Panasonic 60x superzoom

[woollybear]

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/panasonic-takes-super-zooms-new-levels-60x-fz70-6C10678594

Described as a cannon sized lens!

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Looks a bit big to casually just carry around compared to other point and shoots.

 

[pharp]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/07/18/Panasonic-announces-lumix-dmc-fz70-60x-optical-zoom

thats fully extended - otherwise typical looking size wise

 

[2n10]

It has the same 35mm focal length equivalent as the SX50HS. The minimum aperture range is 2/3 stops better. My guess is it is a little larger overall too.

 

[caruser]

Come on, is this the level we are at?

"The [...] FZ70's lens has a 60x magnification factor, meaning you could probably read the date on a penny from across the room."

 

[mrsfotografie]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

 

[CarlTN]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

 

[2n10]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

I am one and it can be hand held steady enough to use. It takes very nice pictures also.

 

[CarlTN]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

I am one and it can be hand held steady enough to use. It takes very nice pictures also.

I'd like to get one at some point. There's too much other stuff to buy, and not enough funding.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

I also bought a SX50, it has the hybrid IS, and is quite usable. IQ starts to degrade noticeably above ISO 400. The previous Panasonic model was a straight f/2.8 lens but had less zoom.

I returned it because it was too difficult for me to press the buttons with my large fingers, so I decided to wait and see if a tough screen model arrives.

Here is a shot with it fully zoomed out at ISO 320

1/250 sec f/5.6

 

[Drizzt321]

I like how they describe it as a cannon. It's not, although for those used to the prosumer market it seems like it. They should see a 600mm, or even one of those rare 1200mm lenses =D

 

[mrsfotografie]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

I am one and it can be hand held steady enough to use. It takes very nice pictures also.

I stand corrected!!

 

[CarlTN]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

There are several members on here who have bought and seem to like the SX50, and it is a 1200mm equivalent.

I also bought a SX50, it has the hybrid IS, and is quite usable. IQ starts to degrade noticeably above ISO 400. The previous Panasonic model was a straight f/2.8 lens but had less zoom.

I returned it because it was too difficult for me to press the buttons with my large fingers, so I decided to wait and see if a tough screen model arrives.

Here is a shot with it fully zoomed out at ISO 320

1/250 sec f/5.6

Nice shot and nice bokeh.

 

[Don Haines]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

I said the same thing until I tried it....

This picture is hand held at 1200mm, and is cropped from the center third of the whole picture... and Yes, a 1DX and a 600F4 with a 2X teleconverter would take a better picture.... but that costs a bit more than $300.

 

[jrista]

I like how they describe it as a cannon. It's not, although for those used to the prosumer market it seems like it. They should see a 600mm, or even one of those rare 1200mm lenses =D

I'd be curious to see what a modern-day EF 1200mm f/5.6 L IS II lens looked like, and what kind of IQ it provided. I suspect it might barely border on "hand holdable" (i.e. like the old 600mm f/4 L) if it used todays fluorite elements and titanium/magalloy body. The 600mm f/4 L IS II with a 2x TC still offers STUNNING IQ. I can't imagine what a native 1200mm lens comparable to Canon's current-day IQ would be like. And, you'ed get 1680mm out of it with a 1.4x TC!

 

[Drizzt321]

I like how they describe it as a cannon. It's not, although for those used to the prosumer market it seems like it. They should see a 600mm, or even one of those rare 1200mm lenses =D

I'd be curious to see what a modern-day EF 1200mm f/5.6 L IS II lens looked like, and what kind of IQ it provided. I suspect it might barely border on "hand holdable" (i.e. like the old 600mm f/4 L) if it used todays fluorite elements and titanium/magalloy body. The 600mm f/4 L IS II with a 2x TC still offers STUNNING IQ. I can't imagine what a native 1200mm lens comparable to Canon's current-day IQ would be like. And, you'ed get 1680mm out of it with a 1.4x TC!

If they can ever get those diffractive optics to start delivering, you might actually be able carry it. Hopefully with some 6 or 8 stop IS. At 1200mm you'll need it!

 

[birtembuk]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

Got one here to complement 5D3 and 60D. As Mt Spokane says, not very ergonomic but light, inconspicuous, pure fun. I use it 95% of the time at 1200mm handheld.

 

[mrsfotografie]

This is really starting to get ridiculous, who needs a 1200 mm equivalent in a body that's impossible to hold still??

Superzoom compacts have moved away from usefulness to marketing gimmick IMHO.

Got one here to complement 5D3 and 60D. As Mt Spokane says, not very ergonomic but light, inconspicuous, pure fun. I use it 95% of the time at 1200mm handheld.

My girlfriend has a Panasonic Lumix FZ-50 which has a 12x zoom and 35 - 420 mm equivalent and is f/2.8 - f/3.7. It takes fabulous pictures given enough light, but so far the 420mm equivalent has been enough reach. What's lacking in this case is more wide angle, something that she's missing a lot. So we're actually looking at something new.

The FZ-200 looks great, 'only' 24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent) but it is full range F2.8!!! What's missing is the manual controls of the lens that the FZ-50 has. That really was/is a special superzoom camera.

 

[AlanF]

I set up a discussion in the SX50 thread about how good it is. I routinely throw the SX50 into my briefcase when I travel to a conference and might have an hour or two off to photo birds. Here is a 100% crop of a heron with fish at 1200mm hand held that I took in Lisbon last week (RAW). I would not have done better with a 5DIII and a 100-400mm L. These 50x zooms are not toys but very powerful complements to heavy gear.

 

[CarlTN]

I like how they describe it as a cannon. It's not, although for those used to the prosumer market it seems like it. They should see a 600mm, or even one of those rare 1200mm lenses =D

I'd be curious to see what a modern-day EF 1200mm f/5.6 L IS II lens looked like, and what kind of IQ it provided. I suspect it might barely border on "hand holdable" (i.e. like the old 600mm f/4 L) if it used todays fluorite elements and titanium/magalloy body. The 600mm f/4 L IS II with a 2x TC still offers STUNNING IQ. I can't imagine what a native 1200mm lens comparable to Canon's current-day IQ would be like. And, you'ed get 1680mm out of it with a 1.4x TC!

If they can ever get those diffractive optics to start delivering, you might actually be able carry it. Hopefully with some 6 or 8 stop IS. At 1200mm you'll need it!

Good idea. But wouldn't a modern 1200mm lens cost over $20k, given Canon's cost structure for superteles? Maybe not, since it's a little more limited in its usefulness due to the narrow field of view...not many sports pros would use it.