Best Panasonic UZ for indoor use.

[Luscinia]

I'm looking for "the right" UZ mainly for nature/wildlife-photo.
(See the thread: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25716 where i've got a lot of help)

I've narrowed down the alternatives to the two Pana's TZ1 and FZ7 and I think that's both of them is good for my outdoor needs. Which of them to choose now depends on their indoor capabilities. That's probably not the stongest side of any of them but I believe one must be the "least worse" choice. Perhaps an attached slave flash could help their poor-light abilities. What do you think? Which one would you've chosen?

Thanks! And sorry for my not so good english!

[Elisha]

the built in flash of the FZ7 is pretty strong already.

[John_Reed]

I'm looking for "the right" UZ mainly for nature/wildlife-photo.
(See the thread: http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25716 where i've got a lot of help)

I've narrowed down the alternatives to the two Pana's TZ1 and FZ7 and I think that's both of them is good for my outdoor needs. Which of them to choose now depends on their indoor capabilities. That's probably not the stongest side of any of them but I believe one must be the "least worse" choice. Perhaps an attached slave flash could help their poor-light abilities. What do you think? Which one would you've chosen?

Thanks! And sorry for my not so good english!

I guess you're not referring to "indoor wildlife," which was the stimulus for your original post. If you've got some time to wait, personally, I'd wait until the new TZ3 and FZ8 reviews are out. The FZ8 review is in fact "out" on dpreview (see it here), but looking at the details, I somehow think they posted some "out of focus" samples in their test gallery, though the shots in their sample gallery look great. (In fact, they say in there that they intend to re-shoot the test images).

The reason I'd wait? Because I believe the new models will have an ISO advantage over their predecessors, judging from my recent experience with the FX50 in that respect, which will improve their performance in low light.

I will, however, say this: I have always enjoyed having my stabilized cameras with me indoors at museums. Taking sharp shots in low light is a fun thing to be able to do, and I was doing it 3-4 years ago, with my very first Pannies, the FZ1, FZ10. Here's a handheld shot I took of a glass-blowing exhibit in the Corning Museum of New York, back in 2004 with my FZ10:



That was taken at 1/15 of a second, handheld, at equivalent FL of 380mm, ISO 200. From the same museum, another shot, at 1/6 second:



And just to add insult to injury, here's a TZ1 shot, taken at our National Portrait Gallery in D.C., of John Brown's portrait, ISO 200, at 1/4 second:



I won't make any wild claims about low-light performance, but without Panasonic's O.I.S. system, I'd have no low-light shots to show you.

[tim11]

Indoors Panasonic? You are thinking about slave flash... why don't you consider FZ30? It has hot shoe for that external flash to give you extra range.

[John_Reed]

Indoors Panasonic? You are thinking about slave flash... why don't you consider FZ30? It has hot shoe for that external flash to give you extra range.

The FZ30 and FZ50 uniquely provide a hotshoe, at least in the Panasonic line. It wasn't clear what "weaknesses" were being addressed, though, as to whether an extra flash would really be needed?

[tim11]

The FZ30 and FZ50 uniquely provide a hotshoe, at least in the Panasonic line. It wasn't clear what "weaknesses" were being addressed, though, as to whether an extra flash would really be needed?

John, it seems OP wish to have extra flash power by mentioning a slave flash.

....Which of them to choose now depends on their indoor capabilities. That's probably not the stongest side of any of them but I believe one must be the "least worse" choice. Perhaps an attached slave flash could help their poor-light abilities. What do you think? Which one would you've chosen?

And since slave flash is considered, why isn't hotshoe a better alternative? IMO.