Camera Labs

Hi Kirk, Hi Alex, welcome on-board!

Kirk, I didn't time any shutter lag tests, so can't tell you, but it was pretty responsive. That said, if you eliminate focusing from the equation, a DSLR will typically respond to the press of the shutter to wake up and take the shot much faster, especially as a lens doens't need to extend.

Alex, if you go to the setup menu and look at the version it'll tell you the firmware revision.

If it was purchased outside Europe, it's unlikely to be the Euro version, but pop in a 16GB card and leave it running in AVCHD mode to relieve your concerns! Some might suggest if the video is 50i/p then it's a Euro version, but Oz / NZ models are also 50i/p and don't suffer from the restriction. So you really need to leave it recording and see when it stops.

Thanks Gordon, version 1.0 is installed.

Although the dealer recommended a Class 10 card, the manual only requires Class 4. Will Class 4 cover all bases for this camera, or will this cramp its style at higher shooting speeds? What is the experience out there?

What's the best channel to get reliable info from Panasonic?

Have any FZ 150 users maxed out their recording times?

What should we expect?

Afternoon Test:

With a brand new 4GB Class 10 SDHC card (Black's - a Canadian photo retailer) the FZ 150 recorded for 30 min. 52 seconds in FSH mode.

Alex, if the battery was fully charged, you should get more than that. Sounds like a non-Euro model anyway if it broke the 29:59 limit!

The burst shooting is limited by the buffer not the card speed, so I don't think there'd be much beneift in using a faster card on it, other than perhaps quicker RAW recording, and quicker access to your files when copying them onto your computer.

Thanks Gordon. The battery was fully charged (3 squares) before and 2/3 charged after the shoot. The fresh 4GB card was full. (30' 52"@ FSH)

I followed your advice and picked up a 16GB card (Duracell class 10) on sale. When dropped into the camera it reads 2 h 4 min. remaining in FSH mode and 1h 15 @ PSH. But I've yet to test it.

This would be consistent with 4GB = 30 min. @ FSH.

If other users are reading, I'd like to know if their experience differs.

Alex

Ah sorry Alex, yes try it with a bigger card - it should record uninterrupted for some time.

Hi Gordon
I read your review and found it amazingly detailed and useful. I have owned Panasonic dmc fz cameras for about five years from the 18 to the 28 to the 35 and the 100 and now the 150. One thing not mentioned in your review, at least I didn't see it was that all these cameras take a tele-conversion lens and I have used one with them all. I use the olympus t-con 17 lens which is an outstanding lens but is no longer sold at the olympus site unfortunately.. Panasonic makes one also but it costs twice as much. With the 24x built in and multiply by 1.7 you have over forty optical zoom. I can tell you that I've never seen signs of fringing but I suppose with the equipment that you have access to you might find some sign, nevertheless I thought it was worth mentioning. I take thousands of pictures and put some on flickr if you want to look at some. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronsthoughts/
Mostly of birds. i just joined this forum and look forward to more of your reviews.
Ron
Ron

Hi Ron, thanks for that. I mentioned the teleconverters in earlier reviews, but this one skipped some of the details which hadn't changed.

Great to have you on board!

I just got mine today for ~426$ + a cheap bag (in China) until I get a Lowepro Slingshot 100/102 AW. I just used it in the shoppe for a moment and was amazed that I could zoom quite far and get a clear shot of a man walking indoors on my first try. It just feels great in my hand. Can't wait to test it out further after the battery is charged!

_________________
- Cheers, Maarten Sebastiaan Franks Spijker

Gordon tested this mic in his review. The result tended to indicate that the high pass setting on the mic was not used to remove the evident rumble. I am curious to know whether Gordon used this setting or not.

I can confirm that this mic works fine on both the FZ100 and the FZ150.

For audio connection the straight adapter can be a problem. It is recommended that a right angle adapter be used, neater than an adapter cable. Jaycar part number PA-3502.

I own a FZ100 and would welcome the improvement of the FZ150, but will now wait to see what the next model brings.

I didn't use any of the Rode filters.

Hi Everyone, I hope this is the right place to ask. I've been finding the information in this thread very useful regarding the FZ150 I have a few questions for the pros.

I ordered mine a few weeks ago and, while testing it out, I've managed to shoot a lot of video with it. When I have the camera set to manual mode and lock the aperture and shutter, I seem to get these sudden jumps in brightness if zooming in and out while recording video. A friend suggested that this might be due to the lens' variable F-stop across the full zoom range. I would assume that that would lead to a gradual change in brightness, not the sudden "steps" that don't appear if I have the camera in AE mode with AE on. Any ideas? It's been driving me crazy trying to figure out why it does that. These changes in brightness only occur when looking at a lit scene and zooming, nothing changes if I simply pan the camera from a bright spot to a dark spot and back.

Secondly, I've shot maybe 3 hours of video using a "32 GB SanDisk Extreme 133x 30MB/s*" (gotta love those asterisks) SDHC card. For the most part, the video has been phenomenal. Sharp and low noise. I love it! But every now and then I'll get this weird blip of pixelation for a few frames. I don't know if it's the card slowing down and so it can't keep up with 1080 60p video or if it might be a defect in the camera. Or maybe I am just too shaky? Sometimes the line stretches across the entire screen in a few rows for a few frames and is multi-colored; other times it matched the colors of the scene I was shooting.

Lastly, I know there was mention of a remote timer for time lapse. Is there a remote that can interface with the camera to adjust the focus and zoom in manual mode as well, or are these things strictly for taking pictures once you have the shot set up?

Hi procyon, your friend's explanation is correct regarding the aperture changes as you zoom while filming - it's a problem which faces almost every lens that isn't a profesisonal cinema lens. Even so-called fixed aperture DSLR lenses can cause problems sometimes.

Not sure about your pixelation problem. it could be a data throughput problem - does it happen with freshly formatted cards?

As for the remote timer, no you can't remote control the focus and zoom - sadly!

Hi folks,
Although I am an old amateur photographer, since 1960, I am fairly new to digital cameras. My first digital camera was the Panasonic DMC FZ 10 bought in 2004, which I have now sold on, but I have also acquired the small Panasonic FX 50 which is pocket size, handy but fairly limited.
I have been looking to buy a new bridge camera to take on holiday in a few weeks time, when I stumbled onto this excellent website and read Gordon Laing’ superb and comprehensive review of the Panasonic FX 150 which confirmed my choice.
I have now bought one but there are a few questions that I would like to ask and hopefully some one could possibly help me out?
When I buy a new camera I always fit a UV 0-Haze filter primarily to protect the lens and also cover the LCD screen with a clear protective coating but according to Mr Laing’s review “the FZ150's screen has anti-reflection coatings”

Would it be advisable to still cover the camera’s screen?

Also I have a San Disk Ultra SDHC 8GB class 4, up to 15 MB/s. 100x (??) which I will keep for still pictures but intend to buy a 16 MB for video recording but I am confused with the difference between class (4 and above recommended by the handbook) and the various MB/s which I understand is the write to speed. I have found class 10 with a seemingly slower write speed than a class 4.

Thank you for reading this first post and any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Regards, auldbob