Has anyone on the list had any experience with a Panasonic DMC-FZ200 for birding? With a Leica lens that is the equivalent to a 25-600mm at a constant f:2.8, it looks like a handy camera to carry in the field. The review on dpreview.com is pretty good.
Carl Clifford
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Hi Carl,
Sorry this response is a little late; I have just returned from a volunteer working party on Skokholm, a major island site for puffins and Manx Shearwaters in Wales.
Two years ago, when I was suffering from back problems, I bought a Leica V Lux 3 to take on a trip when I did not fancy carrying my Nikon DSLR’s and lenses through the mud of Malaysia and PNG. This Leica is essentially the same as the Panasonic FMC-DZ150, (the predecessor to the DZ200) although I believe that Leica have the first pick of the sensors and lenses.
Whilst the small camera has its drawbacks, I have been very pleased with the results it gives, which have been good enough for the talks we give. The main drawbacks are associated with the electronic viewfinder- poor contrast in the viewfinder image, tricky but possible manual focussing (although particularly tricky finding and focussing on a small bird in a bush), slow auto-focussing, delay in taking the shot after pressing the shutter button. The facilities and adjustments on the camera are pretty well the same as on a DSLR. The buttons on the camera are small, and pretty well impossible to use with gloves on (as I recently found out on a trip to arctic Norway).
Overall this cannot be regarded as an substitute to a DSLR set up, but rather as an alternative lightweight option with some limitations. If you are used to using a DSLR you will be frustrated at times, but at least you will always have the camera with you, which may not be the case if you have a telescope and tripod plus DSLR.
I have attached, in a separate email just to Carl, a picture I took of a Brown Falcon in NT last year.
Hope this is useful
Peter Royle (UK)
Carl
I got one in November, just before a trip to Peru, and have managed to get some good record shots and a few much better bird pictures there and at home. The great advance with this hybrid camera is the quality of the electronic viewfinder (as well as the lens, obviously). I only use the screen on the back of the camera for reviewing pictures (and it can be turned round when not in use).
The down side is that there is no effective manual focus. But, for me, as a package for the field, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages compared with the bulk of an SLR (especially one with an equivalent lens).
Kevin Stracey
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