Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ200

ziggy53

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ200 may be a camera to watch.

It features a 24x Leica-branded zoom with a 35mm camera equivalence of 25-600mm (4.5-108mm actual), and a constant aperture of f2.8. Yep, it's f2.8 at 600mm equivalence. Optical image stabilization. 14 elements in 11 groups, including 1 UHR lens, 3 ED lenses and 5 aspherical lenses with 9 aspherical surfaces.

1/2.3-inch High Sensitivity MOS sensor.

Hotshoe.

It has RAW plus RAW+JPG capability, and does full-HD video at 60P, when recording to AVCHD or 30P recording to MP4.

Lots more features:

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/fz200/index.html

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/compact/fz200/specifications.html

http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/pressrelease/second_half_new_production2012/index.html#fz200

ziggy53

Seymore wrote: »

... I do wonder what the trade-off will be with this 600/2.8, though. Gotta be something.

Yes, there will be trade-offs and compromises. Since this is a new lens design it will take some testing by the major review sites to determine the lens' strengths and weaknesses.

I suspect that this camera will be nicely positioned as a travel super-zoom, with some everyday use as well. The combination of a hotshoe and large aperture lens, for indoor use, along with the broad range of focal lengths, optical image stabilization and high shutter speeds for outdoor and good light, should make make for a very pleasing overall user experience as a still image device.

Throw in the full-HD video in 2 flavors, the 1080p60 for sports/action and the 1080p30 for indoors and lower light situations allowed by the larger aperture lens, and I think that the user experience in video should be rather good too.