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Panasonic DMC-FZ200

c230k

By c230k,
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DENNICH

DENNICH

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I received this camera for Christmas and I will be using on a cruise for the first time in March. Just wondering how it does for interior shots that have lower light on the ship? Does it perform well for food shots in a dimly lit restaurant?

 

Looking forward to using this camera. Lots of impressive shots from this camera on Cruise Critic and Flickr.

 

Thanks for any advice. :)

Edited by DENNICH
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robjan245

robjan245

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I'm happy with the FZ300 and have the FZ200 as well. My good/bad list from Nov 19 on this thread is still mostly true. Graham Houton has several youtube videos on the FZ300 now. They are well worth watching if interested in the camera for an upgrade.

 

I'll list some things that I have noticed compared to the FZ200.

 

All FZ200 accessories that I have fit the 300 including a teleconvertor setup.

 

Although the 200 wasn't slow, the autofocus is noticeably faster on the 300. Autofocus then manual focus tweaking works well for something like birds in a tree behind branches. It can be set to highlight the focused areas with blue firinging while you make adjustments.

I use the exposure lock to avoid having to hold the shutter button at half-press while tweaking the focus.

 

One of the new aiming modes shows a horizontal line that rotates and changes color to indicate when the shot will be level. It's helpful for me.

 

The battery life is shorter even when not using the flash or wifi. It's not horrible, but the 200 was like the energizer bunny for battery life.

 

Speaking of Wifi, it does work, but it only connects to a smart phone or tablet running a Panasonic app to control the camera functions. I was using it with an android phone and the app is in the google playstore. This could be perfect for group photos; no timer needed.

 

The 300 is a few ounces heavier and slightly larger. I was handling the 300 for a few minutes this afternoon, then picked up the 200 and it felt noticeably lighter. I'd been using the 300 exclusively for the last month.

 

The 300 camera grip is a bit larger and easier to hold. Also, no more accidentally pressing white balance on the 4-way control with the edge of your palm like on the 200.

 

The lens hood is smaller, but with the hood on backwards for storage, it no longer pinches fingers when turning the camera off. It doesn't block the flash as much either. I'd rather have the larger hood from the 200 for outdoor use, but they are not interchangeable.

 

The FZ300 doesn't have any obvious shiny silver parts and looks more matte black overall. I prefer the look of the 300.

 

The FZ300 has an option to show overexposed areas before taking a photo. I use the feature since I'm guilty of blowing highlights. The downside to exposure compensation close to -2 EV is the viewfinder is also noticably dimmed. That can make it harder to use outdoors. I checked the 200 for confirmation and it does that as well. I had been happily overexposing pictures and didn't notice it. One factor may be that even wearing glasses, I don't touch the back of the viewfinder on the 200 or 300. The tip of my nose touches the back of the closed LCD first. That's why the rubber eyecup on the 300 isn't important to me.

 

I did the 2.0 firmware update on the 300 to get the Post Focus feature. It works. I can extract multiple 8MP pictures with different focus points in the same shot. I don't have the software to combine them yet, but see how that could be useful.

 

The 300 has mechanical and electronic shutter control options. I put it on auto and haven't noticed an issue. It also has a setting for diffraction compensation. Again, I set it on auto.

 

I purchased the FZ300 for $400 new during the one day sale in November. It was worth $400 to me, but no more than that with new FZ200s in the $250 range. The FZ200 is a tough act to follow.

 

Good luck.

 

Does the FZ300 blow out highlights like the FZ200? I just bought the FZ300 and I don't see much in the way on improvement with stills. This camera is really geared towards the videographer.

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c230k

c230k

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I received this camera for Christmas and I will be using on a cruise for the first time in March. Just wondering how it does for interior shots that have lower light on the ship? Does it perform well for food shots in a dimly lit restaurant?

 

This picture was taken inside on a cruise ship with my FZ200. Think if you try different settings in low light conditions before you go might help. I was happy with my pictures, use mostly aperture priority settings.

 

041_zpsfxghxzvv.jpg

 

Tom :cool:

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flatlander321

flatlander321

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Does the FZ300 blow out highlights like the FZ200? I just bought the FZ300 and I don't see much in the way on improvement with stills. This camera is really geared towards the videographer.

Turn on zebra mode at 100% and you'll see any highlights that will be blown before taking the picture. I normally keep the exposure compensation set to -2/3 or -1 then adjust if needed. It's not hard to brighten darker objects in photoshop, but blown highlights can not be recovered.

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DENNICH

DENNICH

Posted
Posted
I received this camera for Christmas and I will be using on a cruise for the first time in March. Just wondering how it does for interior shots that have lower light on the ship? Does it perform well for food shots in a dimly lit restaurant?

 

This picture was taken inside on a cruise ship with my FZ200. Think if you try different settings in low light conditions before you go might help. I was happy with my pictures, use mostly aperture priority settings.

 

041_zpsfxghxzvv.jpg

 

Tom :cool:

 

Nice shot, Tom. This is very encouraging. I am going to be experimenting with settings and practicing. Thanks for sharing your image.

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c230k

c230k

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Below is a list of why I updated to the FZ300. Picture quality remains about the same, but all these changes to me makes it a complete camera for all occasions. My main camera is the Sony A6000 and my wife prefers to use the FZ300, great combination. On that note my FZ200 several us well and we got our money worth lol.

 

1 Build quality - sturdier construction.

2 Weather sealing - splash and dust resistant.

3 Viewfinder - larger and better with eye sensor and rubber cup (0.39" 1.44M dot OLED vs 0.21" 1.312M dot LCD).

4 Screen - better with touchscreen (3.0" 1.04m dot touchscreen LCD vs 3.0" 0.46m dot LCD).

5 Processor - faster processor (quad vs dual core CPU).

6 Video resolution - higher maximum resolution (4K QUHD vs 2K FHD).

7 4K photo modes - 8MP stills from 4K video.

8 Autofocus speed - faster and possibly more accurate DFD autofocus.

9 Shutter speed - faster maximum electronic shutter speed (1/16000th sec vs 1/4000th sec).

10 Image stabilization - improved 5-axis hybrid image stabilization.

11 Built-in Wi-Fi with remote control support.

12 Built-in level gauge.

13 In camera RAW development.

14 In camera panorama creation.

15 Focus peaking and zebra stripes for easier manual focus and exposure control.

 

Tom :cool:

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robjan245

robjan245

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I've got mine on order from B&H and will be delivered next Tuesday. Leaving for a Caribbean cruise next Friday and don't feel like bringing my Nikon D5500 with all my lenses. I had the FZ200 and ended up selling it due to limitations on indoor photos (high noise with anything over ISO 400). I hear this one is good up to ISO 800, even though it has a pinhead sensor. The environmental sealing is the biggest selling point for bringing it on a cruise.

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flatlander321

flatlander321

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FZ300 with 1.7x tele-converter (olympus b-300) at max zoom: 1020mm (eq.) focal length, f4.0, 1/1600 sec, iso-800

 

This was shot handheld. The image stabilization with a tele-converter, and tele-converter mode enabled, is incredible on the FZ-200/300. The downside is tele-mode limits eq. focal lengths from 600-1000mm and no lower than f4 aperture. This picture is straight from the camera.

 

P1030451_zpspch9pqgf.jpg

Edited by flatlander321
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c230k

c230k

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Taken last week on our cruise, New FZ300 did a good job with interior shot. Use my Sony A6300 for most pictures and the FZ300 for the extra reach and my Sony HX400v for long range nature. Must say the FZ300 is a great camera, will keep forever, unless the FZ400 is a big change down the road. lol

P1010211_zps9kleshrg.jpg

 

Tom :cool:

Edited by c230k
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