Panasonic Lumix FZ2000/2500 ergonomic score

I actually made this picture with a beat up old Panasonic FZ70 because that camera happened to be in my hand when the butcher bird was eyeing me off hoping for a feed.

February 2017

This evaluation follows my usual scoring schedulewhich you can read about here.

The Panasonic FZ2500 managed to achieve the highest ergonomic score of any camera which I have tested, just beating the FZ1000 and GH4.

I believe other manufacturers would do their customers a favour if they were to take inspiration and practical guidance from the FZ2000 which could be used as role model for good ergonomic design.

This is the result of providing two lens control rings and a front control dial behind the shutter button, Canon DSLR style, in addition to the rear dial.

Setup Phase

The FZ2000 uses the standard Panasonic menu system with some additions to the Motion Picture menu. It is reasonably well laid out, certainly better than the Sony and Olympus versions. The graphical user interface is very nice.

There is still no My Menu unfortunately but there is a Q Menu which can be user customised.

Front and rear dial functions can be configured to personal preference.

There are seven hard Function buttons each with user selectable function.

There are three Custom Modes available from the C icon on the Mode Dial. This means in effect that there are four separate ways to set up the camera. So, you could have one set for general photography, one for sport/action, one for video and so forth.

All you have to do is remember which settings apply to which Custom Mode.

Setup Score 9/15

Setup could be improved with a more user centric menu system (this comment applies to every camera I have tested) and the addition of a My Menu.

Prepare Phase

This is the period of a few minutes before capture when the user is configuring the camera for current conditions.

The FZ2000 manages this very well.

There is a hard Drive Mode dial and  a Focus Mode lever easily reached by the right thumb. The combination of function buttons and Q Menu allows Prepare Phase settings to be quickly and smoothly made.

The memory card slot is separate from the battery compartment and very accessible, and the tripod socket is on the lens axis.

There are built in ND filters for video.

Prepare Score 11/15

Capture Phase

Holding

The anatomical handle is well shaped with modified ‘inverted L’ design for comfort and secure holding. I personally prefer a slightly fatter handle but others may not.

The thumb support has been redesigned from that on the FZ1000 and is an improvement.

The left hand can easily support the lens barrel in ‘hand under’ or ‘hand over’ position although one has to be careful not to accidentally bump one of the Fn buttons on the left side of the lens barrel.

Holding score 16/20

Viewing

The EVF and monitor screen are both excellent. Both can be configured to ‘monitor style’ or ‘viewfinder style’. Both are clear, bright and sharp providing an excellent subject preview and  clear readout of camera data.

EVF refresh rate is fast with very little blackout in Burst Mode shooting.

The monitor is of the optimal fully articulated type.

Viewing Score  16/20

Operating

The FZ2000 is a very pleasant camera to use. It is fast, responsive and smooth. All adjustments can be made with minimal disruption to the picture taking flow.

All primary and secondary exposure, zoom and focus parameters can be adjusted smoothly without changing grip with either hand and while looking continuously through the viewfinder.

Switching from AF to MF on the fly is very easy.

Exposure Compensation can be assigned to the rear dial and works very well with the zebras.

Few cameras offer a better operating experience.

The only things preventing an even higher score are:

* The camera is still using Panasonic’s antediluvian auto ISO algorithms which do not allow for a minimum shutter speed range dependent on zoom position. This means the user has to switch frequently to Shutter Priority Mode to achieve the optimum shutter speed for the focal length in use.

Panasonic needs to fix this ASAP. All they need to do is copy the Sony method.

* The camera has space for and needs a JOG lever for instant adjustment of AF Area position. The GH5 has one so clearly Panasonic has the technology.

* One minor niggle: I would like to see the front dial 2mm closer to the shutter button.  My 73 year old hands are not as flexible as they once were.  I expect younger users will not notice the distance between the shutter button and the front dial.

Operating Score 18/25

Review Phase

The FZ200 has a comprehensive suite of Review Phase capabilities all well implemented.

The only improvement I can think of would be to implement Sony’s practice of bringing up the AF area at 100% when the Playback button is pressed. 

Review Phase Score 5/5

Total Score  75/100

Comment

When a camera has very good ergonomics as this one does there is really very little to comment on.

Everything works very well and has been designed properly for smooth fast operation by an experienced user.

The camera  is a pleasure to use.

With a few adjustments as suggested above it could be almost perfect.