Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Review

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 is made to function like an SLR camera with all the convenience of a point and shoot camera. Its largely metallic body and short protruding lens barrel with manual focus ring around gives it a professional look. Though it may be a bit bulky with its dimensions of 140.75 (W) x 85.5 (H) and weight of 668 grams, it is a small price to pay in exchange of its high quality performance.

The Lumix FZ50 is fitted with a Leica 12x optical zoom lens with a 10.1 megapixel resolution. It is equivalent to 35mm to 420mm on a 35mm film camera. This allows for spectacular close up shots in a soft background or vibrant telephotos. It does so by employing a special optic glass to suppress color bleeding and sharpness to give a more accurate image. There are two rings around the lens barrel that lets you manually control the zoom and focus for a more accurate image--an option which is not probable in automatic zoom.

The Lumix FZ50 is equipped with a 2-inch polycrystalline LCD that flips out up to 180 degrees and rotates both horizontally and vertically up to 270 degrees. This feature lets you take more dynamic shots compared to a camera with its LCD set in the traditional position. The FZ50 also has an electronic eyelevel viewfinder (EVF). It is a 0.44" miniature color LCD monitor with a magnifying eyepiece, which allows you to check the depth of field, white balance, and a real-time histogram before taking the shot.

In addition to features that allow more precise focus in capturing an image, the Lumix FZ50 carries innovative technology to provide additional support in creating high quality images. First of these technologies is the Venus III image engine. This noise reduction system reduces the critical, chromatic, and luminance noise to give high resolution images at high ISO sensitivity levels. The Intelligent ISO Control, a system which has been integrated in the Panasonic Lumix series, is also featured in the Lumix FZ50. It is intended to avoid blurred images by adjusting the ISO sensitivity level and shutter speed to match your subject's movement.

The Lumix FZ50 is also installed with the Mega I.S.O. (Optical Image Stabilizer) system to take full advantage of its high performing set of lens. This system works by lowering the critical, chromatic, and luminating noise in a series of levels to give high resolution images at high ISO sensitivity.

Although it has provisions for manual options and boasts a somewhat SLR camera performance, the Lumix FZ50 still carries a variety of shooting modes. The Lumix FZ50 has a dedicated mode dial for easier access of all mode settings in the camera. In the Scene Mode, the camera uses the appropriate settings for a specific scene that you have chosen. You may choose from portrait, soft skin, scenery, sports, night portrait, night scenery, panning, food, party, candlelight, fireworks, starry sky, beach, baby, snow, high sensitivity.

Movie mode in the Lumix FZ50 lets you record video clips in wide screen at 16 x 9 at 30 frames per second at 848 x resolution, as well as at 640 x 480 at 30 frames per second with audio. The frame rate and resolution of the movie depends on the memory available in your camera. The zoom lens way be used while capturing since no motors can be heard adjusting it.

The Lumix FZ50 comes with several software that you can use to edit your photos. It has the Lumix Simple Viewer and PhotoFunStudio for Windows and SilkyPix Developer Studio and ArcSoft PhotoImpression 5 for Mac OS X users.

Summary of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 features:

• Dimension: 140.75 (W) x 85.5 (H) x 142 mm (D)
• Weight: approx. 668 grams or 1.47 lb (w/o battery and memory card)
• LCD: Free-angle 2.0" Polycrystalline TFT LCD (207 K Pixels)
• Resolution: 10.1-Megapixel
• Optical Zoom: 12x
• Digital Zoom: 2x
• Focal Distance: f=7.4 - 88.8 mm (35 mm Equiv.: 35 - 420 mm)
• Sensitivity: Auto,100, 200, 400, 800, 600 and High Sensitivity Mode 3200
• Exposure compensation: 10.1-Megapixel
• Aperture: F2.8 - F11 (Wide); F3.7 - F11 (Tele)
• Media Storage: SD Memory Card, SDHC Memory Card, Multimedia Card
• Still Image format: JPEG
• Image W/ Audio: JPEG + QuickTime
• Video Image format: QuickTime Motion JPEG
• Power Source: Lithium-ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 710 mAh); rechargeable

PROS: The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 gives you more precision and control in taking your photographs with its manual controls and focus rings. These features give you a sense of reassurance that you are capturing the image that you want.

CONS: The obvious downside is that it’s quite heavy and not very
portable. Its control might be more appealing to experienced and intermediate photographers.

Overall: the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 is like getting a two-for-one bargain, not that its performance is substandard. It’s the packing of the functions of an SLR camera with the features of a point and shoot camera that makes it feel like a jackpot!

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