Panasonic ZS40/TZ60 - Approaching Storm

D

dalethorn

Guest
The storm was approaching, the clouds were very dark, and I knew with the ZS40 that I was going to get a lot of noise in the dim light. I needed to shoot at minimum ISO, but that meant shooting at 1/4 second handheld. So I took five bursts of six each, and out of the 30 images at least 3 were comparably sharp like this. I do believe the IS has greatly improved over the past 5-10 years, although 1/4 second handheld is really stretching one's luck.

f3.3, 1/4 sec. handheld, ISO 100:

Mtpleasant_Park04_s.jpg
 
Not bad at all - even when viewed on a 20+ inch screen. I've been idly toying with the idea of one of these for myself. The built-in EVF is a big attraction. Any other thoughts to offer about the camera? The Oly SH-1 is also attractive with its five-axis IBIS for both stills and video, and slightly faster lens. But it has no EVF and a lower-res rear LCD compared with the Panny.
 
Not bad at all - even when viewed on a 20+ inch screen. I've been idly toying with the idea of one of these for myself. The built-in EVF is a big attraction. Any other thoughts to offer about the camera? The Oly SH-1 is also attractive with its five-axis IBIS for both stills and video, and slightly faster lens. But it has no EVF and a lower-res rear LCD compared with the Panny.

The ZS40 serves up lots of noise in return for the long zoom. But the optics are very good, even at maximum zoom. The Canon SX700 I also have is similar - same zoom, same size sensor, optics that seem as good. But the Canon JPEG engine is better. My wife uses it and I stick with the ZS40 since it has better burst performance. I think the Canon IS is nearly as good in the final image, but handholding each camera at max zoom in daylight, the ZS40 stabilizes the image on the screen much better.
 
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