The improvements to
Panasonic's DMC-FZ8 over its
FZ7 predecessor are minor but welcome. The extra megapixel (up to 7.38 now) is of course the most noticeable change, and not a perfectly popular one, given the fact that it's just more pixels on the the same sized 1/2.5-inch sensor, but perhaps even more controversial is the Venus III image processor, which has gotten a bit of a mixed reception. The well-loved FZ7's main failing was its terrible noise reduction and the damage it did to images. Venus III doesn't seem to change that at all, but luckily the camera now outputs RAW image data, giving you more control over the image in the long run. Other notable improvements are an excellent electronic viewfinder and a higher resolution LCD screen. RAW mode naturally slows down the camera a bit -- 3 seconds shot-to-shot instead of 1.3 for JPEG -- but otherwise the shooter is amazingly responsive for its $50 cheaper pricepoint and convenient size. Most of the major wins of the FZ7 like build quality, the great lens and image stabilization have remained unchanged, and it's a bummer that Panasonic wasn't able to do much about its noise and noise reduction problems, but overall it sounds like the FZ8 is a worthy successor to the FZ7, and should do many a photography enthusiast / prosumer quite well, 'cause as far as DP Review sees it, "no one else is doing it any better."
posted February 8th 2007 5:59AM
dpreview is right...it's sad that there's a tremendous lack of prosumer cameras in the market now. Most manufacturers want you to go with the kiddie P+S or the larger DSLR models.
As nice as the camera seems, the noise issue will make me stray far away from it. Until manufacturers can reduce the noise in these prosumer digital cameras, I'll continue to stick to my good 'ol SLR.
Why do u see the noise thing as so negative? Do u really need to shoot at high ISOs every time? Because when used at low ISOs, they do pretty "noise free" images, not as great as an dSLR, but they're decent.
For me, there are much more reasons to switch to dSLRs other than noise.
I just purchased the Lumix DMC FZ 50 for a trip to S. America and Antartica. I don't think you could find a better camera for $450. Beautiful shots and the zoom was perfect for capturing wildlife shots. No real problems with image noise either. I think DP review is a great resource however their criticism's are not always relevant to my photography.
Noise is the issue ISO or not, you need dark shots at as well as bright sunlight shots. Might hold me off ?