When will the FZ20 be replaced?

[niknik]

Hi there!

Maybe there's a simple answer to this question but I havn't stumbled over the info myself. With the FZ 4/5 being released soon (and LZ 1/2) is there a replacement model for the FZ20 scheduled yet?

[24Peter]

When Panasonic offers an 8 MP model or when I buy my first DSLR (either of which could be pretty soon :D ) Oh - you mean when will Panasonic replace the FZ 20 - I have no idea :rolleyes:

[Rex914]

The FZ20 is far too new to be replaced (introduced last August). Unless they are a flop, products don't get refreshed for at least a year.

[ggw2000]

When Panasonic offers an 8 MP model or when I buy my first DSLR (either of which could be pretty soon :D ) Oh - you mean when will Panasonic replace the FZ 20 - I have no idea :rolleyes:

24peter, your eyeballing the Canon Rebel XT aren't you? Gerry

[24Peter]

Haaa! Well kind of. For some strange reason I am against all things Canon (probably goes back to one their lame inkjet printers from years ago.) But the XT does have nice specs. I've actually come very close to buying the Pentax *st DS a couple of times in the past few weeks. In fact, if it were 8MP I would have bought one already. I like a very small camera and the Pentax is only slight larger than the FZ20. It's gotten really good reviews but apparently Pentax doesn't market much in the US anymore (I think our friends in the UK are more familiar with Pentax?) In any event, that's where I was leaning until the XT was announced. It too is a smaller camera very close in size and weight (w/o lens) to the Pentax and Panasonic. The FZ 20 is a great camera but I'm already running into its limitations. For instance, today I did a photo shoot with someone and for me the image on my FZ20 really breaks down at the wider zooms under most lighting conditions. Maybe I'm missing something, but I find I have to shoot b/t 4x - 11X optical zoom to get a descent image. But b/c the camera has such a [great] long lens, that limits what I can do. I'm really waiting to see how much the Pentax comes down in price now that the XT has been announced. That could cinch (sp?) the deal for me.

PS - where are you in upstate NY? I went to school in Binghamton and Buffalo. Grew up on Long Island.

BTW - for anyone who's counting, I dropped my FZ 20 for a third time today (damn strap!). This was the hardest one yet - fell on a tile floor. It landed on the front edge of the pemaraal adapter so I think that saved it. Tonight the neck strap comes off!

[dev]

Took my neck strap off a week ago. Don't miss it a bit, and I got an ok wrist strap off a mini tripod to take it's place.

[Rex914]

Haaa! Well kind of. For some strange reason I am against all things Canon (probably goes back to one their lame inkjet printers from years ago.)

Very true, but that's 10 years ago when Canon's printers did suck. You're missing out on a world of possibilities by passing up their market eading DSLR line. :)

[TheObiJuan]

I say a new model will be announced in july.
assuming Pan. follows their trend.

[genece]

I also bet on this summer for an annoucement maybe November to get the camera.

And Peter Canon has some outstanding printers now.

[junji98]

24peter,

when you say you dropped your fz20, was it because the strap came undone or did you just drop it? i have my worries regarding those flimsy connectors, but it has never dropped yet. but you know the saying, if it can happen...

[24Peter]

No - I wish the strap came undone. I shoot with the neck strap on the camera all the time but rarely around my neck. (I'm too lazy to put it on and off as needed.) So it is just hanging in space waiting to catch something as I'm moving. When it does inevitably catch on something, the camera is ripped from my hands in a most horrendous way. :mad: I need to get a strap with quick release connectors.

As for all you Canon lovers out there, didn't mean any disrespect. I haven't ruled out the XT. I'm waiting to read the reviews and maybe try one out. But I do love supporting the "underdog" (in this case the Pentax).

[dev]

I'm thinking of using my primitive sewing skills to convert that neck choker into a fancy Lumix wrist strap.

[Tokret]

I say a new model will be announced in july.
assuming Pan. follows their trend.


obijuan seems to get it right

if this is true:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fleechem%2Epdx%2Ecn%2Fblog%2Fdiary%2 C100926%2Ehtml

[Ronin005]

obijuan seems to get it right

if this is true:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient-menuext&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fleechem%2Epdx%2Ecn%2Fblog%2Fdiary%2 C100926%2Ehtml


oh man, just after i bought mine last week. oh well this new one if its true would also cost alot more then the FZ20, and i am veryyyyyyyy happy with it at the moment.

[nooner]

The link that Tokret has is a put-on about a FZ30 . It's been on Steve's forum and everyone knows it is a joke :cool:

[Grog]

As for all you Canon lovers out there, didn't mean any disrespect. I haven't ruled out the XT. I'm waiting to read the reviews and maybe try one out. But I do love supporting the "underdog" (in this case the Pentax).

Peter I read a review of the Pentax 1stD in Popular Photography & Imaging Aug 2004. The guy doing the review took a low light picture without flash in a restaurant at ISO 1200 at F4 it had good depth of field and it looked great he went on to say that most digital and film SLR could not of done it.

[24Peter]

Thanks Grog. The Pentax *st DS (as opposed to the "D" - lame model designations if you ask me - but they didn't! :o ) was also just reviewed in Popular Photography (FEB or March 2005 issue), as well as in the same issues of Photography Monthly and either Shutterbug or PC Photography. The reviews for the Pentax have all been very favorable. In fact, the DS just slighty edged out the new Olympus E-Volt 300 (or whatever it's called - who thinks these names up???) in a comparison review in Photography Monthly. And the Olympus is an 8MP camera vs. 6.1 MP for the Pentax (apparently the Pentax has the same sensor as the Nikon D70). I seriously would have bought the Pentax already if it was 8MP. What I'm finding having shot with my FZ20 for the past four months is that resolution is much more important than I would have thought 1) for wide angle shots (you've all heard me complain that IMO the image of the FZ20 breaks down below 3X optical zoom) and 2) more importantly for cropping images. I'm cropping almost everything I shoot these days in the computer and so every pixel counts for me. Again, I anticipate a price drop in the current line of 6MP cameras as a result of the XT being announced (the Nikon D70 seems to have an additional $200 rebate already) and that may be enough to put me over on the Pentax if I can get it with the lens for less than $700 on-line. (The best price I saw as of a couple of weeks ago - before the XT was announced - was $829 for the kit.)

[Grog]

I have two ZX-50 Pentax cameras plus the Panasonic so have been thinking of selling them and buying either the Nikon D70 or the Pentax 1stD. I also have a Nikon N80 but don't want to give that one up so would probly sell my extra Pentax lens and go with the Nikon. I do like the Anti shake in the Panasonic and neither the Pentax or Nikon have this with out spending lots of money on lenses with it. In most cases a lens with anti shake cost more than a New camera with a basic lens. So I will wait until one of them puts it in the camera. Nikon probly won't as they make to much off there anti shake lenses.