FZ35 Full Crop Noise (large pictures)

[lexstar]

Hi All,

After reading many reviews on the Panasonic FZ35 i finally took the plunge to step into the world of Super Zooms.

I previously have lots of experience with the canon powershot series (a540 and a720) and have been really happy with them, however the super zoom appealed to me to upgrade from the canons.

So i've had a good play with the panny, and have had mixed feelings with it. I am pretty happy with all the features on the camera, and photos seem ok on first look. however when i start to view these photos at 100% I start to get concerned.

The amount of noise is just far greater than I expected, and also the photos dont seem sharp at 100% full crop (12mp),

here are some samples (all at max res, super fine setting)

sample 1.

taken at f5.6, 1/320s, iso100, widest angle.

http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~lctham/Panasonic%20FZ35%20tests/P1000310.JPG

This just has a lot more noise than i expected, given its at iso100 and on a well lighted day. My attention draws to the street sign, the cars, and the door on the building. They just seem very noisy and creamy at the same time

sample 2.

f4, 1/1.3s, iso100, flash on.

http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~lctham/Panasonic%20FZ35%20tests/P1000152.JPG

this was a night shot with flash handheld, so I expected some amount of noise here. It looked fine at about 50%, but then when viewed at 100%, all thise noise popped up!! Especically concerned at all the specs/dots on people clothing.

sample 3.

f2.8, 1/8s, iso80

http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~lctham/Panasonic%20FZ35%20tests/P1000323.JPG

This photo just looks noisy everywhere, special attention to the items in the bookcase in the rear, and the back wall towards the right looks extremely noisy.



So can you all please tell me if this is what I should expect to see with the FZ35, or should I expect slightly cleaner results, I understand there is always going to be some noise when viewing at 100% and at 12mp, but I just didn't think this much!!

Please let me know if im being too fussy/picky because I still have the option of returning the camera.

oh also one last piece of info, when I was taking some of these Photos outside, I noted some purple lines on my lcd screen when pointing at shiny objects such as windows etc, the sun was behind me so I wasnt pointing the camera at it or anything, again is this exected and normal?

Thanks in advance

[Ken.]

It all depends on what you plan to output to. In print, this won't matter unless you're making very large prints and, even then, you would not be looking at a large print at a close distance. For web work and small prints, none of this will show.

These look like the typical Panasonic JPEG, not that much different from my old FZ8. RAW is a bit smoother. It's the trade off you get with a small sensor. What you're not seeing is how good the lens is. There's few lens flaws in the images.

[debu_17]

Saw the 100 crop pics, can u mention the IS mode u used. I have the FZ-50 now for 3 years, and giving good results, but as with all small sensor S- zooms, u cant expect "Low noise " beyond ASA200, or at best ASA 400 in bright light.

Do u have "PIc mode" settings in FZ-35, if so set them to Gain= normal, Contrast = normal, and Sharpness= LOw/Normal.
Also for wide angle bright light views I get best noise performance form the FZ-50 in "landscape/scenery" setting, the Cam sometimes even sets ASA64 which is not available in any semi manual mode!,

try it on ur instrument.

Also keep a copy of "NEat image" handy, it is generally required for S- zoom camera images.
While I got my FZ-50 in 2006, at that time the cost difference Btwn S- zoom of FZ-50 class and Equ. SLR of 10 Mpix was very hi, at the present time, I would advise u to put in a few more bucks and get thefollowing;

Canon - 1000d/500d + tamron 18-250 or 18-250 zoom. it may prove much more satisfaying, for eg. compared to a canon s20, which is not cheap, ( as FZ-35 is also not cheap) , spelling mistakes - excuse, direct type into post.