Panasonic DMC FZ100 not a true SLR?

[msandico]

Hi All,

First post here, glad to be here

I recently bought the Panasonic DMC FZ100 camera so i could take better shots of our son (6 months) but so far i've had very little luck taking good quality indoor shots. Granted, im just learning to get off AUTO mode, but it seems as though various threads i've read here (such as this one Just bought Panasonic FZ28 - first impressions), indicate that the FZ100 is not a true SLR and is more a 'super-zoom' camera? I've read also that it doesnt take good low-level lighting pictures (i.e. in my house under flourescent lighting at night).

Is that true? I've tried (briefly) playing with P-mode and adjusting the AWB but i still get yellow-tinged, blurry shots of my son crawling on the ground or sitting in his high chair (argh!)

I tested my friends Canon Rebel T1i under similar conditions and the pics turned out great!

So my question is, can my camera take the same quality photos as the Canon T1i, which 've read is a true SLR, under low-lighting conditions?I've just ordered the book 'Understanding Exposure' so maybe it'll give me tips on how to get the shots im looking for....but can my camera even do it?

Thanks in advance! (apologies for the newbie/frustrated thread!)
Mark

[dlambert]

Your camera can take great pictures, but it's not the same as an SLR.Let's start with the definition of an SLR - this link covers that very well -- give it a quick read:

http://photo.stackexchange.com/quest...-camera-as-slr

Next, I think the really appropriate question here, is: "SLR or not, will my camera perform as well as the T1i?" In order to understand the answer, I'll share my experience - I bought a used Canon 30D to supplement my Panasonic FZ-28 last year, and I've since traded up to a 40D. Here are the areas where the DSLR is better, in my opinion:

• Low light performance. The sensor in a DSLR is physically larger than that in the super-zoom. There's no getting around the better light-gathering ability of the larger sensor.
• Focus speed is faster. If you shoot any action shots, you'll notice the difference.
• Startup speed is instant. The Panny is good; the DSLR is better.
• Lens choice. The range of the Panny is phenomenal, but if you want a really wide aperture (for shallow DOF), you're out of luck. Same goes for fast zooms, which are really expensive for a DSLR, but impossible for the superzoom.

I kept my Panny. My 40D doesn't do video, and I really appreciate the light weight of the Panny for lightweight backpacking. Furthermore, my experience with the Panny is that the more you learn about conditions where it works well, and those where it struggles, the better you'll be able to make it perform.

Here are some things to try:

• For starters, I'd keep the ISO fairly low, as I experienced quite a bit of noise at ISO 400 or higher.
• Learn how to post-process your shots and consider shooting in RAW. Photoshop Express or an equivalent program can really make a big difference in helping you get the most out of your camera.
• Consider an off-camera flash. The Panny doesn't have a hot-shoe, I believe, but you can trigger an off-camera flash optically using the flash on the Panny. This will do a lot to help your indoor shots. The Panny does best when it's got good lighting to work with (it makes the most out of its more limited light-gathering capabilities).
• If you have to shoot with available lighting, try underexposing a bit, then bumping brightness up in post-processing. You'll give up a little dynamic range, but this might make the difference between getting a sharp photo or a blurry one (because you couldn't use a fast shutter).

The more you work with the Panny, the better you'll get.

[msandico]

Hi dlambert,

Many thanks for the response and exactly what I was looking for...unfortunately

I'm going to keep trying low-level lighting shots with the Panny, using some of the suggestions you mentioned, starting with forcing a max iso of 200. The FZ100 actually does have a hotshoe for an external flash but i'd prefer not to get one to keep the compactness of the camera.

Would any of these suggestions also prevent the yellow-ness of the picture? I've been told that flourescent lighting has a yelowish tinge and that AWB might fix it, but after shooting with all the AWB preset modes on the camera, none have eliminated the yellowish tinge...until i pop up the flash (which is something that im trying to get away from, no flash if possible).

thx

[dlambert]

That's also something you can fix in post-processing if you can't get white balance set correctly in-camera -- one more reason to try shooting in RAW. If you have a white or grey card / paper / etc., you should be able to set white balance in-camera using that as a reference, though, and get pretty close.

[msandico]

Thx - i cant wait to get home now and try these tips out

[karlelvis]

For what it's worth, I think most people would be better off moving up to one of panasonic's Micro 4/3 cameras (dmc-g10 for instance, or the gf1).

Bottom line, you're almost all the way up to those cameras with the FZ100, but you lack the ability to select a lens for more specific conditions.

I favor low-light shooting, and with the Panasonic 20mm f.17 lens, my dmc-g2 becomes a terrific low light camera; and it's just as portable as the FZ100.

Yes, it costs a little more; but it's infinitely more camera for your money.

Not that the FZ100 is a bad camera; but it's like buying a low end SLR with one single lens cemented on.

(Caveat; I've only had my dmc-g2 for a couple months now, so I'm no expert)

--Karl

[ishafizan]

hi,
i used to own a fz28 b4 it went underwater on a fishing trip ...

tip" try taking portraits using the 'macro' mode

fz100 is a great camera. dont underestimate it. that leica lens is a gem (for the price)
examples taken with fz28: Flickr: Search ishafizan's photostream

[msandico]

So far last night, i've tried a couple things on the fz100 under my indoor lighting conditions and this somewhat worked:
- changed max ISO to 200
- adjusted AWB by using a custom setting and taking a shot of a white piece of paper under the lighting conditions, amazingly, the picture in frame was very less yellow!

Now when i've been testing shots, it doesn't quite focus 100% and i get the shaking camera icon but at least the lighting in the picture doesn't have the yellowish tinge.

Maybe i need a tripod, but then again it might not help for my moving baby.

I'll try the portrait mode in macro mode as well tonight.

Thx so far!

[dlambert]

I'm glad to hear you're making progress. It sounds like you're now running into the limits of the light-gathering capabilities of the camera. Time to hit the basics of exposure.

For any given photo, the two biggest variables are aperture and shutter speed, followed by ISO, followed by everything else. Aperture is a measure of the size of the opening in the lens - a big opening is considered "wide" or "fast", so f/2.8 is faster than f/11; a wider opening lets more light into the camera. Shutter speed is a measure of the length of time the sensor is exposed to light. A long exposure lets more light fall on the sensor, but it will result in a blurred picture if your subject (or the camera) is moving.

Since both aperture and shutter speed affect how much light hit your sensor, both work together to affect brightness -- all things being equal, a wide aperture and short exposure will produce the same "brightness" as a narrow aperture and longer exposure.

ISO speed is a relative measure of how sensitive the camera is to the light that's hitting the sensor. It's meant to be analogous to the ISO speed of films, where high-ISO films were more sensitive to light than low-ISO films. Since the sensor in your camera doesn't change when you change the ISO setting, this change is done electronically. The technique to do this varies a bit from camera to camera, but if you imagine the signal coming off the camera sensor being electronically amplified for higher ISO settings, you'll be in the right ballpark. The noise seen in high-ISO shots is a result of this boosting.

The combination of these three values is called the "exposure triangle" - you can read more about it here:

Understanding The Exposure Triangle: A Tutorial | Digital SLR Guru - Digital Photography Tips, Tutorials & Reviews Digital SLR Guru
Learning about Exposure – The Exposure Triangle

You'll learn more about these settings as you play with them, but for indoor shooting with this camera, you're going to be shooting with the widest aperture the lens can provide, and playing with the other two settings to get the shots you want. Try shooting in shutter-priority mode, and reduce the shutter speed until you're able to stop the action of your subject.

At some point, you may see the photos start to get darker -- this means that even with the aperture as wide as it can go, you're not getting enough light to the sensor to expose the shot correctly. At that point, you can increase the ISO or try to fix the shots in post-processing. In my experience, both of these techniques will introduce some noise into the photo, some of which can be reduced (also in post-processing). I usually found that my best results were when I underexposed the photos slightly in-camera, then boosted brightness in post-processing, but this is something you'll want to play around with.

As a general rule, I'd rather have a noisy photo that's optically sharp -- I can at least process some of the noise out of it. There's not too much you can do with a photo that's blurry because the shutter speed was too slow to stop the movement of the subject. Having said that, I *hate* noisy pictures, so I'll use the lowest ISO I can while still getting the shot.

When people talk about the better low-light capabilities of a DSLR in these conditions, by the way, they're coming from two factors. First, the sensor size in a camera like the T1i is much larger than that found on a super-zoom camera, which means there's more light hitting it. The sensor of a full-frame camera like the 5D is even bigger. The second factor is the availability of lenses with a maximum aperture of f/1.8 or wider - these are a huge help when shooting indoors.

[rontaube]

Hi There I'm new to this forum but I want to tell you why I just joined. It was the fair and balanced and informed way that the question regarding the dmd Fz-100 camera was handled. I just bought one and have had Panasonic ultra zooms for years and have heard others trash these cameras just because they didn't know how to use them. It made me want to learn more from this school. I am an avid bird photographer and these cameras are the best for that. Some people have sold their dslrs to use cameras like mine because of the bulky lenses. You are right about the low light. I am a mac user and I use aperture 3 for editing my photos. Apple has just upgraded aperture to edit raw photos from this camera and I'm delighted about it. I would be interested in any more tips that you might offer regarding this camera. Thanks again for your posts.