Hydrocruiser

Anyone ever own a Contax? Any feedback?

DONZI

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE=Hydrocruiser]This is an awesome card and works great with the FZ-20

Newegg has the KINGMAX 1GB Platinum 60X Secure Digital Card, Model SDC-001G3 /QUOTE]
Thanx for some more great info again ! Just ordered the card. Camera arrived today as ordered from WWW.BUYDIG.COM.
Wish list now has the Sunpak 383,PD-55, &TL-55.Hopefully i"ll have some good shots to share this summer.
Ken

jeaston

Not familiar with that lens, love my 100/400 Canon

TopSpin80

I am a broke college kid...
I would like a new digital camera and will probably have around $500.00 to spend on it. It need to use SD memory because I already have a ton of SD cards....
I was interested in a low end SLR... but this thread has really interested me in the panasonics... I want shots like the one of the blue angel with the props stopped. The question is.... FZ3, FZ15,FZ20... the FZ3 is a different body... and doesn't offer as much manual features... The FZ15, and FZ20 appear to be the same camera with different megapixel resolution.... I'm no camera professional... I want good boat pictures with no streaking... I want helicopter pictures... and when I go offshore I want to take pictures of the platforms... I need a decent zoom and all three seem to be good cameras.... Is the difference between 4 and 5 megapixel enough to warrant the price? I just want crisp clean pictures... mostly to put on websites... I don't have many pictures printed... but if I were to print... would 4 megapixel print 8x10 decently...

by the way this weeks Fry's add has 1G SD cards for $39.00 but it is an instore price so you have to live by one of their locations.... www.outpost.com

Thanks in advance....

Ernie

I think I need more than the FZ3.... I have a really old Kodak now that was my first digitals 5 years old now... it is 2megapixel.... it is begining to eat batteries really fast like 5 pictures and the battery is dead.... and the digital video camera takes great wideo, but doesn't cut it for still pictures..

jeaston

You may have to increase you photo budget a little.

TopSpin80

the budget may have to increase... but I have found the FZ camera's in my price range.... just which one should I buy..... FZ15 or FZ20?

Ernie

and jeaston..... do you use the FZ20 on any of those awesome photo's you have on your site?

What camera are you using..... I'm thinking I don't want an SLR just because of hauling lenses around...

jeaston

I am not familiar with the camera you are talking about this site will give you comparisons on a bunch of different cameras http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sidebyside.asp. Good shooting. I carry three cameras, Cano 10D, 1Ds and a Mark II. All the race shots were taken from the shoreline with the Mark II and the 100/400 IS lens. Yes they are heavy but they can get the shots.

Hydrocruiser

The FZ-20 because Leica went to ED Glass and the CCD and "engine" is improved.

The FZ-20 is large but lightweight. It's not a matter of do I get a "Nikon D-70" or an FZ-20. If you have the budget you would want both. The FZ-20 truly performs nearly as good as the Nikon in the right photographer's hands. The Nikon is a move up but hey then you give up instant Leica 36-432 mm zoom without lens changes.

I really like my Panasinic/Leica. I would not give it up and use it more than my Nikon. It's that good.

Hydrocruiser

Remember you want a 40-60x speed SD card or it will go too slow storing data and you may miss photo opportunities as a result.

Here is a picture taken with the FZ20 and the PD-55 adapter with the Canon TL-55 1.4x on it. The picture was taken from about 30 ft away of a wall clock that measured 3ft long by 1 1/2' wide; using the Sunpak 383 (same as Quantary 383 by the way). Camera set to iso 200/f 2.8 and auto white balance. Full optical zoom 588mm. Did not use the digital zoom which would bring it up to around 1000mm but digital zoom can distort they say. I rarely use it for that reason.

Now at almost 600mm you know the camera has to be on a tripod for a shot this good. Think you can beat this camera for the $$$? Trust me you can't.

The Canon Telephoto lens is only a hundred bucks but great quality glass!

Cost:
$ 500.00 camera
$ 75.00 60x SD card
$ 383 Flash $ 75.00
$ Canon TL-55 $ 100.00
$ PD 55 adapter $40.00
Total $790

Zooms out to almost 600mm. To duplicate this with a Nikon D-70 and equivalent lenses.. cost: $ 5,200.00 You can left click to make the pics a bit bigger. Now this had to be downsized to 1024 x 765 to download so the resolution is not nearly as good.

This camera blows me away. It has no right taking pictures like this for it's price. When I get $2,500.00 for a used 600mm lens for the Nikon I will let you know how they compare.

What do you think?

Hydrocruiser

Took pics of kids at Santa's House in the 'hood today and will e-mail them out.

The top house is with the FZ-20 and the bottom engine with the D-70 Nikon. The Nikon pic is a smaller pic but where is the detail?

The FZ20 was on "P" or program mode. In this mode it is a point and shoot autofocus camera. In other words if you know nothing about cameras and can read the letter "P" you can take this picture. The camera sets white balance; exposure; aperature; focus and anti-vibration lens stabilization is on. Ya can't miss.