Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Brochure & Specs

Also see for Lumix DMC-FZ5: Operating instructions

� � � � �� T E C H F O C U S > > > >14 Photo Review AUSTRALIA www.photoreview.com.auPanasonic LumixDMC-FZ5FIXED LENS ENTHUSIASTAvailable in black or silver, Panasonic’s LumixDMC-FZ5 sports the same Leica 12x opticalzoom lens as its successful predecessor, theDMC-FZ20, but unlike the FZ20, it cannotmaintain the f2.8 maximum aperturethroughout its full zoom range. With a plasticbody that is almost identical to that of the3-megapixel FZ3, the FZ5 is smaller, roughly40% lighter, and 20% cheaper than theFZ20. The camera’s body is well made andfeels comfortable in the hands.Panasonic has made the FZ5’s grip slightlylarger and moved the shutter release buttonforward to make room for the ‘Mega O.I.S.’button that sets the three stabilisation modes(continuous, standby and off). The defaultcontinuous setting works for both viewingthe subject and image capture and can behelpful when composing tele shots. Thedrain it places on the battery appears to benegligible. Standby can only be used for stillshooting and activates the stabiliser when theshutter button is pressed. It offers a higherdegree of stabilisation that is particularlyuseful when the digital zoom is used.The FZ5’S viewfinder is remarkably goodfor an EVF and covered the sensor’s field ofview very accurately. Its colour reproductionwas excellent and it was less prone tostreaking in backlit conditions than mostEVFs we’ve encountered. Its high eyepointmakes it easy to use when wearing glassesand adjustment of +/-4 diopters is provided,the widest range we’ve encountered yet. Thelarger 1.8-inch LCD screen gives the FZ5 anadvantage over its predecessor - and somecompeting models.Most controls on the FZ5 arestraightforward and the mode dial has aspecial ‘Simple’ setting that allows it to beused as a point-and-shoot camera. The menudesign is, as usual, excellent and very quickto use. However, once you switch to the A,S and M modes, changing camera settingsrequires use of the Exposure button inconjunction with the four-way controller. Thisis both clumsy and slow.Like the FZ3, the FZ5 lacksmanual focusing but has a focusbutton that lets users pre-focuson a subject without using theshutter release. A handy featurefor shots of fireworks andanticipated events, the buttonlocks the focus on the selected subject andmaintains that setting until the focus button ispressed again.Three burst modes are supported: highspeed, low speed and continuous. The firstrecords four Fine (or seven Standard) JPEGimages at 0.3 frames per second, whilethe others capture at 0.5 fps for the samenumber of shots (in low speed mode) orto the card’s capacity (unlimited mode). InSimple mode the burst speed is fixed at low.The FZ5’s movie modes are similar to those onthe FZ3: QVGA resolution at 10 or 30fps withsound. Focus, zoom and aperture settingsare fixed at the start of each clip and a 25-second clip at 30 fps fills the supplied 16MBmemory card, so you need a much larger cardto use this function. Video quality was goodfor the resolution but not quite good enoughfor TV display.On the whole, the test camera deliverednicely-exposed pictures with accurate coloursand modest saturation levels, although skintones were rendered slightly warm. Imatesttesting showed the lens/sensor combinationdelivered above average image sharpnessand chromatic aberration was negligible.The auto white balance delivered goodresults with fluorescent lighting but failed toeliminate the orange cast of incandescentlights. However the pre-sets and manualcontrol produced excellent results. Highlightdetails were lost in bright outdoor conditionsbut the overall image contrast range wasexcellent in subdued lighting and image noisewas low at all ISO settings in long exposuresafter dark. The image stabiliser performedwell in both modes, allowing candid shots tobe taken in indoor conditions without flash.The flash was comparatively weak, requiringISO 400 sensitivity to adequately illuminatean average-sized room. It also produced poorresults for close-ups because the lens tendedto block much of its light.The test camera took approximatelythree seconds to power up and shut down,which is good for a long zoom camera. Wemeasured an average capture lag of 0.6seconds when focusing was required, whichreduced to 0.1 seconds with pre-focusing.The camera took less than a second toprocess a high-resolution JPEG file but almostthree seconds for a TIFF image, both of whichare relatively fast cycle times.� � � � �� SHARP AND STABLE TELEPHOTO SHOOTING FROM ASTYLISH CAMERA WITH HIGH FUNCTIONALITY.IMAGE SENSOR:4.54 x 3.41mm CCD with 5.36 millionphotosites (5.0 megapixels effective)LENS:Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 6-72mm f2.8-f3.3 stabilised zoom (36-423mm in35mm format)ZOOM RATIO:12x optical, up to 4x digitalLENS MULTIPLIER FACTOR: 7.9xDIMENSIONS (WXHXD):108 x 68.4 x 84.8mmWEIGHT: 290gRRP: $879QUALITY RATING (OUT OF 10)Build: 8.0Ease of use: 8.5Image quality: 8.5Value for money: 8.5SPECIFICATIONSDISTRIBUTOR:Panasonic Australia; 132 600;www.panasonic.com.au

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