{"id":1749,"date":"2010-10-14T22:10:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T21:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/archives\/1749"},"modified":"2013-11-10T12:05:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T12:05:24","slug":"camera-testing-pansonic-lumix-dmc-fz45","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/camera-testing-pansonic-lumix-dmc-fz45\/","title":{"rendered":"Camera testing – Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

I won't pretend this is anything like a scientific appraisal of the Panasonic FZ-45. I have had the camera for 24 hours and have barely touched the range of settings available. I bought the FZ-45 as a lightweight carry-around camera for those situations when lugging a full dslr and lens set-up is not practical.<\/p>\n

First impressions… the FZ-45 is very light, portable and though it feels a little flimsy compared to the 40D it is comfortable to handle and should survive moderate knocks and scrapes. I chose it over the FZ-100 and Canon SX30 IS, mainly on cost but also in the knowledge that when I want first rate shots I'll use the the DSLR. So I went in with open eyes on the relative drop in image quality. The FZ-45 has a 24x optical zoom which offers about the maximum reach as my 400mm lens. It comes with an array of auto- and manual-settings, and offers jpg and raw formats. Shutter lag is passable, but in full format you can't shoot rapid bursts (around 1 shot per second as opposed to 6 per second on the DSLR). Being so much smaller it's also slightly tricky to change settings quickly, but that should improve as I become more familiar with the camera.<\/p>\n

As for image quality the FZ-45 simply cannot compare to a DSLR, particularly in the quality of the in-camera processed jpg files. At full size they exhibit significant signs of the image processing. This is a 100% crop of a greenfinch shot as a jpg in the FZ-45.
<\/span> Click for full size image<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The next shot is a similar crop of the same bird photographed with the 40D and 100-400mm lens.
<\/span> Click for full size image<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Neither shot has had any post-processing done to it, but it's immediately obvious that there is loss of detail in the FZ-45 image. This level of variation was consistent across a number of frames. The degradation is less of an issue when viewing the images when presented as screen-sized photos. Both these next shots have been processed for the web using my usual post-processing routine (ie a quick bit of noise reduction, level adjustment and sharpening).
<\/span> Greenfinch with FZ-45<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> Greenfinch with EOS 40D<\/span><\/p>\n

The next two shots were taken later in the day and compares the FZ-45 raw output with the DSLR. I'm happy with both, though there is much more detail at 100% in the DLSR shot.
<\/span> Cormorant with the FZ-45, shot in raw<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span> Cormorant with the EOS 40D<\/span><\/p>\n

I've included a 100% crop (unprocessed) of the FZ-45 raw file here<\/a>. What's interesting is that while there is evidence of some noise and soft edges (the crop is wholly unprocessed), the overall quality is better than the in-camera processed jpgs (though obviously lacking the brightness and other benefits of image processing). As a side note, I haven't used the supplied raw processing software (Silkypix 3.1 SE) as the disc failed to load (it's being replaced), so I used the Adobe dng converter instead.<\/p>\n

I'll be using the FZ-45 quite a bit over the next little while, so I expect to get better at understanding its idiosyncrasies. That will undoubtedly assist in getting the best out of the camera. As with all equipment, there is something of a learning curve to overcome.
\"Nature<\/a><\/span>
Camera note: images taken (as indicated) with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 and Canon EOS 40D. The Canon had the EF 100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens attached.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[127,449,668,667,89],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-camera","tag-cormorant","tag-eos-40d","tag-fz-45","tag-greenfinch","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t