 |
| FZ300 Tasmania West coast |
The reason for my attention to this camera class is that I have discovered that the better models provide sufficient picture quality for most of my needs without the cost and complexity of an interchangeable lens camera kit and the various lenses required.
By “small sensor” I mean the smartphone sized so-called 1/2.3 inch size with a diagonal measurement of 7.67mm.
Unfortunately not much has changed since then.
Panasonic has released the FZ80 and TZ90 (ZS70) but that is about yer lot.
I have to confess that I harbour a suspicion that most of the camera companies don’t want to make good quality small sensor zooms because, my reasoning goes, people would buy them instead of the mid range interchangeable lens models which are the financial lifeblood of the industry at present.
Anyway here is a quick rundown of the models available in Australia at the time of writing.
I have not included models which do not support RAW files and I have no interest whatsoever in any camera without an EVF. I live in Sydney and travel around Australia. I have discovered that cameras without an EVF are almost useless in bright sun.
Also I see people using a long lens camera while viewing on the monitor held out at arm’s length. If these people think they are going to get decently sharp pictures they are kidding themselves.
Canon Powershot SX60 This model was announced in September 2014 and is getting decidedly past its use-by date. It has few fans on Canon Powershot user forums.
I bought and tested one and I rate it very low on specifications, capability, performance, picture quality and ergonomics.
Canon has a recent history of producing half baked, underspecified fixed lens models of which the SX60 is one of the least appealing.
Nikon Coolpix B700 I bought one of these and used it quite extensively in the early part of 2017.
It has a good lens, very good stabiliser (VR in Nikonspeak) and good image quality from the 20Mpx sensor. In fact on my tests the B700 has less high ISO color and luminance noise at matched image size than the Panasonic Lumix FZ300.
However as I reported here this camera is burdened by many deficiencies of performance and operation which took it out of my camera drawer.
Nikon wants you to believe that the B700 is good for capturing fast moving wildlife. Well good luck with that. The camera has such a slow processor (the curse of the Coolpix) that it is only suitable for photographing static subjects. There is no AF Continuous facility at all.
 |
| FZ300 These Ruddy Turnstones in Tasmania know they are well camouflaged if they turn their backs. |
Panasonic is the most productive contributor to this sector of the market.
The TZ90 (ZS70) has replaced the TZ80 (ZS60) in the compact sector with 30x zoom. The TZ90 is basically a TZ80 with selfie flip up monitor replacing the fixed one and an increase in pixel count from 18 to 20Mpx. On my tests this produces no discernible benefit to picture quality.
Although the specification is unchanged the lens on my copy of the TZ90 gives sharper results at the long end of the zoom than I could get with the TZ80. So maybe they improved quality control in the lens manufacture.
Overall a very minor upgrade and not enough I would think to tempt most TZ80 owners to trade up, unless they desperately need that flip up monitor.
It’s not a bad camera though, considering it fits a useful EVF and 30x zoom into a very compact package. It was designed to be a travel companion and it works well in that role. But picture quality and performance are not up to the standard set by the FZ300.
The FZ80 is the follow up to the much unloved FZ70. The FZ80 features many improvements over the FZ70 to specifications, capability, performance and ergonomics. It is overall a much better camera than the FZ70.
The pixel count has increased from 16 to 18 Mpx with no discernible improvement to picture quality.
The lens has the same specifications and is presumably the same unit. It gives good results in the middle of the zoom range but is much less endearing at the edges in the wide range and deteriorates across the frame towards the long end of the zoom.
The stabiliser (OIS) is not as effective or reliable as that in the B700. The result is a high frequency of unsharp pictures at the long end several with double imaging from camera shake.
So although the FZ80 is better than the FZ70 I am unable to fully recommend it. If Panasonic were to put in a better lens, better sensor and a much better OIS module along with implementing Sony style focal length sensitive Auto ISO algorithm then we might have a much more appealing camera.
And so we come to the FZ300 which is the only camera of this group that I can recommend with very few reservations.
Panasonic got almost everything right with the FZ300. It is well built, weatherproofed, very highly specified, has extensive capabilities for stills and video output, good image quality indoors or outdoors, excellent performance and good ergonomics. It’s a keeper.
It is also a size which finds wide appeal among men and women alike. Not too small, not too large, just right.
And into that compact size it packs something not seen in any other current model camera (the FZ200 had it) which is an (equivalent) 25-600mm constant f2.8 lens of good quality.
Comment
It seems to me all the makers except Panasonic are opting to reduce their presence in this market sector.
Ricoh/Pentax, Olympus and Fujifilm have no offerings available in Australia as I write.
Sony’s models offer only JPG output and are in any event way overdue for an upgrade.
Canon is allowing the awful SX60 to sit there without upgrade, together with a bunch of models lacking an EVF.
Nikon could I believe take control of this market sector if only they would endow the B700 with a fast processor and greatly upgraded performance and ergonomics.
Maybe the camera makers plan to abandon this camera type altogether.
From my point of view as a consumer that would be a huge disappointment.