slightly underexposed, but only slight, so has been tweaked in Lightroom. There is no sharpening or noise reduction on this though. There is a little grain but compared to what I would have got on the D50 it's a huge improvement.

Sleepy cat by jam.ski, on Flickr

My wife is at two running events over the weekend so I will post how I get on, hopefully with some more shots to share. Lesson of the day, just wait for the shots to come along, don't force it. :)

06.02.15

So I popped out quickly and walked up the hill by our offices and took the shot below. Again on AI which I will come onto in a minute. Happy(ish) with the result in the end but initially was disappointed with it's clarity. I never used to Photoshop or Lightroom anything but I think it's the way everything is going now so am resigned to the fact I will Lightroom a lot more now. I looked on Flickr for similar shots and what looked great in Flickr, didn't look so great in Photoshop when I downloaded them, so perhaps I'm being harsh.

Wondering if shooting RAW then making the jpg would help the clarity? There is a fair amount of sharpening in the below shot. One thing I was very pleased with is the contrast it managed to capture in the sky. Thoughts?

Shere hill by jam.ski, on Flickr

2 days of shooting outdoors over the weekend, can't wait!

What a weekend!

Wow, just wow. After 2 good days to shooting this is everything I hoped it would be. :) Firstly on Saturday was a 10 mile cross country race. A similar event a couple of weeks ago is what promoted me to look at changing cameras, the results between the two events couldn't be more different. The D50 would at best, focus is the wrong position, if at all. You'll see form the shots below the Lumix has captured some great shots. Some were a bit off, but these and many more were lovely and crisp. A mix of a really quick focus, image stabilisation and being able to get good results from a higher iso has all helped.

Puffing by jam.ski, on Flickr

Woah! by jam.ski, on Flickr

Race time by jam.ski, on Flickr

Macho by jam.ski, on Flickr

Carried up the hill by jam.ski, on Flickr

Medal time by jam.ski, on Flickr

Then the reminder of Saturday and today was spent taking some nice landscapes, wildlife and general outdoorsey shots. Hope you all like. :)

Spooky tree by jam.ski, on Flickr

Fungal macro by jam.ski, on Flickr

HDR roots by jam.ski, on Flickr

Moss macro by jam.ski, on Flickr

HDR pond by jam.ski, on Flickr

Reed by jam.ski, on Flickr

Caught in flight by jam.ski, on Flickr

Friends Clump by jam.ski, on Flickr

Holy wood by jam.ski, on Flickr

Gorse macro by jam.ski, on Flickr

Right now the only minus compared to the D50 is battery life. But it's an easily managed one. The FZ1000 is a great camera, and far exceeds the D50 in every respect.
 
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Thanks for the review, glad you're happy with it :smashin:

Did you shoot this in RAW or jpeg?
 
That was a jpeg actually. On the 'Intelligent Auto' mode. As I said I just saw him there and snapped away! So not a very technical shot, anyone could have taken it really. :)
 
Nothing wrong with iAuto whilst you're getting used to it. The reason I asked was that it looks like NR had been applied, which it probably was if you shot jpeg as it would've been done in camera.
 
Yeah quite possibly. But still, something I don't think the Nikon would do. So much to learn with this camera it's unreal!

It's in his eye that's it's most noticeable to me.
 
Small update from today in the first post. :)
 
Small update from today in the first post. :)
What exactly do you mean when you say you're disappointed with the clarity? With the position of the sun etc you're never going to get much detail in the trees.
 
What exactly do you mean when you say you're disappointed with the clarity? With the position of the sun etc you're never going to get much detail in the trees.

It just generally didn't look as sharp as I had hoped. But the processing helped a lot. Guess I still have a lot to learn! :)
 
Nice lot of pics and update above. :)
 
Some really nice shots there. Might be worth starting your own thread in the photo sharing section of the forum?
 
Some really nice shots there. Might be worth starting your own thread in the photo sharing section of the forum?

Now my little review and comparison is done I will. :)
 
Nothing wring with those shots! Im pretty impressed by the camera tbh.
Me too. As per his other thread I'm impressed with the subject isolation, especially as they're shot at f4 on a 1" sensor, albeit at 400mm eq.
 
Me too. As per his other thread I'm impressed with the subject isolation, especially as they're shot at f4 on a 1" sensor, albeit at 400mm eq.

Yeah, I thought the FL had to be at the long end. I personally couldnt use working distances like that though would make a cracking holiday camera.
 
Yeah, I thought the FL had to be at the long end. I personally couldnt use working distances like that though would make a cracking holiday camera.
Agreed, got my brain ticking :blush: :laugh:
 
Bye bye em10.
Don't, I've gone through soooooooo many different ideas over the weekend :blush: :facepalm: ;) These include:-

New lenses for EM10, including the 14-150mm Tamron as an all in one, then I have the 20mm and 45mm primes if I do decide I want something that extra bit special, but even contemplated the 12-40mm f2.8.
New EM5 with new 14-150mm II (when the price drops) so I have a nice weather sealed combo and maybe even the 12-40mm f2.8 at some stage.
Fuji X-T1 with 18-55mm f2.8-4
Sony RX100III
Sony RX10
Panny FZ1000

:eek::eek::eek::eek::confused:o_O:rolleyes::blush::facepalm::censored::censored::censored::censored::censored:

Can anyone recommend a good therapist?
 
Nothing wring with those shots! Im pretty impressed by the camera tbh.

I'd like to think the operator had a little something to do with it. ;)
 
It's called a "GAS Explosion...."
 
I am new here. I just purchased the Lumix FZ 1000 yesterday. It makes an audible noise, constantly when it is on, like the sound of a small running fan. The sound is resonating from the body of the camera. I've owned a bridge zoom camera in the past, so I am familiar with the sound of the lens retracting and this isn't the sound. Is this normal for this camera? Thank you for any help.
 
Thank you, James. I am really excited about this little camera. Your pictures are beautiful. I am shooting on manual, but it is making noise no matter what setting I have it on. The noise starts from the moment I turn it on. I ended up getting in touch with a customer service person via chat online,(I just imagine someone flipping through answers and not really knowing), they told me this was normal for the camera, however, I am still unsure. Even more so after your posting.
 

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