Lumix DMC-FZ7

Okay, so after my most recent post, I'm happy to report that all systems are

still go on my FZ7! I printed one of my images from the beach vacation to 6-

by-8 inches. It was very clean. So, I tried the image below at 9-by-12

inches. The image quality - especially with regard to sharpness, but also

tonal transition and dynamic range - was much better than on the 9-by-13 inch

images I make using my Canon EOS 10D DSLR. Noise was not an issue. Even on a

9-by-12 of a flash picture with a blank background of post-twilight evening

sky shot at ISO 200, noise was not objectionable.

 

Michael J Hoffman<div></div>

<i>>>was much better than on the 9-by-13 inch images I make using my Canon EOS 10D DSLR</i><<

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You mean to say that properly developed RAW images from the 10D is inferior in resolution, noise, dyn. range, tonal range and color rendition to your FZ7? Or, are you comparing in-camera JPGs?

<p>

I always seen and heard that noise on the FZ7 is higher than avg. even at ISO 80 and pretty bad (especially color noise) at ISO200) Has that been fixed?

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I have been looking at the Lumix cameras for an easy-to-carry solution when I don't want to take my DSRL kits.

"You mean to say that properly developed RAW images from the 10D is inferior in resolution, noise, dyn. range, tonal range and color rendition to your FZ7? Or, are you comparing in-camera JPGs?"

 

I use the same PSE2 workflow for the Lumix images as I do for those on my 10D. The 10D has the edge in noise control at ISO 200 and above. The Lumix images look better in every other respect - sharpness, tonal separation, color rendition and dynamic range.

 

My workflow for the 10D is to tweak the color temperature and digital exposure compensation, then save the post-processed RAW file as a TIFF, and then make adjustments to image size, levels and unsharp mask in PSE2 as needed. My Lumix workflow is to convert the JPEG's straight out of the camera to TIFF files then to make adjustments in PSE2 to image size, levels and unsharp mask. The range of adjustment values for images from both cameras is the same.

 

Even with the additional adjustments available by way of shooting RAW with the 10D, the post-processed Lumix images look noticably better. This makes me really curious to try the soon-to-be-available Panasonic Lumix FZ50.

 

Michael J Hoffman

Ok, thx!

If you did input and output sharpening like you are with the in-camera JPGs, you might get better results. Also, most people don't take the time to understand sharpening well enough to do it better than in-camera processing.

"...most people don't take the time to understand sharpening well enough to do it better than in-camera processing."

 

But they've taken the time to evaluate and understand the effect of the sharpening algo. on each exposure -- low, normal, high?

 

--

 

Don E

I'm considering buying the DMC-FZ7 as my first digital camera.I would like to read more comments about this camera. If you go to www.hadleyspagna.com you will see that all the portraits she takes are shot with the DMC-FZ7.Great shots!

"El Ramacciato , aug 16, 2006; 07:02 p.m.

I'm considering buying the DMC-FZ7 as my first digital camera.I would like to read more

comments about this camera. If you go to www.hadleyspagna.com you will see that all the

portraits she takes are shot with the DMC-FZ7.Great shots!"

 

Hi! I had to chime in to clear up any confusion about the gear I use. Yes, I have the DMC-

FZ7 and recommended it back in March 2005 to my blog readers. However, all of the photos

taken on my website (and the majority of the photos on my blog) were taken with my

professional gear. Thanks for the compliment! --Hadley

this is a trial shot using easy mode. I think the quality of this camera is VERY decent for $248.00 (at least that's what I paid)<div></div>

sorry, I'm at work right now and the picture came a bit small. I will upload a better image when I get home.