Panasonic FZ30, Best Bang for the Buck
Pros:
The camera is near perfect, great lens, great exposures, easy to use. Must buy!
Cons:
Larger Sensor on next model for higher ISO settings
The Bottom Line:
Must buy, just a fantastic camera, most amateurs will think they died and gone to photo heaven. Most Professionals will love to use this camera for most shots.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I have had my FZ30 now for 3 months, I have put the camera through a plethora of situations, it has come through with flying colors. Since I did professional Photography as a Hobby and second income, have my professional license, I have argued with one or two so called Professional Digital camera reviewers. Almost all give the camera 4 to 5 stars out of 5, but a few keep talking about noise at 400 ISO. Yes, I have tested the camera at that setting and on occasion you will get some noise, but I got the same noise with a Nikon D50 and actually worse noise with the Canon ProRebel, both DSLR's. The minor amount of noise I got was cleaned up easily with Neat Image or Adobe Photoshop CE. The FZ30 is so easy to use, so well made and so feature laden along with the superb Leica 12X zoom lens. The camera can do fully auto, Aperture priority, Shutter Priority, full manual, it's manual zoom ring is silky smooth, Panasonic's Image stabilizer is the best on the market. Its high resolution Electronic View Finder (EVF) and LCD both with over 230,000 Pixel resolutions are bright, even in bright sunlight. Its does just about every thing you can ask a camera to do, but yet it lets you be fully in control if you want. Along with its 8 MP, you can take just about any kind of picture and blow it up to a poster if needed. I took a chance on this camera, and was totally shocked at its capabilities. Why pay all the money for a DSLR and purchase expensive lens when this camera has the full range built in, and probably the best lens on the market. I was so impressed, and many people around me were so impressed, I have actually sold about 6 of these to friends and one to the Engineering Department of the University I work at. So far I have heard no complaints at all and I have none. I picked up a couple of extra batteries for long shoots from the Battery Barn for only $17.95 each. The Battery last quite a long time, so far I have not used even the first one up even after shooting for hours. This is a must buy for anyone looking for a near DSLR without the price.
