The FZ1000 is one
of the most capable, versatile, multi purpose cameras ever made.
Reviewers and commentators who think it is "just another bridge camera" have
not been paying attention.
The FZ1000 could be the only piece of camera equipment that
many photographers need. It could make interchangeable lens
cameras (ILC) irrelevant for most photographic requirements of most people most of the time.
Most people who buy an ILC, be it Mirrorless (MILC) or
DSLR, buy a kit zoom and leave it on the
camera, never making use of the potential for various different lenses inherent in the ILC concept. These users would be better served by a well
implemented "all in one" camera which can be smaller, lighter, less
expensive or have a longer zoom range (although not necessarily all of these
things at once) than an ILC with standard kit lens or travel/superzoom
lens. The FZ1000 is just that camera.
Even ILC users who have two or three lenses might find the
FZ1000 covers the great majority of their requirements, while forever
eliminating the need to buy, carry and change several lenses.
Of course there are things
which the FZ1000 cannot do. There is no
direct access to an ultra wide angle (UWA) lens. But the camera has a panorama
mode which works well and for all but pixel perfectionists largely rectifies
the UWA deficiency.
There is no direct access to the super telephoto end of the
lens spectrum either. But i-Zoom is a useful substitute which can make decent
photos suitable for modest scale reproduction.
The buffer is not as large as that in some other cameras,
but shooting JPG in short bursts makes the FZ1000 genuinely useful for
sport/action photography.
It is easy to find a
camera or camera/lens combination which can outperform the FZ1000 in one
specific area of capability. Some have
less grain at high ISO settings. Some
(not many) can focus on a moving subject more effectively. Some have access to lenses of greater
aperture. Some (not many) have more
advanced video. Some are smaller.....and
so on.
But it is difficult to find any camera+one lens combination
which can match the FZ1000 's size, pricepoint and wide range of capabilities.
It might be tempting to dismiss the FZ1000 as a jack of all trades
but master of none. It is indeed a jack
of most trades and I think does a good enough job for most users at most of
them.
The key feature of the FZ1000 is it's ability to tackle
almost any photographic task and in the
right hands come away with good pictures.
It manages this with a single module, one box solution requiring no extra
equipment or accessories and no need for
interchangeable lenses.
There has been an
ongoing debate on user forums around
the proposition that the FZ1000 is a game changer in the camera world as a result of it's "one box" multipurpose
capability.
I think it is a game changer. The FZ1000 has no direct
competitor at the moment, the Sony RX10 lens having only half the zoom range.
But when other manufacturers release high performance "all in one"
cameras like the FZ1000, I think many photographers will wonder why they would
buy anything else and in particular why they would buy an interchangeable lens
camera.
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