Sculpture By the Sea |
I have been using cameras for 60 years. In that time I have
been able to own or use just about every size and type of camera ever made.
Until very recently the enthusiast/expert
photographer like me had a choice: I could
have
* An
Interchangeable Lens Camera (ILC) with a bunch of lenses. This was the most capable option and probably
still is. But it is also the most expensive, large,
heavy and unwieldy due to the need to carry and change lenses. This is the 20th Century answer to
the problem of providing a wide range of lens focal lengths. Some Micro Four
Thirds (M43) kits can be very compact but you still need to buy, carry and
change lenses and that is the least ergonomically satisfactory aspect of camera
use.
* A fixed
lens camera with good picture quality but with a single focal length or limited
zoom lens.
* A fixed
lens superzoom camera with a broad range of focal lengths but a very small
sensor delivering suboptimal picture quality.
Many people, myself included, wanted
a superzoom style camera with ILC
equivalent picture quality.
I almost bought a Sony RX10
which comes close to my requirements on paper, apart from the restricted
lens reach at the long end. But I was not happy with several aspects of the
RX10’s ergonomics. The handle is too
thin, the shutter button perched on the tip of the handle so the right index
finger has to pull back to engage with the button. The thumb support is way across
to the right forcing the thumb into a vertical position rather than the
preferred diagonal position which is
both stronger and more relaxed. The user
interface is a curious, and to my way of thinking somewhat incoherent mix of
modern and retro features. Aperture is changed with a ring on the lens, but
there is a Mode Dial and Control Dial.
There is live view on both the EVF and monitor but the top deck has an
LCD panel which appears redundant to me.
There were other complaints from reviewers such as slow zooming and
focussing.
Anyway I am
now glad I passed on the RX10 because the Panasonic FZ1000 came along with
(reportedly) the same very good 15.9mm diagonal BSI sensor, almost double the
zoom range, better performance and better ergonomics at a lower price.
So I bought the FZ1000
three months ago and have now sold all my ILC gear including some very
good and expensive lenses.
Of course
I could easily find an ILC with a wider lens or a longer one, but not
both at once. I could find a more compact camera with better picture quality.
But only at one focal length. I could
find an ILC with better high ISO image quality. But I would have to mate it to
a wide aperture lens to gain full benefit of that quality. I could find an ILC
which performs better with moving subjects with the right lens.
But the thing I could not find until the FZ1000 came along is any kind of camera with enough of those things for my needs in one single
package with one lens which I do not need to change.
The FZ1000 is
versatile. It is:
* Quite
compact considering it provides a complete camera kit in one unit requiring no
accessories other than a 62mm protect filter on the lens and one or two spare
batteries. This fits into a small carry bag which is easy
to carry. I use a Lowe Pro Apex 110 AW which is exactly the right size.
* Very
reasonably priced considering the functionality on offer. When the FZ1000 was
released, some observers cried “it’s too expensive”. I suspect they were
probably comparing the FZ1000 with small sensor superzooms such as the FZ200,
most of which are half the price. But these
cameras also offer half the picture quality. The real comparison is between the
FZ1000 and an ILC with two or three zoom lenses. This makes the FZ1000 look
very appealing even if those lenses are budget small aperture types.
* Able to quickly
zoom from convincingly wide (E25mm) at one end to usefully long (E400mm) at the
other and provide very good to excellent picture quality all the way.
* Able to
manage static or moving subjects even indoors, with a decent percentage of
keepers.
* Easy to
use (practice and a good knowledge of the operating instructions are required) with
good ergonomics.
* Fast and
responsive in all conditions.
* Has a
built in flash for those who require this feature.
* Can do 4K
or less ambitious video.
* Can be
driven from a smartphone.
The march of progress
in camera design has seen the SLR morph into the DSLR. In recent years
we have seen the Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera (MILC) challenging the DSLR for market
dominance in the ILC category.
But now we
are starting to see fixed lens long zoom cameras which question the need for
any kind of ILC at all for many enthusiast/expert photographers. This is the 21st Century’s answer
to the problem of providing a range of focal lengths.
I was intrigued and frankly a bit surprised to see that at the
recently concluded Photokina in Germany not a single manufacturer challenged
Panasonic with an offering to compete with the FZ1000. Even Sony which started the trend and
supplied the sensor, did not upgrade the RX10.
Maybe they
are waiting to see how well the FZ1000 performs in the marketplace. Maybe they don’t want to challenge their own
ILC product lines.
Maybe they
are just dozing at the wheel of their product development convoys.
We shall see. In the meantime I am enjoying the FZ1000
and making more photos with it than I have done with any other camera.
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