Some of you may recall in a recent thread the mention of image stabilization. Well, our son has a birthday coming up in June. We decided to get him a digital camera. The one I decided on, Panasonic DMC-FZ1, has recently been selling at a very good price (about $250 US dollars). Just in case it's about to be discontinued, I went ahead and ordered one. I, of course, had to be sure that it worked okay (lest we wind up with a non-working camera in June that couldn't be swapped out). The camera came in last Friday. I took some shots Saturday and Sunday. Eight are posted at:

http://www.pbase.com/alphamicro/fz1

Some of you will know right away the number of megapixels this camera has. Others might make a fair guess based on the camera price. Take a look at what image stabilization can do. These are all shots of our two birds, a Panama Amazon and a Rainbow Lorikeet. At the time I took the pictures, I had no control over the f-stop used. I've since upgraded the firmware so that the camera functions as an FZ2 (which will allow you to pick an f-stop or shutter speed if you want). A little more depth of field would have helped the sharpness on some of the pictures, but I believe you'll see the image stabilization advantage anyway. These shots were all hand held. I've done NO post processing. If you've got a high speed connection, call up the original size version of each picture. If you look at the EXIF information, you can see the shutter speed, f-stop, and lens length. Multiply the lens length by 7.6 for the 35mm equivalent. (The very first picture, P1010140, was shot at the equivalent of 332mm at 1/40 of a second.) I'll tell you tomorrow how many megapixels this camera has (for those who don't already know or don't look it up). I'll also tell you right now that I've decided my son doesn't need this camera. I ordered a Canon A70 for him tonight. I'll either keep the Panasonic for myself or sell it to a friend and get a different image stabilzed camera. I'll let you know what I've decided in a day or two.

Mike

You're right; Mike. As you may recall, I have a Minolta DImage A1 which also has image stabilization, and it works just unbelievably well. A real god-send for taking pictures in poor light or inside in situations where you can't use flash.

With the image stabilizer, you can easily "hand hold" for exposures of 1/10th sec or even longer; something which would be unthinkable without it!

Regards,

Chris

WOW!

Great birds, too, by the way.

Never been one to succumb to pixel-envy myself, but I've got to know more...what is image stabilization and how do I get some???

I have a Sony Cybershot P-5. Oldie but goodie that done me well, but these photos. WOW.

WOWWY WOW WOW WOW

Image stabilization is a way to compensate for one's inability to hold a camera and lens absolutely steady, particular at long focal lengths. If you take a lot of pictures, you can learn techniques to minimize so-called camera shake. With 35mm cameras one of the "rules" was to be sure your shutter speed was at least 1/(focal length). For example, a 24mm lens would mean 1/24 of a second or faster, 50mm 1/50, 200mm 1/200, 400mm 1/400. Bracing yourself, using target shooter breathing techniques, and so forth were used. The real preference would be to use a tripod. Use of a monopod would help to a lesser degree. Somewhere along the line electronics progressed to the point that a manufacturer could build smarts into a lens that would compensate for camera movement. This apparently involves slight movements of one of the elements within the lens. You could pick up a couple of f-stops this way. You might be able to shoot your 200mm lens at 1/50 of a second and still have a sharp image. Canon has a lot of IS lenses. Nikon has a few. This technology eventually made its way into digital cameras (and in fact was available in camcorders years before the 35mm IS was developed). The technology is the same (moving an element) in digital except for the Minolta Dimage A1 & A2 cameras. They actually move the CCD sensor that is capturing the digital image. If you use a Canon Digital SLR, you can use Canon IS lenses. I assume the same holds for the Nikon line. DSLRs are expensive and the IS lenses are more expensive than their non-IS counterparts (but not outrageously so). Still, you could be looking at spending a lot of money. The currently available non-DSLR digital cameras with IS technology are the Minolta A1 & A2, Panasonic DMC-FZ1, FZ2 (not sold in the US), & FZ10, and the just released Canon IS S1. There are also discontinued models out there with IS such as the Olympus E-100RS & C2100UZ and the Canon Pro90IS. Sony also made some models in the past, but I'm not familiar with those model numbers. There may be a few others I'm not familiar with. Hope this all makes a little sense.

Mike

Hi Mike, thank you - yes it makes a lot of sense. I think it's telling me my Canon Powershot A70 needs a replacement! Add on lenses can be bought for the A70 model - a wide angle and a telefoto - would that ensure any IS? Or, in your opinion, do I just really need a new model that has IS? What pixel was it? How did night shots come out - any shake? My A70 has no problems only outdoors at night with neon and artificial lighting (indoor lighting is fine).

p.s. I second the WOWs!

"pixel-envy" Hee, hee, hee, that one made me chuckle out loud~thanks for the laugh!

Shannon

I didn't mean to be so long in getting back to this thread. Better late than never perhaps.

First of all, the pictures were taken with a 2 megapixel camera (hence the title for this thread). I'm still quite honestly amazed at how good they look. Again, that's TWO (image stabilized) megapixels!

Secondly, I did sell the FZ1 to a friend on Friday. I decided that a teenager, the intended owner, would much rather have a camera that could be easily slipped into a pocket. I've since had seller's remorse and in fact ordered another one tonight, but this one is for me. I read on DPReview that the FZ1 & FZ2 have been discontinued in the UK. I wonder if the US will be far behind. If anyone is interested in one of these approximately $250 bargains, you had best move quickly. The best deal seems to be at http://www.vanns.com with http://www.onecall.com not far behind.

Long run, I'll need something better, especially for indoor pictures. My Olympus E-10 with a Metz external flash handles that quite nicely now, but I'm going to sell it (but keep the flash). (I'm planning on keeping my Canon S50 also.) Right now I'm down to the Panasonic DMC-FZ10 and the Minolta Dimage A1. I'm strongly leaning towards the latter but may not make a move for several months. Chris, I may at some point have a question or two for you. No matter what I do, I plan on keeping my on-order FZ1. It will fill the bill nicely when I don't want to take much gear on a weekend trip (in which any picture taking would be purely coincidental).

Roxy, about the A70.... I got one in this week and had a chance to take a few pictures Friday night. Flash shots were MUCH better than with the FZ1. When I get my second FZ1 in, I'll try a few side by side shots just for fun. I sure would think twice before replacing your A70. That camera is VERY highly regarded in several of the internet camera review sites. If you should use add on lenses with the A70 for wide angle or telephoto, that would not add any IS capabilities. You've either got to get one of the cameras that uses IS or get a digital SLR (DSLR) that can use one of the Canon or Nikon IS lenses. I think almost any camera will have problems with night shots because of autofocus problems and because of long exposure times. IS could help but I would think you would have to use a much higher ISO. DSLR's go beyond 400. I know some (perhaps all) can go as high as ISO 6400. Their low light capabilities far exceed non-DSLR cameras. A tripod would be the great equalizer for night shots.

The two drawbacks I see with the FZ1 camera are that the autofocus is not very good in dim light (a problem many cameras have) and it has a rather weak flash (again a problem with many cameras). Other than that, it really is a sweet camera, especially for the price.

Mike

>>Right now I'm down to the Panasonic DMC-FZ10 and the Minolta Dimage A1. I'm strongly leaning towards the latter but may not make a move for several months. Chris, I may at some point have a question or two for you.<<

A pleasure, Mike; please feel free to ask whatever you wish. Always pleased to be able to help!

Regards,

Chris

Well I just sold my Sony Cybershot and bought a Canon A80...... there is just no comparison between the two. The Canon beats the Sony hands down!!

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply. I really enjoy the A70 and have no complaints. The night shake thing (IS) I will just have to learn to live with it. For the money, the A70 is outstanding. (My next camera will have IS when I am ready to trade up).