Panasonic FZ10/20 vs Minolta A1

[johanesrudis]

Hi All,
I desperately need your good advise. I am looking for a new camera, with considerations : ultra zoom, hot shoe, pic quality (noise & purple fringing), and LCD. And these categories confuse me to choose either Pana FZ10/20 or Minolta A1.

Panasonic FZ10 because I found in the review (thx to this web) that it has a very good lens with powerful 12x zoom, good (?) pic quality, and a hot shoe. While FZ20 because it has larger mega pixel, AF assistance, longer flash range. And Minolta A1 simply because its LCD and EFV are flexible/swivel.

Could you please explain the advantage of FZ20 from FZ10, particularly of its AF assistance. Is it really a good asset? And how's the pic comparation between Panasonic and Minolta? (I assume that FZ10 and FZ20 have the same quality).

Thank you so much in advance.
-Johanes-

[John_Reed]

Could you please explain the advantage of FZ20 from FZ10, particularly of its AF assistance. Is it really a good asset? And how's the pic comparation between Panasonic and Minolta? (I assume that FZ10 and FZ20 have the same quality).Johanes, I have an FZ10, so I can't say first-hand how much of an asset the AF assistance is, but I have heard favorable comments about how much it speeds up the camera's low-light focusing time. If you take many shots indoors, say of guests at parties, etc., you would surely find this to be a valuable feature. Of course the FZ20 has more pixels than the FZ10, but I think the FZ10 has ample pixels, so I don't count that as a big advantage. Moreover, the smaller image files of the FZ10 allow more pictures to be stored on an SD card, and take up less computer space.
As for comparing with the Minolta A1, I don't think you can really call that camera an "Ultra Zoom," as its "reach" extends only to 200mm, vs. the 432mm of the Panasonics. It does have a much wider wide-angle range, down to 28mm equivalent, compared to 36mm on the two Panasonic cameras, which would be an advantage for some scenery shots. I understand that the A1's image quality starts degrading above ISO 100, while I think the FZ10/20 will sustain relatively low noise values at least to ISO 200. The A1 has RAW image files if you want them, the FZ20's only "uncompressed" file option is TIFF. And, the A1 has a "flip-out" LCD screen, whereas the FZ10/20 LCD screens are fixed.
If you haven't read this site's reviews of these two cameras, you should, and also go to the "Reviews" section and do a "compare" of the two as well, so you can study their features in a side-by-side list. Good luck! :)

[johanesrudis]

Dear John,

Is there a mathematic for comparing the wide-angle coverage area between a 28mm lens on Minolta and 36mm lens on Panasonic? For example, if I am standing in front of a wall, how wide 28mm lens will cover, and how wide with 36mm?

Because, it seems that I will use my camera more at outdoor shooting the scenery. I didn't put this wide-angle issue into my consideration before. So, thanks for bringing it up.

From your own experience so far using FZ10, have you ever (or how often) found a situation where you would be so grateful to have a flip-out LCD? This is the biggest issue that holding me back to buy Panasonic at first sight.

Thanks for your inputs.
-Johanes-

[John_Reed]

Dear John,

Is there a mathematic for comparing the wide-angle coverage area between a 28mm lens on Minolta and 36mm lens on Panasonic? For example, if I am standing in front of a wall, how wide 28mm lens will cover, and how wide with 36mm?

Because, it seems that I will use my camera more at outdoor shooting the scenery. I didn't put this wide-angle issue into my consideration before. So, thanks for bringing it up.

From your own experience so far using FZ10, have you ever (or how often) found a situation where you would be so grateful to have a flip-out LCD? This is the biggest issue that holding me back to buy Panasonic at first sight.

Thanks for your inputs.
-Johanes-I'll guess at the mathematics: If 50mm is "normal," then to compare 36mm to 28mm, I'd say that the 28mm lens would be "wider" than the 36mm lens by a factor of (50-28)/(50-36) = 22/14 = 1.57, or 57% "wider." I'm open to correction on this calculation! :o

As for situations where I wish I had the flip-out screen, that's the one feature of my Nikon 4500 that I do miss, but there are so many other things I can do with the camera that I don't miss it that much - I'm generally looking for different types of shots than I used to seek with my shorter range 4500. But, when you want an odd angle on a flower, to shoot a pet close to the ground, to hold your camera up high over the heads of a crowd, the flip-out screen is nice in those instances. I usually use the EVF; when I need the effect of the flip-out screen, I'll switch over to the LCD and view it from an angle. I would say that using the EVF (viewfinder) is an important aspect of camera stability for me, in that holding the camera against my face helps me to steady the shots for slower shutterspeeds, an advantage that I couldn't gain with a flip-out screen, which would require hand-holding the camera away from the face and body.

[johanesrudis]

Dear John,

Sorry, didn't mean to give you an examination :D
But, if your calculation is correct, 57% is quite a big difference. Should I leave Panasonic away from my shopping list? sniff ... :(

Maybe I should have asked for wide-angle pictures comparing the shoots taken from 28mm and 36mm lens, since now I am still wondering the difference/effect of these 2 sizes. Anyone could help?

Thanks,
-Johanes-

[Jim Last]

You could always add a wide angle lens to the Panasonic!

Panasonics own DMW-LWZ10 very good but also quite pricey, Jayde highlighted a site that offers alot of info on extra lenses for the panasonic

Pemaraal (http://www.b-300.com/fz10ac.html) and also quite a useful size with loads of info on the FZ20 (http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/FZ-10/)