Canon A95 or Panasonic FZ 20? Your opinions please.

[victor_v]

I'm trying to decide on either a Canon A95 or Panasonic FZ20.

They both fit my current requirements and price range, however I'm a

bit put off by the amount of noise on the panasonic images at an ISO

above 100. I like taking action shots (kite surfing, bikes, etc.) so

a higher ISO is important to me, and getting creative with light as

well.

 

Other than the noise issue, I like the panasonic, especially due to

the lack of purple fringing.

 

The Canon is a great camera all round, except for the purple

fringing issue.

 

Does anybody have an opinion on these two cameras? Is it possible to

do good action shots on the panasonic at a lower ISO but higher

shutter speed?

 

Thanks.

[albertdarmali]

The type of sports you wanna take (kite surfing, bikes), aren't they mostly daylight ?

 

If it does, then I don't see any reason you need to use ISO bigger than 100 though.

 

I think the 2.8 throughout the zoom range is very very useful for sports actions. And that long zoom will be very handy in covering sports. Unlike the A95 shorter zoom.

 

If I were you, for sports, I'd go for the FZ20. 3X optical Vs. 12X optical, You'll get more "in your face" shots with that 12X.

 

And I think unless it's a DSLR, lesser cameras will pretty much suffer from noise at ISO 200 onwards anyway.

 

Albert.

[ben conover]

Hi, I prefer 120 film, but I like the look of the Panasonic FZ20.

I have been considering it because of it's lens, and as a lightmeter.

Compared to my Fuji G690BL it is little toy, but it is excellent.

I wouldn't worry about slight noise issues, just use what you can.

The Panasonic FZ20 really seems to be near perfect for the price.

It has good image stabilization to counter shaky hands and the longer lens. The Lens has an enormous coverage and is far more versatile than most. Build quality of the Panasonic is great too.

 

Buy it.

[conrad_hoffman]

Yeah, if my Mamiya C330 were to land on the Panasonic, it would squash it like a bug. Stil, IMO, the FZ-20 is perfect for the film shooter making a move to digital. Everything is very logical in that context. The shutter lag is as short as they come if you prefocus, and not too bad if you don't. Zoom range can't be beat, and IS makes the longer end of the zoom range far more useful. It's not a DSLR. If you really need the higher speed, you'll have to pay up for a body, then pay up again for suitable lenses. With good light, the FZ-20 does a fine job all in one not-too-expensive package.

[kin_lau]

Do you actually find the A95's noise _acceptable_ above iso100? The FZ20's zoom is f2.8 thru the range, so you should be using it at f2.8, not stopping down. This works against the conventional wisdom with 35mm lenses about stopping down a bit for best performance, but digicam's have a very limited aperture range.

 

That means, on a sunny day, the FZ20 @ f2.8, iso100 should be shooting with a shutter speed of 1/3200 (I'm not even sure it can go over 1/2000), so I don't see the problem. Even an overcast day will be 1/1000, plenty to stop action.

[jimstrutz]

The A95's maximum aperture changes from f/2.8 to f/4.9 as it zooms to it's longest setting. It averages nearly one stop slower than the constant f/2.8 of the FZ20, and over 1.5 stops slower at the long end where you need it the most. That means for any given shutter speed the Panasonic could often shoot at 100 ISO where the Canon would have to be set at 200 ISO or higher. That one fact negates any low noise advantage of the Canon. Plus you have a very good IS system that lets you hand hold at shutter speeds much lower than you could with the Canon.

 

Considering the lens and IS system, the Canon has *no* ISO speed advantage. It looses.

[corey_gardner1]

I have the A95 and have used the FZ 20. If you are shooting action then your only choice is the FZ20. The A95 has enough shutter lag to prevent you from getting any action shots. Also, for the kind of action shots you listed you will need a more powerful zoom range than the A95 has so the FZ20 wins there too. As far as noise goes you don't really get good noise performance above ISO 100 until you jump to a DSLR. You might think about waiting until the new Rebel comes out and see if that drives the prices of the old Rebel down more into your range. Otherwise, get the FZ20.