PANASONIC LUMIX DMC FZ38

S

spirit

Messages
1
Edit My Images
No
[/B

Hi

This camera has been reduced to £199 at Dixons.

I really wanted the Canon G11 as it has an optical viewfinder. However I cannot even afford the prices on ebay!

So I was wondering as the panasonic has such good reviews, whether to take a chance on this instead.

Is there much difference between an optical viewfinder and an evf?

Thanks for your help:thumbs:

]
 
Dont know if this helps but my Brother in law has an FZ28 and I am constantly astounded by some of the shots he gets from it so I have no reason to think the FZ38 would not be as good if not better. The evf will never be as good as an optical but still very usable and infinitely better than none at all especially in sunshine.

Also check out the flickr FZ35 group (its the same camera just called the 35 in other countries) to get an idea of the quality this can produce.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fz35/pool/

You will lose out on build quality though as the G11 is very sturdy.
 
Last edited:
I have the American model (FZ35), and at first I was disappointed with the performance. I underestimated just how small the sensor is, so taking shots indoors can be quite tricky. Luckily the image stabilisation is really quite good, so you can go down to about 1/6 and still get a decently sharp image, but to do so you'll have to go to about ISO800, and noise starts to appear at 400, so indoor shots can be quite noisy.

However, that aside, it is a really good camera. Obviously the huge focal length is useful, does good video recording with manual options during video mode too (including manual ISO, which is very useful), and accessories and filters are very cheap for it (look for 46mm filters), so it's nice to be able to experiment with ND and CPL filters right now for future DSLRs.

As far as the EVF, it's really not that useful. The only time I use it is when the shutter speed is slow, so then I need to hold the camera firmly against my face, use the EVF to frame and then hold my breath while shooting to get it as steady as I can without a tripod.
 
Last edited:
I recently bought an FZ35 for my trip to South East Asia, which is where I am at the moment. Personally I find the EVF fairly useless. Other than that it's not a bad camera for what it is. The video is quite good as well.

FZ35 Video footage

Meant to say I paid £179.99 including postage for mine new from Ebay. I also bought a Hoya Circular Polarizer which has been quite useful. Paid £18 for the CPL from Camera King via Amazon.
 
Last edited:
I came from an FZ28 to a 7D, but it produced some really great images in reasonable light.

Again I found the viewfinder not exactly brilliant, but I've still got this camera as a back up.

I'm sure the FZ38 will be a good purchase, especially at that price.
 
Just purchased a Panasonic FZ100. The evf takes a bit of getting used to & low light is said to be a problem but Panasonics generally get fab reviews so I would say go for it
 
Not sure if they changed it for the G11 but, from a former G10 owner, the viewfinder isn't 100% representative of what you're shooting. More often than not, I ended up just framing with the LCD and only really used the viewfinder for extra stability
 
You're right the g series optical vf crops off some of the actual image but you quickly get used to it and learn to compose correctly and believe me in the summer months with lots of bright days LCD panels are useless and any kind of optical or digital vf is a godsend. It's never going to give the clarity and info you would get on a dslr vf but they are both great compositional aids in bright light and that's all they need to be.
 
I've got the FZ28 and for what it is I can't fault it. It produces some decent quality pictures and the features are really good. It's not an SLR, but for most purposes it is more than capable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top