[Thad E Ginathom]

Tried the GPS in the garden today. It told me the name of the tiny temple next door. I'd only have been slightly more surprised if it had said, "you are in your garden"!

it boils down to how far that bird really is.

And, with over 800mm (35mm equiv) focal length, I'd think a tripod would come in handy too, even with the wonders of modern Image stabilisation.

[para_7k]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

@vivek - awesome video man! Really cool.

@para,

Hey I did a test. I am attaching a snap which crops from three snaps (from top to bottom):

1. SRAUTO No flash - 800 ISO chosen automatically
2. Manual mode, No flash - 100 ISO (image wrongly says Flash used)
3. SRAUTO, Flash - 400 ISO chosen automatically

Did not get a chance to try the setting changes you discovered, which have given great results btw.

Thanks for the test. I personally like (2) which is ISO 100.

Also, I found that setting the DR to 200% gives good results. The ISO has to be set to >= 200 for this.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Tried the GPS in the garden today. It told me the name of the tiny temple next door. I'd only have been slightly more surprised if it had said, "you are in your garden"!

Awesome! Sure beats manual tagging mate.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

And, with over 800mm (35mm equiv) focal length, I'd think a tripod would come in handy too, even with the wonders of modern Image stabilisation.

800 mm is 800 mm. Tripod requirement notwithstanding. <- Smug smiley.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by para_7k

Also, I found that setting the DR to 200% gives good results. The ISO has to be set to >= 200 for this.

Nice. I was reading up in some places where people were talking about the settings you were playing around with. This is a good tip too. Thanks.

[royalcruiser]

Guys, I lost my brand new HS 10 recently while vacationing in London/UK. The only damp squib in an otherwise lovely vacation! What makes me feel sad, is that I cud hardly use the camera nor could I explore its potential.

Only decent ones I managed to take were in the London zoo - pic of a chameleon with its changed color.

I'm now planning to buy another one soon and need some inputs on whether I pick up the HS10 again or try the FZ100 or SX30. Initial reviews on FZ100 indicated that the FZ35/40 had better picture quality, but anyone on this forum owns one can comment?

[typeOnegative]

@royal cruiser:

That sucks mate. In case you are looking at alternatives, I have read that the FZ100 has more satisfied users by proportion than the HS10, though I cannot comment. As regards the FZ35/40 aren't these older cameras?

[Thad E Ginathom]

That is really sad, and the more so as you were obviously getting superb pictures with it. Commiserations.

Your excellent pics make me more inclined to go for one --- next year.

[royalcruiser]

Thanks guys.
@typeOnegative: I too agree the FZ100 has better reviews and I will be checking it out soon .. Just that in some forums, there were mentions about the FZ35/40 having better image quality, though they are older cameras

@Thad: go for it .. I really liked the camera for what it offered and the manual lens focus was the main usp for this one!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Did the manual lens focus have that real-camera feel, or anything like it?

Auto focus is great, and serves well for 90% of the time, but when one needs manual it is horrible when it is fiddly and course. I hate the manual focus on my Canon S2.

One thing I notice about the new Lumix: how much faster and better the auto focus is than on my older Canon. Much more sophisticated too, with ability to detect faces and even other content. The focus lock is almost instant.

[navin]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

As regards the FZ35/40 aren't these older cameras?

royalcruiser, OMG. THat must have really messed up your vacation.

The "older" cameras often have better picture quality becuase they were equipped with better lenses or (more often) they stuffed fewer pixels on a sensor. The HS10 (30x), FZ100 (24x), SX30 (35x) all use small 1/2.5" sensors and hence to some degree or ther other will suffer the limitaions of stuffing 14+ mega pixels on a small sensor.

Do you really need the 300mm+ range? If not the G12, S90/95, LX5, etc... all have faster lenses and better low ISO IQ. Maybe you could consdier the P7000 but not before reading about the issues it has (Wish list for new Nikon Coolpix P7000 firmware - brainstorming [Page 1]: Nikon Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review).

First focus on how much tele you need. If 20x is adequate then the FZ35/38, HX1, SX1 etc.. might be a better camera. If you are happy with 5-7x then the G12, LX5 or P7000 might be better.

While I have not tested the FZ100 or SX30 or HS10 it is no surprise that the one with the smallest range (FZ100 with 24x) has pleased the more people with IQ than the other 2. Long lenses (10x+) are notorious for artifacts due to flare, barrel and pincushion distortion etc..

If 600mm+ is nesscary I'd get the SX30.

1. I like Canon colours
2. The lens is 2.7-5.8 - that means 5.8 @ 840mm which means about 4.5 @600mm.
3. superb IS (4 stops is easy)
4. Vari-angle LCD - I am upgrading from the 40D to 60D just for the Vari-angle LCD (and video apabilities)
5. on occasion I can use bounce flash via the hot shoe (since my DLSR kit is also Canon).

The one NOTABLE limitation of the SX30 is the frames per second. At 1 FPS it is terribly slow. Why Canon! The FZ100 and HS10 shoot at 10+ FPS!

The SX30 can't compete with the $1000 camera rigs (EPL1+14-140, DSLRs, etc..): it's not meant to. It's not a "thousand dollar" camera.

Please note: The SX30 does not have RAW and it's video is 720p. For me this is a fair compromise if I was looking for a 30x+ zoom.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by navin

While I have not tested the FZ100 or SX30 or HS10 it is no surprise that the one with the smallest range (FZ100 with 24x) has pleased the more people with IQ than the other 2. Long lenses (10x+) are notorious for artifacts due to flare, barrel and pincushion distortion etc..

....

Please note: The SX30 does not have RAW and it's video is 720p. For me this is a fair compromise if I was looking for a 30x+ zoom.

I have not tested the FZ100 and the SX30 either, but the jury still seems to be out on which has better IQ. I have also heard that these cameras do not have very good low light performance. With the HS10 what I have noticed is that as long as you know the camera and do not want blow up prints, the IQ is pretty decent. The camera has a steep learning / un-learning curve leading to a lot of people being pretty unhappy. With the FZ100 I find better creature comforts like the better articulating screen which folds inward and possibly a better LCD.

On the issue of RAW, no RAW on a camera that is in the 25,000 and up range is a big no-no. You have already touched upon the fps issue. On that though the HS10 has 10 fps, it cannot capture more than 7 frames which means the effective speed is just 7 fps. And the long delay in writing to the card is extremely irritating. Which means that with the HS10 shooting fast moving subjects is a big challenge.

@Thad: The HS10 is a good choice, but possibly not the automatic one.

[Abeer]

The CD that came with my FZ18 has gone bad. I tried on the internet but was not find the software to download.
Does anybody know from where can I get/download the software that comes on the CD for FZ18?

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

@vivek - awesome video man! Really cool.

Thanks buddy,

some things on high speed (I think I have said this on DPreview earlier), at high speed the vibrations/shakes are slowed down too, so while I shot it at 720 mm, you barely notice a shake. At regular speed it would have made you dizzy.

Also, tracking a moving object is so difficult at that range that all my shots, still or movies, were taken with viewfinder, while both eyes being open. left eye to locate the object in general and right eye on viewfinder to frame it.

here is the still album.

Picasa Web Albums - vivek - birds in flight

[Live To Jive]

The Olympus T-100 is available on eBay for Rs. 4250/- with a 4GB card. Is this a good deal or can I get it cheaper elsewhere. Also suggest similar cameras from Nikon, Canon, Sony etc.

[raamki]

guys, any idea where i can get a Panny FZ100 in Bangalore? Apparently, none of the Panasonic Brand shops have it yet (they claim it starts retailing only in the 1st week of Dec), Jayesh Mehta of Foto Circle doesn't have it right now either :(

Only place it's available right now is on Ebay but am not very comfortable picking it up online, suggestions or places to try?