Panasonic's FZ1000 II 16x superzoom targets Sony's RX10
It also unveiled the ZS80 travel zoom camera.
If you're looking at Sony's RX10 IV but don't want to pay 1,700 freaking dollars, Panasonic might have the camera for you. It just unveiled the FZ-1000 II, an upgrade to the 2014 FZ-1000, that costs nearly half that. It's got a 1-inch, 20.1-megapixel "high-sensitivity" CMOS sensor and 16x 25-400mm f/2.8-4.0 (35mm equivalent) Leica zoom, only a bit less than the 24-600mm reach of its rival. It also has a fully articulating 3-inch touchscreen ideal for selfies and vlogging, bettering the tilt-only display on the RX10 IV.
The new sensor gives it much better low-light capability than its predecessor, Panasonic said. Other features include 12 fps shooting speeds, a 2.36 million dot EVF, dual-control wheels, 4K photo, five-axis hybrid optical stabilization and 4K 30fps video. It also has WiFi and Bluetooth for mobile device transfers. The Lumix FZ1000 II will cost $899 / £769 when it arrives in March 2019.
The Lumix DC-ZS80 (TZ95 in the UK), meanwhile, is a travel superzoom with an even longer 24-720mm f/3.3-6.4 30x Leica lens and 1/2.3-inch MOS sensor. While that's a far cry from Nikon's crazy 125x P1000, it's still pretty long, so a built-in optical stabilizer helps smooth things out. You can shoot bursts at 10 fps and 4K 3,840 x 2,160 video at 30 fps. It comes with a 2.3 million dot live view finder and a three-inch flip up touchscreen ideal for selfies and vlogging. The ZS80 is now on pre-order for $449 / £399 and will arrive at the end of April 2019.
