Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
On their website, Leica calls the V-Lux 3 (their version of the Panasonic FZ150), “The ideal camera for every situation.”
Dpreview, in giving a Gold Award to the FZ200, said: “Panasonic has done almost everything right with the FZ200, producing a super zoom with a no-compromises lens. It performs very well, takes photos that are comparable (or better) than other super zooms, and has a top-notch movie mode. With a few refinements in the design and image quality department, it would be darn close to perfect.”
Since I now own both of these cameras, I can say with some authority that both Leica’s and Dpreview’s assessments are darn-near right.
The FZ150 has 24mm-600mm equivalent reach in a package that weighs under a pound-and-a-half. I bought the FZ150 in April, 2012, and have used it to shoot pictures for my paid weekly blog as well as photos for paid magazine articles. I have become addicted to the convenience of 24-600 in a single package, and I have never missed a shot because I was changing lenses. Neither have I had any editors complain about the technical quality of my pictures. They have been simply accepted and published without comments, except for the occasional “nice pictures!”
The FZ200 has the same amount of reach, a nicer electronic viewfinder, a revised and nicer user interface, a different sensor that score slightly lower than the FZ150 on DXOmark, and a lens that can maintain a constant f2.8 aperture through the full 24-600 equivalent zoom range. For me, that translates to more light gathering under extreme zoom and under doubtful conditions, as well as improved ability to through the background out of focus when desired. My preliminary tests indicate that the FZ200 offers more reach with less image degradation in “iZoom” mode.
The two cameras differ somewhat in the electronic “tricks” they can perform. For example, the FZ150 has a B&W film grain mode that produces a result that looks like Tri-X film that has been pushed heavily. The FZ200 has a high contrast B&W mode that produces similar results but looks less grainy.
Both cameras share a couple of goodies that are worth talking about.
Manual focus. Both cameras implement manual focus the same way, and it is much better than, say, the manual focus on the F12. There is a switch on the side of the lens barrel with three positions: Autofocus, Autofocus Macro, and Manual Focus. When manual focus is engage, you can use the wheel at the upper right on the back side of the camera to set the focus. But the camera also has two zoom levers: one just in front of the shutter button, and the other next to the focus selection switch on the lens barrel, and it is this zoom control that can be assigned to manual focus. Choose this control, and you have zoom control at the shutter button and focus control on the side of the lens barrel. During manual focus, you can opt for a magnified section on the view screen or not. There is also a focus assist button that helps to rapidly snap the camera into focus during manual focusing. It’s a slick system that works very well.
Autofocus. In addition, if you like to photograph wildlife as I do, you occasionally find your target of interest “hiding in the weeds,” and the autofocus system will naturally want to focus on the weeds or brush in front instead of the bird or beast behind. Fortunately, both the FZ150 and FZ200 offer some help. While in Autofocus mode, press the focus assist button on the side of the lens barrel. You then can turn the wheel on the back of the camera to reduce the size of the spot focus area. I used this technique to convince the FZ150 to lock focus on a deer hiding among some trees.
I am very impressed with these cameras. I realize that I give up a great deal in sensor performance compared to cameras with larger sensors, but with the kind of photography that I “commit,” the convenience of a long-range all-in-one package more than makes up for it.
Cheers, Jock
Dpreview, in giving a Gold Award to the FZ200, said: “Panasonic has done almost everything right with the FZ200, producing a super zoom with a no-compromises lens. It performs very well, takes photos that are comparable (or better) than other super zooms, and has a top-notch movie mode. With a few refinements in the design and image quality department, it would be darn close to perfect.”
Since I now own both of these cameras, I can say with some authority that both Leica’s and Dpreview’s assessments are darn-near right.
The FZ150 has 24mm-600mm equivalent reach in a package that weighs under a pound-and-a-half. I bought the FZ150 in April, 2012, and have used it to shoot pictures for my paid weekly blog as well as photos for paid magazine articles. I have become addicted to the convenience of 24-600 in a single package, and I have never missed a shot because I was changing lenses. Neither have I had any editors complain about the technical quality of my pictures. They have been simply accepted and published without comments, except for the occasional “nice pictures!”
The FZ200 has the same amount of reach, a nicer electronic viewfinder, a revised and nicer user interface, a different sensor that score slightly lower than the FZ150 on DXOmark, and a lens that can maintain a constant f2.8 aperture through the full 24-600 equivalent zoom range. For me, that translates to more light gathering under extreme zoom and under doubtful conditions, as well as improved ability to through the background out of focus when desired. My preliminary tests indicate that the FZ200 offers more reach with less image degradation in “iZoom” mode.
The two cameras differ somewhat in the electronic “tricks” they can perform. For example, the FZ150 has a B&W film grain mode that produces a result that looks like Tri-X film that has been pushed heavily. The FZ200 has a high contrast B&W mode that produces similar results but looks less grainy.
Both cameras share a couple of goodies that are worth talking about.
Manual focus. Both cameras implement manual focus the same way, and it is much better than, say, the manual focus on the F12. There is a switch on the side of the lens barrel with three positions: Autofocus, Autofocus Macro, and Manual Focus. When manual focus is engage, you can use the wheel at the upper right on the back side of the camera to set the focus. But the camera also has two zoom levers: one just in front of the shutter button, and the other next to the focus selection switch on the lens barrel, and it is this zoom control that can be assigned to manual focus. Choose this control, and you have zoom control at the shutter button and focus control on the side of the lens barrel. During manual focus, you can opt for a magnified section on the view screen or not. There is also a focus assist button that helps to rapidly snap the camera into focus during manual focusing. It’s a slick system that works very well.
Autofocus. In addition, if you like to photograph wildlife as I do, you occasionally find your target of interest “hiding in the weeds,” and the autofocus system will naturally want to focus on the weeds or brush in front instead of the bird or beast behind. Fortunately, both the FZ150 and FZ200 offer some help. While in Autofocus mode, press the focus assist button on the side of the lens barrel. You then can turn the wheel on the back of the camera to reduce the size of the spot focus area. I used this technique to convince the FZ150 to lock focus on a deer hiding among some trees.
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I am very impressed with these cameras. I realize that I give up a great deal in sensor performance compared to cameras with larger sensors, but with the kind of photography that I “commit,” the convenience of a long-range all-in-one package more than makes up for it.
Cheers, Jock