From the Manufacturer The new 10.1-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, successor to the popular DMC-FZ30, features a powerful f2.8 Leica DC lens with 12x optical zoom. The lens focal length is equivalent to 35-420mm on a 35mm film camera and is enhanced by Mega O.I.S., Panasonic's exclusive Optical Image Stabilizer system. The DMC-FZ50 boasts a 10.1-megapixel high resolution CCD for its image sensor and Venus Engine III for the image processing LSI, making it possible to record a image at maximum ISO 1600 high sensitivity setting at full resolution. Furthermore, by dramatically reducing the noise levels that challenged its predecessor, the DMC-FZ50 is able to capture 10.1-megapixel full resolution images even in high sensitivity recording. To fight against the major cause of blurred images, Panasonic invented the Mega O.I.S. system taking advantage of its superior lens technology to compensate for handshake--a feature which has long been incorporated into the Lumix range of cameras. In addition, to also compensate for the other major cause of blurred images--movement of the subject--the FZ50 is also equipped with the world's first Intelligent ISO Control (hereafter I.I.C.) and maximum ISO 1600 high sensitivity recording capabilities within the advanced image processing LSI Venus Engine III. When set to the I.I.C., the Venus Engine III detects the subject's movement and adjusts the ISO setting and shutter speed to best suit the subject movement and the light condition automatically. Panasonic's excellent image stabilizing system allows users to take clear, crisp images in any situation automatically, leaving everything to the camera. From a point of view of further improving the usability of its predessor, the DMC-FZ50 is equipped with a new Function Button which serves as a shortcut to quickly set frequently-used settings such as recording image size, light metering, AF area, white balance, and ISO sensitivity. Also, thanks to the newly incorporated custom setting function, your frequent setting patterns can be memorized and it can be instantly applied by simply selecting this function with the mode dial. The 2-inch LCD flips out to 180 degrees, making it easier to view even when shooting from high or low angles. As for optional accessories, the DMC-FZ50 is now compatible with TTL external flashes. Finally, the battery life is greatly extended by approximately 29% compared with its predecessor allowing the FZ50 to shoot approximately 360 images on one charge (CIPA). The Lumix DMC-FZ50 faithfully inherits the well received basic specifications from its predecessor FZ30 such as the manual focus ring and manual zoom ring, yet enhances the image sensor up to 10.1-megapixel. Noise is drastically reduced with this new FZ50 achieving a rendition of even higher quality images.10.1-Megapixel CCD and f2.8 12x Optical Zoom Leica DC Lens The DMC-FZ50 includes a 10.1-megapixel high resolution CCD and the f2.8 Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 12x optical zoom (equivalent to 35mm to 420 mm with a 35mm film camera) lens. The lens unit is comprised of fourteen elements in ten groups including three aspherical lenses and an ED lens, All these are incorporated to generate low distortion and high optical performance while preserving the compactness of the unit. The Extended Optical Zoom, made possible by using the center part of the 10.1-megapixel high resolution CCD, further extends the powerful 12x optical zoom to up to 21x for 3-megapixel image recording (17.1x for 5-megapixel and13.4x for 8-megapixel recording). High resolution images with richer gradation are always assured with these Leica DC 12x optical zoom lens and the 10.1-Megapixel CCD.Lumix's Image Stabilizing System Evolves Taking advantage of its superior lens technology, Panasonic invented the Mega O.I.S.(Optical Image Stabilizer) system to fight against the major cause of blurred images. It compensates for handshake and is now featured on the entire Lumix range, and has been highly evaluated and appreciated by the users across the world. Every slight hand-shake movement is detected accurately with the sampling frequency at 4,000 times per second and will be compensated to render clear, sharp images. In addition, movement of the subject, the other major cause of blurred images, is suppressed by the advanced image processing LSI Venus Engine III with the Intelligent ISO Control (hereafter I.I.C.) and maximum ISO 1600 high sensitivity recording capabilities. The world's first incorporation of this I.I.C. allows the automatic adjustment of the suitable ISO setting and shutter speed that best suits the situation by analyzing the speed of subject movement. If the subject is moving, the ISO setting would automatically rise to allow high shutter speed. On the other hand, if the subject is still and no movement is detected, you can take beautiful natural images with a low ISO setting. Accordingly the new Lumix automatically takes the best countermeasures against any causes of blurred images with Mega O.I.S. compensating for hand-shake and the I.I.C. compensating for movement of the subject. Image stabilizing system is further evolving with Lumix.Dramatically Reduced Noise with Venus Engine III The DMC-FZ50 adopts the Venus Engine III to realize high sensitivity recording at maximum ISO 1600 at full resolution. The noise reduction system is greatly improved by removing noise at the processing stages in series. First, critical noise is roughly undraped and the chromatic noise and the luminance noise are separated to respectively go through the supplemental noise reduction process so that the remaining noise is appropriately minimized. In addition, chromatic aberration is also reduced so beautiful images are assured even in telephoto shooting. Despite the significantly increased performance of the camera, the Venus Engine III consumes only 80% of the power utilized by the Venus Engine II and is able to achieve a longer battery life of approximately 360 pictures (CIPA) on a single charge. With its multi-task image processing capability, the Venus Engine III also boasts outstanding response time with an industry-leading level of shutter release time lag of as short as 0.009 seconds. minimum and the shutter interval of 0.8 seconds. Together with the fast startup time of approximately 0.7 seconds, the quick response of DMC-FZ50 enables easy capture of those spur-of-the-moment shots. The DMC-FZ50 also allows unlimited consecutive shooting up to the capacity of the SD/SDHC memory card.In Pursuit of Full Manual Control The DMC-FZ50 succeeds the high operational ease and the good design that have been highly acclaimed with its predecessor DMC-FZ30. Two exclusive rings on the lens barrel provide manual control of zooming and focusing, allowing quick and fine control that cannot be achieved with button or lever operation. This feature will be highly valued by high-end users not only for its precise controllability but also for the feeling of manual operation. With the two dials located under the index finger and the thumb, you can compensate the exposure directly in addition to the shutter speed and the aperture smoothly and naturally. The newly added Function Button serves as a shortcut exclusively for the commonly used settings such as recording image size, light metering, AF area, white balance, and ISO sensitivity, allowing them to be set easily. For further improvement, your frequent setting patterns can be memorized and can be instantly applied by just selecting the newly incorporated custom setting function. White balance now can be finely adjusted with a reference to the horizontal axis for amber to blue and vertical axis for green to magenta. Furthermore two composition guideline patterns can be overlaid on the normal shooting screen.Free-Angle LCD and High-Resolution EVF to Extend Shooting Potential The 2.0-inch flip-out 207K high-resolution LCD is adjustable to 180 degrees both vertically and horizontally. This assists smooth shooting even in high- and low-angle shooting positions. The pixel-mixed readout method performed at the CCD achieves high sensitivity to offer sufficient brightness for easy shooting even in low-light situations. The Power LCD function boosts the brightness level by 40% to secure clear view even in sunny outdoors. The DMC-FZ50 is also equipped with a 235K-pixel high resolution EVF to encourage active shooting. EVF can provide the benefit of being able to check white balance, real-time histogram, and the DOF (depth of field) before shooting.Faster Autofocus The AF mode can be selected according to the shooting situation: 9-point, 3-point high speed, 1-point high speed, 1-point normal speed, and spot. In the 1-point and 1-point high speed AF mode, the AF area is selectable from the nine focusing areas with the joystick to best fit the composition of the subjects. Also, the AF assist lamp facilitates quick, accurate focusing in situations where focusing is difficult due to the lack of light.Clear, Bright, Wide VGA Motion-Image Recording for Viewing on a Wide-Screen TV In addition to standard VGA (640 x 480) at 30 frames per second (fps) motion image recording, the DMC-FZ50 also records stunning full-size movies in wide-aspect VGA (848 x 480) at 30 fps. Shooting is one thing but viewing is another, and you will be suitably impressed by the 16:9 moving image when it is displayed on a wide screen TV. The brightness level of these motion images is also enhanced as a result of the pixel-mixed readout method performed by the CCD. Zooming in while recording motion images is also possible with the manual zoom ring, while image clarity is secured by the Optical Image Stabilizer.Included Software and Optional Accessories To edit and develop RAW files, the Silkypix Developer Studio 2.0SE software application is bundled with the DMC-FZ50. Using this software, you can freely adjust various setting such as exposure, white balance, and so on afterward with the RAW files. The DMC-FZ50 is compatible with all the same accessories as the FZ30. In addition to those, the DMC-FZ50 is also compatible with the TTL external flash GN50 or GN36 (not included--must be purchased separately). This expandability enhances the potential of shooting to make DMC-FZ50 a true high-end camera.
A**T
Older digital camera & what a nice camera it is!
I seem to love getting Panasonic Lumix digital cameras and recently got several older renewed Lumix digital cameras including this one here, the Lumix FZ-50. It is so large, nearly equal to the size of the much newer Nikon P900 digital camera. I prefer mid-sided to larger sized point & shoot digital cameras and I really was surprised for such a small CCD sensor camera like this one is rather large. Camera looks quite professional when it was new in or around 2006 time frame and to me, it still looks like a serious digital camera. It has 12x optical zoom, an odd flip down 2 inch rear LCD view-finder and it swivels as well. Nobody makes them flip down/swivel like this camera anymore. It has a external flash hot shoe, internal flash, 10MP camera, pretty extensive menu system, and a MANUAL zoom lens....not electronic zoom but manual. Last time I had a camera with manual zoom for a point & shoot was an older Vivatar 35mm camera with a smallish zoom lens built into the camera as it was a point & shoot camera. It takes good photos, pretty good videos and I know I can go on and on and on, but for the price I paid for this camera, it was an excellent deal. It may have been renewed/used....but overall it was in pretty good shape and works really good. 5 stars.
D**N
Super little camera.
Bought this FZ50 camera from Amazon last week at a good bargin price--477.00. And added some 1GB memory cards and an extra battery. All arrived intact. I've had a Panasonic FZ10 for a few years and it still works perfectly. The FZ series has moved on to the FZ20 and the FZ30--and by the time I got around to thinking of buying a new model, the FZ50 came alone. Recent price made me jump, partly for concern that the model could be discontinued for the next new thing.Having now seen some 90 (so far) digital image from a FZ50 for myself, the noise issue simply isn't there for images shot during daylight at lower ASA sensitivities (100, maybe 200). The little CCD sensor can't be expected to do well at higher ASA settings, but I was surprised at how nice all the test shots turned out. Detail in images shot at 100 ASA is simply grand. The higher telephoto shots show sharp, unimagined detail, without apparent chromatic problems (red, blue, etc. fringing around objects near edges of an image). This improvement over the FZ10, I think, is a result of the Venus III processor, rather than the lens, but all the same the images are very clean and sharp from edge to edge at wide and moderate aperature settings used so far (F3.5 to F5.6).The camera is rich with features, but the best in my opinion is the Focus/Exposure lock botton. The Focus/Exposure lock has three settings in the menu:1) Focus lock2) Exposure lock3) Both focus and exposure lock togetherSince the auto focus and the manual focus work so well, I selected exposure lock. Because the view finder is a digital image that reflects the exposure one is about to make (with shutter half-compressed), the ability to detect whether the image might be over or under-exposed makes the exposure lock very useful. One only has to find a slightly dimmer or brighter image on which to lock exposure and return to the desired image with a modified exposure setting very quickly. The locked exposure is released when you press the button again. Wonderful feature.This is not the camera to get if you want to reproduce large, smooth prints, though smaller prints up to 11x14 inches ought to look pretty nice. Instead, this camera is a unique, all-in-one-piece, wide to telephoto tool able to capture subjects near and far in wonderful detail. Being an illustrator, this camera is perfect for capturing the nut and bolt resources for future work--be it rabbits, birds, people, landscapes, etc. The Image Stabilization (set in menu to work only when pressing shutter) works very well and greatly helps the very good lens get the best shot--my opinion, anyway, after seeing the first test results. I could clearly read our town's name on a water tower some 3 miles away and was able to take some surprisingly sharp hand-held photos of the moon at full telephoto.Bought this FZ50 for my wife--another one of those Homer bowling ball gift purchases.
M**S
All you might ever need
This is my fourth digital camera and comes to replace my Dymage A1 that stopped working right after its warranty expired. I am a serious enthusiast photographer since 2001. The FZ50 is a handsome and light digital camera with wonderful features that work for me, such as the moving LCD screen. The screen turns all around allowing you to take yourself a picture. But the beauty of this is in some special pictures, such as putting the camera at ground level and shoot from there or lifting your camera over a crowd and still be able to frame your shot well. The full Manual Mode works so great that I might abandone the automatic all together. Pictures in the DMC-FZ50 were coming out overexposed in the automatic mode; I have solved this by shooting at S priority. One more thing: No review talks about it, not even the Panasonic official description of this camera, but the DMC-FZ50 has a very decent macro. I have been taking close up pictures my cats and of the flowers in my garden and they came out really good. For a simple person like me, 10 megapixels help me when I need to crop a third of a picture in my computer and still retain printing quality. Actually, the camera lens are excellent and I have not experienced any "noise." The viewfinder is very clear. Besides its great Zoom, this camera also takes EXCELLENT indoor pictures, better so if you use a tripod. The crude reality tough is that, although it is very easy to learn and operate, this camera is no instamatick. So you need to know some photography to really enjoy all its features and get back what you paid for. The bottom line that works for me is: I'm small, fragile and not really rich, I just cannot see myself carrying expensive SLR digital cameras with heavy and costly interchangeable lens. And, frankly, unless you want to make it into the photography business, you will not need more than this camera to take excellent pictures. In fact, this is the type of camera that might take you into the next step of your picture taking experience because it is very rewarding; so you will be taking good pictures like crazy.
S**0
excellent buy
Bought as 'brown box' but came with all the bits, superb zoom allowing less lenses to be carried, and still seems to command good price this year (2014) second hand. I have other cameras that dont get used much due to versatilty of this camera. Have tried once last year to sell but had no proper bids, so am still mulling idea over, only from point of view that other cameras have better zoom.
D**K
great piece of kit
What a great camera. It has been superseded now , but when I left my previous one out in the rain and ruined it, I immediately replaced it with the same model. The results, definition etc is fantastic. Only complaint is that it is so well made that it is a bit heavy. But still lighter than carrying a load of lenses around .
U**I
Optimal für den Umstieg von kleiner Digitalkamera
Gesucht habe ich - wie viele, denen die Möglichkeiten kompakter Digitalkameras zu gering werden - ursprünglich nach einer Spiegelreflex. "Bridgekameras" kannte ich gar nicht. Nach längerem Durchforsten von Foren, Tests und natürlich den Amazon-Rezensionen;-) habe ich mich für eine Bridge und für die FZ50 entschieden, weil...... ich unheimlich viele Möglichkeiten der Bildgestaltung mit nur 1 Gerät habe,... ich glaube, dass die diskutierten "Probleme" mit der Bildqualität den allermeisten Nutzern (Einsteiger oder engagierte Hobbyfotografen) gar nicht auffallen,... ich wählen kann, ob ich schnell per Automatik knipsen oder eigene Einstellungen ausprobieren will,... ich bei letzterem noch an richtigen Drehringen einstellen kann und nicht an Zoomwippen fummeln muss,... Zoom, schwenkbares Display und Sucher völlig ausreichend sind.Kurz gesagt: Das Teil ist klasse verarbeitet, gut ausgestattet und leicht zu bedienen (Griffe, Schalter, aber auch logisch strukturiertes Menü).Ich empfehle es guten Gewissens weiter - gerade auch weil ich all die negativen Eindrücke, die ich hier in den Rezensionen las, nicht bestätigen kann. Ich habe aber auch keine Profiansprüche:-)Gruß, UliPS: Auch Freunde mit Spiegelreflex sind angetan von der FZ50 (sind aber auch keine "nur ne DSLR ist ne richtige Kamera"-Typen).PPS: Wie immer super Service von Amazon.
F**A
Alles Top!
Die Kamera war in einem sehr gepflegten Zustand und funktioniert nun seit einem Jahr tadelos.Auch das umfangreiche Zubehör hat mir sehr gefallen.Alles bestens! Gerne wieder!
A**R
Super-Kamera
Diese Kamera dürfte eine der besten Nicht-Spiegelreflexkameras auf dem Markt sein. Es ist nur schade, daß die Produktion eingestellt wurde. Das angebliche Nachfolgemodell DMC FZ-38 kann der FZ 50 trotz neuer Features nicht das Wasser reichen. Einzige Schwachpunkte sind der Macro-AF, der bei einem angegebenen Mindesabstand von 2 cm nicht funktioniert (man kann aber manuell focussieren) und der etwas gewöhnungsbedürftige elektr. Sucher.
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