Not too long ago, we had a heart-to-heart encounter with the Lumix FZ10 digital camera from Panasonic. Today, we get to sit down with the Lumix FZ20, and take a look at some of its upgrades on its predecessor, the FZ10, and its own unique features. The FZ20 is host to more powerful features than the FZ10; a 5 megapixel CCD, 12x optical zoom, image stabilizer, rechargeable batteries, and a whole lot more. Let's take a closer look at this new model and its expanded capabilities.
Not too much has been changed from the FZ10, except for the higher pixel resolution (the FZ10 had a 4 megapixel CCD and the FZ20 has a 5 megapixel CCD), granted in terms of quality, there is a fair amount of difference since the pictures from the FZ20 will come out much more defined that those from the FZ10.
A quick glance at the specifications
Features / Model | DMC-FZ20 |
Lens | LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT
13 elements in 8 groups
(3 Aspherical Lenses /
3 Aspherical surfaces) |
f-stop | F2.8 (Wide to Tele) |
Optical Zoom | 12x |
Digital Zoom | 4x (single shot) 4x (Burst Consecutive shot)
(Max. 48x combined with Optical Zoom) |
Focus Distance | f=6.0-72.0mm
(35mm Equiv.: 36-432mm) |
Focusing Area | Normal : Wide 30cm /
Tele 200cm - infinity |
Camera Effective Pixels | 5.0 Megapixels |
Focus | Auto Focus System,
Normal / Macro (Dial),
Spot AF, Continuous AF
On / Off, Manual Focus
(Ring), One-Shot AF Macro /
A/S/M mode: Wide 5cm /
Tele 200cm - infinity |
ISO Sensitivity | Auto/80/100/200/400 |
Shutter Speed | 8-1/2000 sec |
Aperture | F2.8 - F8 |
LCD Monitor | 2.0" Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display (130K Pixels)
Field of View: approx. 100% |
*Extracted from Panasonic.ca
Image Quality
I enjoyed the results I got from the FZ10, but the FZ20 doesn't disappoint me either. I think the colours are superb and the images come out well-defined with the 5 megapixel CCD. If you really learn to use this camera, you can produce fantastic pictures with it; by that, I mean manually configuring it. I don't find the automatic features of this camera performing as well as those of smaller point and shoot cameras?I often get images that have adequate bright areas but also extremely dark areas rather than a balance of both. The LCD also doesn't give any indication of such a result. The playback on the LCD looks fantastic, but when transferred onto PC, you can see the unbalanced areas of the image. The only way I have been able to get around this issue is by manually adjusting the camera; I had to do this with the FZ10 as well. I have come up with better results by choosing my own aperture/shutter preferences and white balance. To sum it up, the automatic features on this camera don't give completely natural results, but if you know how to photograph, you probably won't make use of this feature, and will opt for the camera's powerful manual controls instead.
