Digital Trends

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

October 26th, 2005 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 is available in black or silver finish; I much prefer the black since it gives a heavy D-SLR vibe. When you snap on the lens hood, only the savviest photographers will know any different. However, I'd put the shade on once to admire the view then return it to the box since you'll run into vignetting problems when using the flash. The camera does have a very clean look with a minimum amount of keys and dials.

The front is dominated by the 12x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit zoom that translates to 35-420mm in 35mm terms, a huge range that's the best available. The Samsung Pro 815, announced earlier, is supposed to have a 15x optical zoom but it has a strong whiff of vaporware about it since it was due in August. Zoom through the very real DMC-FZ30 and you'll be amazed at how close distant subjects appear. I used a pre-production model on a boat sailing through New York harbor as well as production edition in the leafy suburbs of New Jersey (yes, it's called the Garden State for a reason). I really enjoyed this capability on land and sea. It's a winner for travelers, just as I liked the 12x zooms on the 5MP Sony DSC-H1 ($449) and Canon S2 IS ($469). Adding to the D-SLR-like feel, there are two rings on the lens to adjust zoom level and for manual focus. There's not much else on the front other than an AF Assist beam, some low-key logos and a jog wheel on the hand grip to manually adjust the aperture.

The top of the camera has a hot shoe for optional flashes, a manual pop-up flash, a mode dial, the Mega OIS on/off key as well as one for a burst mode, the power switch and shutter.

The rear has a 2-inch LCD (rated a very fine 230K pixels) that pivots so you can hold the camera in a variety of positions including over your head. It folds neatly with the screen toward the body to protect it when you're not using it. There's a very accurate electronic viewfinder (235K pixels) with a diopter adjustment and four of the usual keys: display, menu, delete and EVF/LCD as well as four-way cursor control keys. There's also an AE Lock button, something not typically found on point-and-shoot digicams. You'll also find another jog wheel to adjust shutter speed.

The right side has a door covering the SD Memory Card slot, while a panel on the left opens to connectors for AV out/digital, a DC input and a remote (something else you don't typically find on cameras in this class). Also on the left is a handy switch for adjusting focus types (auto, macro and manual). A smaller button below this lets you pre-focus the shot when you're in manual focus. On the bottom you'll find the battery compartment (proprietary lithium ion rated an O.K. 280 shots) and a tripod mount. By comparison the Sony Cybershot DSC-H1 is rated 290 and the Canon PowerShot S2 IS is a sizzling 550!

The Lumix DMC-FZ30 comes with an insulting 16MB SD Memory Card (it doesn't even hold one RAW file), battery/charger, A/V and USB cables, lens cap, neck strap, lens hood. The software CD ROM has the driver, ArcSoft software suite and PhotoFun Studio Viewer. It's not Photoshop Elements but it's more than enough to get you started. Note: although the camera captures RAW files--a very nice feature--you cannot open the files with the supplied software. Pretty bizarre. RAW files are uncompressed, basically a digital negative, that you open and adjust using software such as Adobe Photoshop CS2. The camera also has a 148-page owner's manual but no Quick Start guide. The manual is written in classic Japanese style—awkward, dense, loaded with tiny footnotes and cutesy illustrations. Why can't the benefits of globalization reach this nook and cranny of customer service?

Once the battery was charged and a high-speed 1GB SanDisk Extreme III card was loaded it was time to set up the camera. Even though the camera has only a 2-inch LCD, quality is so good, it's a breeze to read (the Sony DSC-H1 has a 2.5-incher). Setting the date and time was simple with the four-way controller. It doesn't have a “set” or enter key so making adjustments was a bit different than other digicams but it's not really a big deal. As noted, the camera has a RAW option (as well as TIFF and JPEG). We set the camera to RAW and immediately saw why a 1GB card is critical since it holds approximately 40 images compared to 200-plus JPEGs at best compression (3264 x 2448 pixels). And definitely opt for high-speed to help save the huge files and to get the best video quality (640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps).  

Image Courtesy of Panasonic