jamski07
Established Member
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.
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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