Thought i'd start a quick little most likely temporary thread on cameras coz Ted asked me what I thought about my new camera & I didn't want to possibly fill a photo thread with too much text.

For me the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 was the obvious choice since I'd loved the previous model (FZ150) & one of the main factors for my new camera was something with long batttery life to record soloshot surf videos. Coz no one else other than my awesome wife would bother filming me surfing. Battery life when I tested was like 2hrs 40 mins with the standard Lumix 1200mAh battery & I bought a couple of Chinese battery's for $25 that are 1800mAh that I havn't tested yet. I suspect they will be about the same or a little longer. They might surprise me, but the ones I bought for the FZ150 diminshed in recording time by about 20%. That was after 4 years usage which is good, but the Lumix battery had only lost about 10 mins & was always my starter battery. So havta test that, who knows maybe they will hit 3hrs. That would be awesome.

The info above your unlikey to find in FZ200 camera reviews which there is an abundance of, so I won't try & offer some kind of second rate amateur review to expand on what has already been said about the FZ200, people have already provided a lot of detailed info.

I will summarize why it is a good camera for me.

* Battery (Top of its range & beyond)
* Constant f2.8 through its whole zoom range
* Very fast auto focus (great for a point & click)
* Built in anti vibration in the lens for better pics
* Simplicity although heaps under the bonnet in a well organised GUI

Apart from battery the same could be said for the Lumix 300 & 1000. However battery was very important for me.

Important Note: I waited until 2 months before going overseas to purchase the camera so I could claim the Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS). Best prices in Oz were $499 & so basically I would have got GST back of about $50...Every bloody online Oz shop was sold out & not getting any more stock even though 1/2 of the farking wayenkers were still offering the camera for sale. So I could not buy in Oz. I bought from B&H in the US for about the same ($450) with postage.

I had researched prior to thinking this was the camera for me, but researched more before buying from B&H.

I then gained this very important information & I would be very happy for anyone to correct me on this. A lot of cameras not classified as camcorders, this being your typical point & click & DSLR's have a video restriction of up to 30 mins. This is due to a Euro regulation of taxing for camers. Cameras that are or are not classified as cam corders or video camers have a different tax rate. Classification determined by length of video recording. Some company's limit recording time to avoid higher tax.

People will argue that video's are made up of takes much smaller than 30 mins. I say nope, depends how you use your camera, its a restriction & I have left the record button on much longer heaps of times for things like time lapse & soloshot video recording.

Apparently Panasonic & Sony are the only cameras that don't abide by this stupid restriction which is brought about by company's wanting to save a few $ to remain competive, yes looking fairly & sqarely at you Canon & Nikon. I'm not going to risk bricking my camera installing a third party firmware to allow your hardware to perform as it easily should coz your too lazy to adjust to global requirements.

It is also very difficult to find out if certain camera's are time limited or not. I had to download & search through camera documentation to find it buried a number of times on cameras I would have considered buying if not for the limitation ie Nikon DSLR's

At the end of the day, yes you gotta love the simplicity of a good quality point & shoot mega zoom fixed lens.

I would be very interested if someone believes they have found one in a new product or a camera I was not aware of as apposed to the mighty Panasonic Lumix FZ200

Good stuff Mick but for someone like Scotty I think a smart phone will do just fine.

Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Very very big fan of Panasonic. At work I have used probably over 50 cameras and the Panasonics win hands down. Their VCRs are the most robust by far with really intuitive menus. A couple of years back I started buying only Panasonic goods in my house as I wanted some of that reliability and quality in my private life.

Did you check out a Cannon SX60, a lot of outdoor hiking types really rate these , have a big Zoom in as well and take a quality vidieo.

My opinion on a great value compact(I own one) is the Panasonic ZS/TZ 60 80....they have different configurations for US market.

This is a compact, light cam that shoots 4k stills and video, probably the best bang for buck.($450delivered)

Same size sensor as FZ200/300

FZ200 set the pace for quite some time in the bridge cam genre but the Sony RX10 mk3 blows all opposition outa the water right now.As with most top of range Sonys, they cost a fortune.But for most people itll do everything extremely well.

Another bang for bucker is the Olympus sp100 EE(eagle eye), it uses a red dot sight when yr zoomed right out(4800mm equivalent, but noisy there, ok up to 3600)

Canon SX60, doesn't review as well as the previous SX50, some updaters were highly disappointed and went back.

Beware of the Nikon AW1, its got a reputation of leaking AND overheating.If you get one that doesn't then it shoots great stuff.

An el cheapo is the Canon sx510...24-720 plus the digizoom, its small but you need a loupe for bright sunlight

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Macaha said..
Good stuff Mick but for someone like Scotty I think a smart phone will do just fine.

haha if this was written for Scotty I would have just somehow worked Kong into the story & he would have read it

Cheers

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Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

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thedrip said..
Very very big fan of Panasonic. At work I have used probably over 50 cameras and the Panasonics win hands down. Their VCRs are the most robust by far with really intuitive menus. A couple of years back I started buying only Panasonic goods in my house as I wanted some of that reliability and quality in my private life.

Sounds like a good plan, mght start doing the same. The Chinese have come up with some interesting ways of spelling Panasonic on some of their products

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bazz61 said..
Did you check out a Cannon SX60, a lot of outdoor hiking types really rate these , have a big Zoom in as well and take a quality vidieo.

I read a lot of reviews on Canon/Nikon cameras & was pretty interested in a Nikon 3200 with 2 lens deal.

But the video recording time restriction was a deal breaker for me.

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wavemaniac said..
My opinion on a great value compact(I own one) is the Panasonic ZS/TZ 60 80....they have different configurations for US market.

This is a compact, light cam that shoots 4k stills and video, probably the best bang for buck.($450delivered)

Same size sensor as FZ200/300

FZ200 set the pace for quite some time in the bridge cam genre but the Sony RX10 mk3 blows all opposition outa the water right now.As with most top of range Sonys, they cost a fortune.But for most people itll do everything extremely well.

Another bang for bucker is the Olympus sp100 EE(eagle eye), it uses a red dot sight when yr zoomed right out(4800mm equivalent, but noisy there, ok up to 3600)

Canon SX60, doesn't review as well as the previous SX50, some updaters were highly disappointed and went back.

Beware of the Nikon AW1, its got a reputation of leaking AND overheating.If you get one that doesn't then it shoots great stuff.

An el cheapo is the Canon sx510...24-720 plus the digizoom, its small but you need a loupe for bright sunlight

Some nice recommendations mate. The TZ60 is a very nice compact, my missus has a TZ50 & takes great shots. She is very good at selecting modes for each shot, while I tend to rely on auto mode a lot more unless I'm going for a panorama or night shot. She surprises me a lot with the shots she takes

Yeah the Sony is over a grand & still has a lot less battery life. Which for me along with not having a video time restriction was high priority. I did have a look at another Sony that was on sale at JBHIFI for $499, but the battery life was just over 1/2 of the FZ200.

I have been interested in Olympus cameras in the past, they are definatly worthy of consideration if they fit your needs & thats what it really comes down to. The camera I chose was good for me because it could be set up on auto focus on a soloshot, take pretty decent footage, not be limited in time by the firmware itself other than the battery time which surpasses every other camera I looked at...I'm hoping that changes or has changed, coz I'd love to hit the 3.5hour mark for those epic days

I did look at camcorders too, although not as versatile as a bridge camera, they can have great battery life. However there doesn't appear to be anything decent on the market atm at around $500

I would think almost any of the entry level Panasonic cameras with HDV or HDC model codes would make superb "camcorder" cameras for your video needs. They start around $350 at Harvey Norman et al.

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MickPC said..

Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

I was looking waterproof only, that limits things a lot.
And I would like a viewfinder, which seems impossible on a waterproof.

Well I think it's all a load of sh1t,
video cameras for stills.
the skill is goooooone,any chump can take a photo ,now just point and video it

And you can buy truly massive batteries for these things. Easily get 4 hours out of one.

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Nozza said..

MickPC said..

Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

I would like a viewfinder, which seems impossible on a waterproof.

Select to expand quote

thedrip said..
And you can buy truly massive batteries for these things. Easily get 4 hours out of one.

Sounds awesome mate, I gotta admit I was really looking for an allrounder & didn't research any furhter than what was available locally...We have an old Sony camcoder that ran just over 3 hours 8 years ago, but it is like 360P quality. Missus uses it at school now for the kids to play with. What camcorders would you recommend

Thanks Mick for the review. Much appreciated. Couple of more questions if you do not mind.....

1. Why did you not go for the FZ300?

2. Have you blown any pics up yet ? If so how is the resolution on them?

3. How responsive is the shutter? The reviews state 12 fps - which is great - but how responsive is it truly when you first hit the button. Is it slow like a point and shoot? Sloppy like a cheap DSLR? Or precise and immediate like a good quality DSLR?

4. Did you find the relatively poor wide angle noticeably annoying - especially with all those old buildings and mountains you may have wanted to capture? Or did it not really bother you too much?

5. The auto focus sounds great - you mentioned it was super fast - did you find it super accurate as well? Did you have a high % of high quality shots as a result? Or did you lose a few on the way?

I guess the reason for all these questions is tw0 fold - one - I have never really seen them all covered in a review - and by someone I know who has actually done the review ! And secondly - the FZ200 is almost 4 years old now - I wonder if there is a new improved version - high resolution - just round the corner - so should I wait. There is not a whole lot of difference between the 200 & 300 - seems to me like minor updates only. I know that with my 60D if I had been more patient I would have ended up with the new much improved model. So not wanting to get caught out again.

I find the auto focus on my 60D terrible compared to the 5D, D7 and 70D poor. It really annoys me. So just don't want to be in the same boat again. I really want to buy a 5D Mk 3 but can not justify it with so many other items to spend money on at the moment.

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Cobra said..
Well I think it's all a load of sh1t,
video cameras for stills.
the skill is goooooone,any chump can take a photo ,now just point and video itwww.seabreeze.com.au/images/forums/icon_smile_sleepy.gifhttps://www.seabreeze.com.au/images/forums/icon_smile_sleepy.gifhttps://www.seabreeze.com.au/images/forums/icon_smile_sleepy.gifhttps://www.seabreeze.com.au/images/forums/icon_smile_sleepy.gif' />

Can help big time with those split second vertical off the tops etc for sure...old school was skillz focussing pics, new school was being able to click a pic & capture a shot seconds later than when the button was pressed...defiantly easier today than it ever was...is that bad lol

But I know what you mean mate, gotta appreciate the skillz people had in the past....people swimming out with milk crate sized contraptions to film pov shots in the ocean. Damn I tried it with a pistol sized Sanyo Xacti a few times, its bloody hard.

It won't be long before people have copters following them filming them. That tech is already a reality now, imagine what it will be like in another 10 years.

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Cobra said..

Nozza said..

MickPC said..

Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

I would like a viewfinder, which seems impossible on a waterproof.

Eyepiece thingy you look though rather than a screen.
Can't see the screen in the sun, particularly when covered in salt

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Ted the Kiwi said..
Thanks Mick for the review. Much appreciated. Couple of more questions if you do not mind.....

1. Why did you not go for the FZ300?

2. Have you blown any pics up yet ? If so how is the resolution on them?

3. How responsive is the shutter? The reviews state 12 fps - which is great - but how responsive is it truly when you first hit the button. Is it slow like a point and shoot? Sloppy like a cheap DSLR? Or precise and immediate like a good quality DSLR?

4. Did you find the relatively poor wide angle noticeably annoying - especially with all those old buildings and mountains you may have wanted to capture? Or did it not really bother you too much?

5. The auto focus sounds great - you mentioned it was super fast - did you find it super accurate as well? Did you have a high % of high quality shots as a result? Or did you lose a few on the way?

I guess the reason for all these questions is tw0 fold - one - I have never really seen them all covered in a review - and by someone I know who has actually done the review ! And secondly - the FZ200 is almost 4 years old now - I wonder if there is a new improved version - high resolution - just round the corner - so should I wait. There is not a whole lot of difference between the 200 & 300 - seems to me like minor updates only. I know that with my 60D if I had been more patient I would have ended up with the new much improved model. So not wanting to get caught out again.

I find the auto focus on my 60D terrible compared to the 5D, D7 and 70D poor. It really annoys me. So just don't want to be in the same boat again. I really want to buy a 5D Mk 3 but can not justify it with so many other items to spend money on at the moment.

1 = Battery time & price

2 = Not yet, but will do soon for canvas shots of recent holiday. However already done it for Bali surf pics with the FZ150 & they came out great.

3 = pretty good compared to my past cameras. You do have several modes to take multiple pics by holding the button down if you wanna capture specific moments.

4 = Not aware the camera having a "poor" wide angle for an all round fixed lens camera. Of course you could swap the lens out for wide angle shots on non fixed lens cams. However I just took panorama photos when faced with this situation which required you to select a up->down or left->right or vice versa prior to holding the button & panning in the selected direction. The camera then stitches those shots together to make a panorama shot. Possibly not suitable in every occasion, but a possible solution when faced with that situation.

5 = I use a 64bit SD Ultra. If there is something particular cool I want to photo I tend to take a lot of pics from slightly different angles. Like crouched, holding the cam overhead, left/right, waiting for breaks in clouds, diff settings etc...but did I find it super accurate? I havta ask you do you always want pics to come out accuarately. imo in low light you hope to & that is bloody hard with the typically smaller sensor of a bridge camera unless your setting up a tripod & fiddling with settings. Not something your doing when using auto settings. But yeah you don't always want things to come out accurately do you & I have often been surprised with how good a picture has come out when I though the light was not so good or the colours a bit dull. Some quick selections via the quick menu can improve things also, but I have found just a slight angle adjustment can make a huge difference to the outcome of a photo. Have I lost a % of shots along the way, not that I have been aware of to be honest. Not from my pov, just the usual taking pics from a moving vehicle & not taking the shot in time. I'm not tight azzed about taking shots, if I think its worth a shot I will take lots of pics & review them later. So what is & what is not a good shot is purely subjective of the eye of the beholder & the comparison shots.

I can't really comment on the desired 5D Mk 3...I'm sure its a nice camera...& for that price is bloody should be haha...But the FZ200 takes great video as well, without restrictions

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MickPC said...

thedrip said..
And you can buy truly massive batteries for these things. Easily get 4 hours out of one.

Sounds awesome mate, I gotta admit I was really looking for an allrounder & didn't research any furhter than what was available locally...We have an old Sony camcoder that ran just over 3 hours 8 years ago, but it is like 360P quality. Missus uses it at school now for the kids to play with. What camcorders would you recommend

Well these don't take very good photos. You are better off taking a frame grab (much to Cobras disgust I am sure ).

Something like this:

www.harveynorman.com.au/cameras-printers-photocentre/cameras/digital-video-cameras/panasonic-hcv180gnk-full-hd-camcorder.html

The next few models up add software features for the money rather than changing lens it sensor size/quality. It only after you crack around $800 that you get any extra image quality (as a rough guide).

I have used these on the beach now worries, but they aren't dust or waterproof so don't drop them. Having said that, I have had students drop them in the sand and after a clean off they performed flawlessly. No eyepiece though, but I haven't found any problem with the screens in full daylight. Maybe it's a Panasonic thing?

I never used to worry too much about battery stats so I don't know the sizes but you can buy batteries that are about four times the size of the manufacturers battery.

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Nozza said..

Cobra said..

Nozza said..

MickPC said..

Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

I would like a viewfinder, which seems impossible on a waterproof.

Eyepiece thingy you look though rather than a screen.
Can't see the screen in the sun, particularly when covered in salt

sorry mate i know what a viewfinder is, just didn't get what you said about finding a waterproof camera with one,,heaps of waterproof cameras with viewfinders.

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Cobra said..

Nozza said..

Cobra said..

Nozza said..

MickPC said..

Nozza said..
Nikon AW120 - 27 minutes.
Annoys me as I use it on the board to record in case I see dolphins, whales whatever.
Have to stop and reset - annoying.
Nikon AW1 - 20 minutes.
Interrogated Ted's cameras - only alternatives are GoPro and some other "Action" camera with stupid fish eye distortion / wide angle lense.
Swim around the back every 27 minutes or so.

Yes true mate...take a look at the panasonic tough cameras. Pretty sure they don't have the restriction either

I would like a viewfinder, which seems impossible on a waterproof.

Eyepiece thingy you look though rather than a screen.
Can't see the screen in the sun, particularly when covered in salt

sorry mate i know what a viewfinder is, just didn't get what you said about finding a waterproof camera with one,,heaps of waterproof cameras with viewfinders.

Could you point me at some?
I have failed to find.

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thedrip said..

MickPC said...

thedrip said..
And you can buy truly massive batteries for these things. Easily get 4 hours out of one.

Sounds awesome mate, I gotta admit I was really looking for an allrounder & didn't research any furhter than what was available locally...We have an old Sony camcoder that ran just over 3 hours 8 years ago, but it is like 360P quality. Missus uses it at school now for the kids to play with. What camcorders would you recommend

Well these don't take very good photos. You are better off taking a frame grab (much to Cobras disgust I am sure ).

Something like this:

www.harveynorman.com.au/cameras-printers-photocentre/cameras/digital-video-cameras/panasonic-hcv180gnk-full-hd-camcorder.html

The next few models up add software features for the money rather than changing lens it sensor size/quality. It only after you crack around $800 that you get any extra image quality (as a rough guide).

I have used these on the beach now worries, but they aren't dust or waterproof so don't drop them. Having said that, I have had students drop them in the sand and after a clean off they performed flawlessly. No eyepiece though, but I haven't found any problem with the screens in full daylight. Maybe it's a Panasonic thing?

Looks good Drip, probably go well with the soloshot