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Panasonic 7.2 MP Lumix DMC-FZ8 Digital Camera Anonymous
Hi /p/. I'm trying to get into photography as a hobby, and I'm looking for a camera. This one has caught my interest, but I really don't know much about cameras, and I want to read up on them before I purchase anything.

What does /p/ think of this camera?
Panasonic 7.2 MP Lumix DMC-FZ8 Digital Camera

Would any of you happen to know of a place on the web that would be a good informative read about cameras? You know, sort of a 'cameras for complete idiots' thing?

Thanks.
>> Anonymous
Main Features
Camera Style:

Full-size
Optical Zoom:

12X
Digital Zoom:

4x
Camera Feature:

Image Stabilization,Big Zoom
LCD Size:

2.5"
Features
Resolution:

7.2 Megapixel
Light Sensitivity:

ISO 100, ISO 800, ISO 400, ISO 200, ISO 3200, ISO 1250
Shooting Modes:

Frame movie mode
Special Effects:

Cool, Warm, Black & White, Sepia
Max Shutter Speed:

1/2000 sec
Min Shutter Speed:

60 sec
Exposure Metering:

Multi-segment, center-weighted, spot
>> Anonymous
Exposure Modes:

Program, bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority
White Balance:

Custom, automatic, presets
White Balance Presets:

Cloudy, flash, daylight, halogen, shade
Still Image Format:

JPEG, RAW
Video Capture:

QuickTime - 640 x 480 - 30 fps ¦ QuickTime - 320 x 240 - 30 fps ¦ QuickTime - 848 x 480 - 30 fps ¦ QuickTime - 640 x 480 - 10 fps ¦ QuickTime - 320 x 240 - 10 fps ¦ QuickTime - 848 x 480 - 10 fps
Continuous Shooting Speed:

2 frames per second, 3 frames per second
Digital Zoom:

4 x
Lens System
Optical Zoom:

12 x
Type:

Zoom lens - 6 mm - 72 mm - f/2.8-3.1
Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera:

36 - 432mm
Min Focus Range:

11.8 in
Macro Focus Range:

5cm
Lens Aperture:

F/2.8-3.1
>> Anonymous
I own it and and absolutely love it. Buy it if and only if, though:

1. You're willing to shoot raw and process it. The camera's JPEG processing is fail, but if you process the raw file yourself you get what is almost certainly the best results out there for a camera with such a small sensor. The lens is brilliant, and surprisingly lives up to its label: wildly sharp at all apertures (sharpest at f/5.6) gorgeous opened up a bit.

2. You don't plan on doing much low-light shooting. If you do, you need a camera with a larger sensor. Go to dpreview.com (the site you asked for) and find the article on sensor sizes. That'll explain it.

If you do want to do a lot of low-light shooting, no small sensor camera will do for you. You need either a DSLR or a digital rangefinder. (Your cheapest option in the latter category is the Epson RD-1, for a couple thousand.)

3. You don't plan on using off-camera flash. It has no capacity to deal with those.
>> Anonymous
panasonic makes shitty cameras
get a canon if P&S or nikon if DSLR
also gtfo to dpreview, you're a faggot
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90333

nah, go Panasonic. Their P&S are great. The FZ50 is the best bridge camera out there. I wouldn't own one since i'm one of those 'why not go SLR' types.

But the leica lense gives cripsy images, you can turn down the Jpeg processing a little... but raw is probably the better go... though it will take up massive amounts of HD space eventually.
>> Anonymous
>>90348
the leica designed lens, manufactured at some cheap asian facility, may put a crisp image onto the focal plane, where the crappy CCD lies. it will put out a mediocre image which the camera's terrible software will further degrade.
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90351


>>cheap asian facility

Newsbreak. Things are manufactured in Asia. Shock.
>> Anonymous
>>90354
it is kind of news that something with the leica name stamped on it is put together at asian subcontractor sites
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90357

... so this is the first time you've heard of market economics and comparative advantage then?

Companies moving off shore to produce?

I think the point trying to be made here is inferior quality and i just don't agree simply because something is made elsewhere from the place of design it's suddenly flawed.
>> Anonymous
Leica was, for the first ninety or so years of their existance, very heavy handed about control of their manufacturing process.
now they are not. it is a big change and in the photobraphic world it is indeed breaking news
>> Anonymous
>>90360

Different factories, different workers. You pay for the quality that the facilities and the people manning them bring. If you move it offshore you lose that.

If you want to make cheap crap, go to the lowest bidder. If quality is what matters then you don't contract it all off to the bargain basement third world factory.
>> Anonymous
there are way too many of these threads on here
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90362


Again, that's total crap. Whilst it may not be at the utmost tier of manufacture by Leica, they have obviously sold or licensed manufacturing technology to Panasonic... a company with some 90 years in the electronic industry.

It is a pure Leica? No, but is it a cheap piece of crap that's incomparable to the Canons? Hell no. The Fz8 is better than the S3 IS. I haven't used the S5 to know better.

The only problem i have with the Fz8 on a real world basis is that it's fuckin tiny and light. My Mobile phone is heavier.
>> Anonymous
>where the crappy CCD lies.

No crappier than any general 1/2.5" sensor.

>it will put out a mediocre image
Excuse me? Besides how resolution isn't the only thing making up an image's "quality," if one sticks to ISO 100 or 200 the results are unimpeachable.

>which the camera's terrible software will further degrade.

Shoot raw. Process with ACR. Done.

>If quality is what matters then you don't contract it all off to the bargain basement third world factory.

First, these lenses aren't made at a "third world factory." They're made in the main Panasonic factory in Japan, one of the most developed countries in the world.

Second, I've heard Leica is so obsessive about their brand they actually have their own quality control engineers on site monitoring the production of these lenses. Maybe, maybe not, but I wouldn't be surprised and my copy has held up to huge amounts of abuse.

Third, build quality and optical quality are two different things. The former is primarily due to manufacture, the latter to design. So long as there aren't any outright errors in production, how the lens is built shouldn't have a noticeable effect on quality.

Fourth, Leica built there stuff in Canada for quite awhile.

>>90366
Tiny and light is a bad thing?

And you must have quite a chunky mobile phone.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Itt Jesse.

:3

Camera-Specific Properties:Image-Specific Properties:Image Created2007:11:10 19:38:41
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90405

hmmm... my nokia N95 is actually half the weight of the FZ8... oh well, it still feels lihgt as heck
>> Anonymous
>>90406
:3
>> Anonymous
I have one that I use in a digital photography class. Photography isn't my thing, I'm more into drawing and painting, but this camera is pretty damn good.

The only problems are it doesn't take photos well in low light situations, and you'll almost always need a tripod with it, since it's almost impossible to take a clear photo holding it in your hands. I find that's problematic because I don't always have a tripod on me when I have my camera.
>> Anonymous
>>90332
Thank you!
>> Anonymous
>>90332
Thanks!
>> Anonymous
>>90592
finally got the answer you wanted to hear?
congratulations, douchebag.
>> Anonymous
panasonic makes some good cameras i love my lx2 [look into one of them, they are quite nice]
>> Anonymous
i have owned and/or operated digital cameras made by just about every manufacturer you've heard of and some you haven't and the panansonics i've laid my hands on produced just about the crappiest images of any of them.
>> Jeremo !iKGMr61IHM
>>90707

I have sexy timed mothers at just about every city you've heard of and some you haven't and your mother who i've laid my hands on produced just about the crappiest rimjob of any of them.
>> Anonymous
>>90710

Was mine any good? She comes highly recommended!