Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 Black Digital Camera

Digicam — By Ricky on June 6, 2009 at 12:31 am

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 black Digital Camera is an upgraded version of the Panasonic Lumix DMC- FZ 18 which had a disappointing battery life and could not zoom in video mode. Panasonic has taken care to see that these flaws are properly taken care off to satisfy the consumer.

The 10 mega pixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ 28 has a whopping 18X optical zoom (27mm to 486mm in 35mm film equivalent) and a range of manual controls similar to its advanced point and shoots competitors. Its battery life maxed out at 500 or more shots on a single charge (up from just 420 shots with the Lumix FZ18) which makes it a better choice then its predecessor.

panasonic_lumix The Lumix DMC-FZ28 features a 27mm wide-angle Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens with 18x optical zoom in a compact body. The bright, large-diameter lens with f/2.8 to 4 apertures has minimal distortion and captures images with corner-to-corner clarity. At 14.6 ounces, the FZ28 is about half the weight of the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS and is light enough to carry around all day without any strain or pain. It measures 3 inches high by 4.6 inches wide by 3.5 inches deep which is big enough to not fit in your pockets, you need to carry an additional camera bag or a mid size purse to hold the camera.

With 2.7inch LCD, which is slightly larger then the earlier model but of higher resolution works well under most lighting conditions and can be adjusted according to your choice by three brightness options. Auto Power automatically adjusts to the surrounding lighting conditions and Power LCD increases the brightness, whereas the High Angle increase the brightness so that you can see the screen even when the camera is held over your head.

The EVF is relatively bright and large enough to be useful. It gains up even under low lights, but some distortion has been noticed around the perimeter of EVF. With all electronic view finders the refresh rate slows in low light; however it is quite usable feature.

Using telephoto and auto ISO, the onboard flash extends far enough to light a subject almost 18 feet away. This feature is worth acknowledging as it has the ability to adjust the flash output, and the FZ28 allows up to +/- 2 adjustment in 1/3 steps.

This model has an edge over other competitors except the Olympus SP570 UZ and the Cannon power Shot G 10 IS as it is capable of shooting even in RAW format. The main advantage of this feature is that it eliminates any exposure and white-balance problems that arise during capture since you can correct them after the fact), it offers complete post-production control over your images. We noticed Focus speed was noticeably sluggish when the lens was zoomed all the way in; on the wide-angle end, though, focusing was fast and accurate.

The main important feature in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 was to shoot 720p HD movies (1280 by 720 pixels at 30 frames per second). It has been noticed that the sound quality was less than stellar but the videos themselves were excellent, making the camera an acceptable substitute for a video camera when you want to travel lightly.

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Outfitted with plenty of dedicated controls, buttons and dials are logically arranged along the surface of the well-designed and comfortable grip, and on the camera’s rear panel. On top of the device you will find the mode dial, AF macro focus, and AF/MF buttons as well as the power switch and the shutter /zoom lever combo. The mode dial on the top of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 makes switching easy between manual, program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and automatic modes. The dial has five scene modes like portrait, landscape, sports, night portrait and close up and two custom modes which means a final dial option is a gateway to 17 additional scene modes, giving you more shooting parameters than you’ll probably ever use.

It is seen that Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28’s functions are easy to use. The rear of the camera is well-organized with an EVF/LCD switch, flash open button, AF/AE lock, and a new, helpful record/playback switch. The “joystick”, which controls the FZ28’s manual functions, was a cinch to operate once we got used to it. You need to simply move the joystick vertically or horizontally to adjust the exposure and to adjust the focus during Manual focus. The joystick can be easily operated by the thumb to prevent any interruption to your shooting rhythm

The four way controller button with the centre set button is easy to navigate. The up arrow, when pressed multiple times, provides access to exposure compensation, bracketing options, and flash output adjustments. If you wish to change flash settings, you need to press the right arrow when the flash is popped up. The down arrow key is used to customize to access ISO, white balance, metering mode, AF mode, intelligent exposure, or as a review button. The left arrow key helps you to access the self-timer that includes a 10-second/three-picture option

panasonic_lumix2 The Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28 is not the fastest camera available in the market, but it still offers fierce competition to its competitors. It powers on and shoots in 2.3 seconds and focuses and shoots under good and low contrast conditions in 0.6 seconds and 0.8 seconds respectively. Its burst performance may seem very fast but it is limited to three shots at full resolution and quality, which makes it less than useful.

It was seen that the FZ28’s tracking feature worked relatively well only when the subject was well illuminated and did not move too quickly. However optical image stabilization did a good job when shooting at slower shutter speeds.

Image quality is solid but not outstanding and exposures are generally even and accurate, especially outdoors. We concluded that macro shots were especially sharp and Telephoto shots were a little soft, even at lower ISO’s.

As with many Panasonic cameras it was seen that the noise artifacts was at its lowest sensitivity of ISO 100, particularly in shadowed areas. This seems to stem from more poorly executed noise suppression in the blue channel than most. It can be concluded that sensitivity is best kept at ISO 400 or below, but you’ll be able to get decent prints above that setting. Just try to keep the noise reduction set low in order to avoid softer images.

Overall, there was little, that was not liked about Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ28 it does not deliver outstanding performance in any particular area–its image quality is its weakest link–a well-thought-out and robust feature set plus above average performance help it rise above much of the competition.