Panasonic’s FZ30 for the most part builds upon the success of the FZ20.

It looks and handles much like a DSLR and is frequently compared to them. That is where the similarity ends however.
The FZ30 has an 8 megapixel sensor that is just as noisy as the FZ20, although the noise seems more like grain in low ISO photos. The cameras Leica lens is capable of producing high resolution images despite the noise. In most reasonable size prints or screen viewing the noise should not be an issue.

The FZ30 has a manual focus ring like the FZ20 but it is much too sensitive. When manual focus is used the screen is enlarged to make focusing easier. This focus assist can be the center screen, full screen, or turned off. It also as a one-shot focus button similar to the FZ20. The LCD and electronic view finder both are better than the FZ20 and the LCD swivels.
It also has a manual zoom ring that allows fast and accurate control over the impressive 7.4m to 88.8mm focal length (35 to 420mm 35mm film equivalent). The FZ30 lacks the f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range that the FZ20 has and this can be missed in low light situations. At 12x zoom the FZ30 can use f3.7, and f2.8 is available from 1x to about 1.5x zoom. From 1.5x to 3x f3.2 is available and f3.6 is available from 3x to 10x. The full range is f2.8 to f11 and the exposure is 60 to 1/2000th second. The 1/2000th shutter speed is only available from f8 to f11.
On the front and back corners of the cameras body are adjustment wheels to change the aperture and exposure in manual mode. This functions well and allows easy adjustments. The wheels are also used in P mode to shift the program in favor of exposure or aperture, as well as aperture priority and shutter priority modes. In manual mode a scale is displayed on the screen to help you set the exposure.
The camera also has an auto mode for point-and-shoot photography, but the FZ30 is not a p&s camera, it is for serious amateurs and pros who don’t want to carry around DSLR equipment. Imagine carrying (and buying) DSLR lens to cover the FZ30′s 35 to 420mm range.

The FZ30 is not a DSLR and its images are not DSLR quality. It does offer very good resolution, choices of image sizes and aspect ratios, and it has RAW mode. The RAW conversion software provided with the camera is disappointing. I recommend using other software to convert RAW files, such as RawShooter.
If you do not need DSLR quality images or low light capabilities or you do not like carrying lens then the FZ30 may be a camera worth looking into.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2005 at 1:23 am and is filed under Cameras. Both comments and pings are currently closed.