Pixiq

While waiting for the demo Finepix X10 camera Fujifilm had promised me, out of sheer frustration, I decided that I really had to test a camera, any camera. I settled on reviewing the Panasonic FZ47 that I had decided to get as a Christmas present for my daughter. To my surprise, the FZ47 is an enigma. A camera that sells for less than $300 yet is capable of producing some of the most gorgeous images I've seen from a digital camera.   

Sold here in Europe as the FZ48, it is a standard Superzoom camera with the usual 12.1 MP sensor and an electronic viewfinder. Like other Lumix FZ cameras, it has a Leica designed “Vario-Elmarit” lens which is a modest 25-600mm zoom, far short of the 860mm of many other Superzooms. The camera’s ISO speed range is an unspectacular 100-1600 and unlike even other Lumix FZ cameras, the FZ47 lacks RAW file capability. In the competitive world of digital swans, this is an ugly duckling.

Having gotten interested in the FZ47, I went online and read reviews. Most were completely opaque, presenting page after page of test results and fuzzy comparison pictures but not much in the way of real shooting information. In in several reviews though, I noticed something curious; comments to the effect that the FZ47 had the, “best color accuracy of any camera in its class” and “even better than many entry level dSLRs.” This tidbit seemed odd for such a basic and inexpensive camera. However, I having owned half a dozen FZ models over the years, I decided to order one for my daughter and with her agreement got a chance to test it.

While most reviews present lots of lab tests and image file comparisons, I wanted something more solid. So I decided to revert back to the way I used to test film cameras--by making prints. I find it ironic that as digtal cameras have gotten better, image uses have gotten smaller. I read somewhere that most people never even make a 4x6 inch print any more. They shoot, upload and share images that end up viewed on tiny iPad and Smartphone screens. So, I decided that my camera test would consist of making 8.3 x 11.7” (A4) prints of the images I shot and I’d show these to artists, photographers and other friend. I'd share with them and let them tell me their thoughts about the iamge quality. 

 After a week taking photos all over the Herault region of Southern France, from Mediterranean beaches, to Renaissance villages to our local café, I “lightly” processed the files in Photoshop and made prints as either full-page images or “crops” of up to 40% of an original file. Then portfolio in hand, I spent time with each of my ad hoc reviewers and pooled their comments and my own to create the following results.

The sharpness of the Vario-Elmarit is extraordinary, just what you’d expect from a Leica lens. Everyone remarked about it in the prints. To illustrate this, here are two photos, the first shot at the harbor of the village of Méze with the lens at its 25mm wide angle setting. The depth of field is huge extending from the front of the rowboat to cafés signs across the harbor.

 You can read the cafe signs in this 100% detail of the photo.  

At the other end of the zoom range was another surprise. At 600mm this lens is very sharp across the whole frame even wide open at f5.2 retains its sharpness as you can see in this photo of the clock of the Collegiate Saint Jean in Pézenas, France.

As the reviews reported, the color accuracy of the FZ47 is amazing. It is perhaps the best color of any small or midsize digital camera I’ve used and many observers commented on the lovely skin tones and consistently beautiful color under all sorts of lighting. 

It is a credit to the camera’s white balance which worked remarkably well under a variety of lighting condition producing consistently accurate color. 

Noise turned out to be less of a problem than I had expected, at least in my test prints. Unless you view FZ47 image files at something like 200% and look for artifacts, you won’t see any at speeds below ISO 200. Certainly, they were not visible in the prints and none of my print viewers noticed any. At higher ISOs the images on my monitor looked a little soft yet in my prints only one or two viewers noticed anything different about them.

The FZ47’s Image Stabilization works extremely well. You can see it in this detail of a shot of one of the stained glass windows in our 12^th century church. I was about 125 feet from it window and shot at 600mm. The church interior is dimly lit and the camera chose a shutter speed of 1/30^th second. I shot hand held and yet the image is critically sharp. When I showed this print to people several were amazed. Although they grew up in the village, they had never seen the window details like the little green dragon atop the Saint’s wine glass before.

One conclusion of the online reviewers was that the FZ47 was not a camera for low light shooting, yet here’s my example of low light photography.  The only light in the 15^th century chateau’s music room came through lace-draped windows. Made at ISO 800 and F2.8, while there is some softness, it doesn’t destroy the image. Notice too, the gold trim on the wall, again a tribute to the color accuracy of the FZ47.

I do a lot of jewelry photography and gold is a very difficult color to get right. However, here's a photo done with my 7 watt LED desk lamp and look at how good the gold looks.

Speaking of shooting jewelry, the FZ47 has a “macro zoom” setting for close-ups. My experience with other cameras has been that these macro settings were really not very useful, as they didn’t get very close or when they did, the images were soft. Not so the fZ47 as these two photos show.

To test the FZ47 in extreme low light, I shot the "karaoke" evening at our cafe where the only lighting came from low power 15 watt halogen lamps over the bar. This Black and White shot was done at ISO 1600 with a shutter speed of about an 1/8^th of a second, hand held. 

Now comes the time to reach some conclusions. To begin with, I would happily recommend this camera to most people. It is a great all-round device that produces sharp, very color accurate images and very nice HDTV videos. It is an especially good camera for travel as it weighs just a pound and sports that lovely, very sharp, very wide to very long telephoto Leica lens. 

I also feel that when I see the camera’s color accuracy and beautiful skin tones, that Panasonic must have “optimized” the FZ47 JPEGs with the idea that the average Superzoom buyer is more interested in getting sharp, accurate color images, than playing with camera settings or fussing with RAW files in post-processing.

However, this diminishes the FZ47 as a camera for serious enthusiasts and professionals. It  lacks the "complexity" and “fuss appeal” of more expensive gear. Despite superb optics, ease of operation and color accuracy, it is a camera that, as my daughter pointed out, has no “cachet” and no “status appeal.” She’s right and in a way that makes the FZ47, so to speak, a “people’s camera.”

It is designed for anyone who wants a good all round camera and has no interest in or perhaps to be more correct, no spare cash to buy even an entry level DSLR. At under $300 at many photo suppliers, it is beyond a bargain--it is too good a deal to miss. Here in Europe, amidst the economic “crise,” with cash and credit being very tight, it is in part the explanation for why I see lots of Lumix FZs and other Superzoom cameras and very, very few DSLRs. 

When I returned the FZ47 to my daughter, I added a little present. I replaced the boring Lumix lens cap with one of my fabulous, “luxe” exuding Nikon lens caps. Now her Lumix FZ47 has as the French say "le bling, bling, bling!"