ScottGee1 wrote:
> I've been watching the P@n@son!c DMC line for a while, hoping they'd
> tame the noise issues. It looks like they may have finally done it:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yodv4r
>
> I really like the 16:9 aspect ratio. I think it's unique to this
> series of digicams.
>
It's a crop, you know, 6.2 mp. It's a non-standard size sensor with 7.7
usable mp that is cropped to 7.1 mp for 4:3, 6.9 mp for 3:2 and 6.2 mp
for 16:9. Nothing wrong with that, I just thought it was interesting.
I'll believe the noise/detail issues are solved when I see samples. The
Venus III engine that PP touts has been the deserved recipient of some
dissing by Simon at dpreview. Take a look at the FZ7 (Venus II) vs. FZ8
comparisons through iso 400 at dpreview. I'd much prefer the noisier FZ7
versions than the smeared detail of the FZ8. At least then I could make
my own trade-off of noise and detail
<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz8/page7.asp>. &
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz8/page12.asp
I'm also concerned about low contrast detail. The TZ1 had a real problem
with this, see the bottom of this page
<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonictz1/page3.asp>. I think PP's
testing with high contrast targets may understate the practical effect
of the noise reduction. Dpreview has just introduced what is meant to be
a standardized test of this with the 550 review. You can see the
destructive effect of NR at the bottom of this page
<http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympussp550uz/page7.asp>.
> Unfortunately, the optical VF is AWOL again, but that 'feature' seems
> to be vanishing from a lot of P&Ss.
>
Now that would be a REAL trick, a 10x zoom VF for three different
formats! :-) At least Panny still shows the whole frame on the LCD. Oly
has even given that up on the 550.
I hope I'm wrong, both because the TZ2 & 3 would be very interesting
cameras (I'd take lower noise/NR in trade for the lower MP of the 2.)
and because Oly seems married to Panny sensors.
Moose
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