Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (
More info?)
tellme wrote:
> On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 23:38:36 +1300, YAnewswatcher
> <umustbjoking@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
>
>>In article <ugf77l9y49dr.jz4pqyek1661$.dlg@40tude.net>,
>>Pete <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>>>This is a very interesting review! ...nowhere else have I read about
>>>>the FZ10's "dead zone" in the 1 to 6 foot range.
>>>
>>>I run into the dead zone feature constantly with small subjects, and it's a
>>>PITA.
>>>
>>>Consider taking a picture of something the size of a credit card. The only
>>>way to fill the image with the subject is to get between 3" (7.5cm) and 9"
>>>(22.5cm) away. In the dead zone and beyond, the subject can't fill more
>>>than 15-25% of the image.
>>>
>>>My favorite example is shooting a fish in an aquarium tank. You can't jump
>>>in the tank with the fish. And if you back off beyond 6' (2m), not only is
>>>the fish tiny, but you see all the handprints, scratches and reflections on
>>>the glass.
>>>
>>>Similarly for small animals a few feet behind a chain link fence at the
>>>zoo.
>>>
>>>Even without something between you and the subject, it's a disappointment
>>>for an otherwise excellent camera.
>>>
>>>I'd be interested in hearing if the FZ15 and FZ20 have the same problem as
>>>the FZ10. I'm assuming they do.
>>
>>Yes, it's the same with the FZ20. At maximum optical telephoto zoom, the
>>closest focused distance is about 2m (say 6ft) At maximum wide angle
>>that drops to 300mm (about 1ft) but of course the image seems far away
>>because it's wide angle. Manual focus makes no difference.
>>
>>With the Macro function, the wide angle is dropped to 50mm, almost
>>inside the lens hood, with no change to the minimum at telephoto.
>>
>>The only solution I can think of for this conundrum is to try a closeup
>>lens, 2x dioptre would be a good start.
>>
>>The numbers quoted above are from the manual(Page 54), confirmed with a
>>few uncalibrated checks with the camera.
>>
>>I've been meaning to get a set of CU lenses, I guess this is as good a
>>time as any. Will report back.
>>
>>STOP PRESS: I just did some fiddling with the FZ20 and found that if I
>>set up a business card at about 300mm/1ft and focussed on it at Wide
>>angle 1x, I could tweak the zoom to about 3x before the focus was lost
>>This was enough to increase the card's image from 1/16 of the screen to
>>better than 1/4. At 4x zoom I'd lost it. A crumb of comfort.
>
>
> I was just about to order the Fz20 tomorrow. I take a lot of close up
> pics of things and also have to zoom in many times to get the subject
> detail as they fly in the air a lot.
>
> From what I am reading above is this camera going to be a problem for
> me?
It depends. As I read the above, you're limited to about 3x zoom at
distances less than about six feet. If by "close up" you mean "I can
place the camera as close as I want to the subject", you'll likely be
OK. And if the things flying through the air are more than six feet
away, you'll apparently be able to use the full 12x zoom. You might
get sharp focus and motion blur, but that's a separate issue. There's
apparently a discontinuity in the amount of zoom you can use at about
six feet. This sort of thing is not unique to Panasonic's 12x zooms.
I have the Olympus C700, which is the ancestor of the C720 that was
compared with the FZ10. I can't use the full 10x zoom at distances
inside about six feet. I can use more of it than the FZ10 can,
apparently, since I can focus on a full-frame business card at a
distance of one foot. If I go to full zoom at a distance of one foot,
focus is lost. If I put the thing in macro mode, the minimum full-
zoom distance drops to about three feet and the minimum wide-angle
focus distance drops to about 2.5".
Can any FZ{10,15,20} owners clarify what happens to the zoom capability
when the camera is in macro mode? Can you use 3x zoom down to three
feet, for example? If so, that might leave the proprietary battery and
the small sensor as the only things that would make me think twice about
upgrading to an FZ20.
Paul Allen
and no flash 
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