Panasonic Lumix Bridge Camera Photography - Part 3

[@RickyJarnagin]

Another Great video Graham! Thank You for producing this series, I'm sure it is helpful to many of us!

[@teresahooper6954]

I will definitely see you again on your next video. I am learning valuable information from both you and your viewer comments. I bought my FZ300 two years ago, bought your book on it and watched your videos and didn’t seem to understand anything. These videos are very clear and understandable and now I want to keep my camera with me and use it rather than have it sit in a drawer. Thank you thank you!

[@JohnClulow]

This one was an absolute revelation! While I've understood that ISO in digital = amplification and that the smaller sensors are inherently more noisey due in part to pixel proximity, I never even thought to consider the relationships between cropping factor and DoF and ISO. I've modified a Lumix for IR per another of your videos, and having watched this one I now know how to optimize my settings for landscapes. This info will also be useful with my Canon SX50HS. (I rarely carry my DSLR gear around outdoors anymore.) So far you're batting 1000 as we say in America with this series of tutorials (as with your many other informative videos), and I am looking forward to the next one. Thank you !!!

[@tommyroddy9442]

Excellent tutorial explaining Equivalence. I had sussed out some of what you explain such as small sensor cameras having a wide depth of field and high noise levels but I never understood the maths of this. Great to know all this.

[@VistaAiken]

I am enjoying this new series of videos. It's a great refresher for me. I bought a FZ300 almost three years ago. I watched all your videos on it and bought your book on that camera. Thanks for reminding me of what I've forgotten :-).

[@walterjacobs5280]

thanks, looking forward to the next one Graham

[@randygardner2231]

Thank you for these tutorials on bridge cameras

[@harlanchizen2787]

The crop factor for a 1-inch sensor camera is 2.73. This applies to the FZ1000s, FZ2000s, ZS100s, etc. This means their full-frame equivalent apertures range from f/8 to f/22 and beyond.

[@sgit1]

Your multiplication factors for f/stops and ISO are eye-openers to me. I try to shoot at the lowest ISO (FZ80) and do find some noise in the captures. But I like the way Panasonic handles this noise - it reminds me more of film grain which can add to landscape atmosphere.

[@cazcam2000]

Excellent video, what a eye opener about the difference's between a full frame camera VS a bridge camera, i.e. FZ82. I love Landscape photography, getting the near and far in focus, can sometimes be a right pain. Yes I know you can use stacking, but getting DOF from one shot is mostly hard. I have a FZ82, a Nikon D7100 as well as numerous Film camera's, I love film, but digital is so much easier. With the D7100, I mostly take landscape with F16/F18 as the chosen aperture, anymore and the edges go soft. When I got the FZ82, I took the same attitude, higher F stop, F8/F7.1. I knew the dof was a lot better, but didn't appreciate , just how much. I would make the assertion then, that full frame camera's are much better for taking portraits and the like, but smaller sensor camera's, start to come into their own when dealing with landscapes, as their greater dof will give them the advantage. Of course, there is nothing you can do about the quality of picture, full frame will always be better, albeit, mostly with portrait photo's, with landscape photo's, the difference's will not be as apparent as with close up work. Keep up the good work, your video's are very informative and well put together!

[@philsencer6485]

Just watched all 3 new videos. I found the 1st two videos very helpful. I would have liked to see some close up images in the 3rd video, but I also understand the weather played a factor into shooting this one.

[@GrahamHoughton12]

The close up video is actually next and in the editing process now.

[@hedydd2]

Excellent as always but particularly appreciate the conclusion about aperture for different sensor sizes and the full frame equivalence of aperture and ISO. Very useful to me and added to my knowledge as I use most formats apart from 1", from phone to full frame. Some noise is often better than some blur I find, depending on the image. I despair of the phone in anything but good light, using my iPhone8. Do find M4/3 to be a good compromise but my A73 amazes with its dynamic range and ability to take images with very little noise up to ISO of 16,000.

[@crossignal3126]

Much appreciated. Thanks Graham!

[@Wise_story_]

I'm confused Which camera should I buy between the fz 300 and fz 82 which is good for video shooting???

[@JFTM1]

Presumably this equivalence is not just applied to Bridge cameras, but to all cameras, even DSLRs, which are not full frame?

[@hishamelbatawi3014]

Thank you so much 😊. I am a little confused about my new FZ300 is it not a true f2.8 constant aperture? So it is not the massive light collector I thought it was in low light situations 😲

[@MrPawPaw]

Here's my understanding on this. It is f2.8 for the lense that is on the camera. So yes it's a true f2.8. What it isn't is the same result (blur), DOF, as a full frame with the same focal point. This doesn't mean its inferior. It just gives different results which can in many cases be resolved just by moving your distance from your image. Graham is just explaining the differences against full frame just for understanding. Same with the iso on smaller sensors and why they produce more noise at higher iso. So we learn how to take nice pictures with the bridge camera and why he recommends the settings he does. This only really comes into play if your buying a new lense for a particular camera with a smaller than full frame sensor. So you know how that 35mm f2 lense for full frame, will function in reality with your camera. On these bridge cameras we don't have that option. And we really don't need that option. It took me awhile to understand this. I tried taking pictures with settings I would see others use with larger sensors and thought this fz80 was not very good. Ive learned since, mostly through Graham the limitations of this camera and why it takes better pictures just understanding the f stops, iso, and focal points for this camera and adjusting them accordingly and don't compare them against full frame.

[@baconsledge]

Excellent content!

[@deepoteet7626]

Thanks

[@ive595]

Whiskey and hot lemon Graham

[@federicotak3300]

I bought the fz82 a few months back and was disappointed that you don't get cool shallow.depth of field at lower apertures at a wide angle setting. The only way is to use the camera at longer focal lengths but that means using faster shutter speed, which isn't ideal late afternoon or evening. Wish I'd known this earlier and I would have gone with a proper DSLR instead. I like shallow depth of field especially in street photography.

[@MrPawPaw]

Im kinda in the same boat with my fz80. I wish I would of spent the little more on the fz300 which I believe has a lower constant aperture. But thanks to Graham it's making alot more sense to me now. I do enjoy taking videos with it as they are spectacular. Also suprisingly Ive gotten some good low light indoor pics just using the a+i mode with no flash. My conclusion as a novice....its a good low cost camera that you don't have to take great care of. And following Graham and his knowledge on these bridge cameras has made me enjoy it more than just using it hit and miss. It is Im finding out pretty important to understand these sensor sizes so you know just what your buying and if you'll be content with their limitations.

[@federicotak3300]

@@MrPawPaw agree that fz80 is a decent camera for the price. Decent pictures in most conditions and perfect for landscapes. I do a lot of traveling so saves space on lenses but would prefer DSLR for certain conditions because of bigger sensors. The answer is to probably use a combination. Of both depending on genres

[@hedydd2]

Federico Tak These cameras have sensors not much larger than phones but with the advantage of optical zoom lenses. The replies above are under the mistaken impression that DSLR’s are the answer to their depth of field and low light aspirations. In fact there are very many alternatives, from 1" sensor bridge cameras and fixed lens advanced compacts, to micro4/3 which has a fantastic range of reasonably small bodies and lenses, including 90mm equivalent portrait lenses at F1.8 that have really effective shallow depth of field and nice Bokeh. These mirrorless cameras can be had in all shapes and sizes from many brands now, with sensors up to full frame and bigger, at a price. The bigger the sensor, the bigger the lenses tend to be of course and M4/3 and APS-C hit the sweet spot for most people. Graham explains very well how to get the best out of every camera, including specialising in small sensor bridge cameras, which are very popular.

[@MrPawPaw]

@@hedydd2 I couldn't agree more with all you've said. DSLRs are not the answer for e1 especially for a travel camera. I actually bought the Nikon 3400 before the fz80 and honestly thought it was a piece of junk. I took it back and bought the fz80. I am not saying the 3400 is junk, I'm saying I thought it was. As a total novice who knew nothing about cameras before hand, after I unboxed it, it just seemed cheap, bulky, and I knew I was going to have to invest in better lenses. It didn't seem worth it. So I returned it and found the fz80. The build quality seemed alot better, it was 1/3rd the price, but my mistake was thinking I was getting everything the dslr had in a high zoom bridge camera. This is what alot of us brand new to entering the world of cameras is. We want the "best" camera, that does it all without spending alot of money. Now that I know a little more, and I do say little, I think for the Panasonic bridge cameras the fz300 would be a better buy than the fz80. I have also since picked up a fugifilm x-t20 with the kit lense and I will be getting the 35 mm prime which I now know will be equivalent to a 50mm full frame. I realized 80% of my pictures is of my grand baby. Lol. The fz80 does fit a purpose. Portrait shooting is not one of them. My advice to anyone with a Lumix bridge camera, or before you buy one is to watch Grahams tutorials on it. Noone does better tutorials on these cameras than Graham. Set up and work with him on your camera. It makes the camera much better and fun to use. And if your brand new to all this, get a low cost camera, there's alot of good ones out there, and learn on it. You really don't know what you want until you begin to understand some of this stuff. So I now have 2 cameras that I use for 2 different things. For me, this is a better way to go, as the cost is less than what you can pay for those premium lenses. Im not aspiring to be a professional, just to have fun and take personal pictures for me. Now next year it may change again. Lol