Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150

In summary

A welcome update to the FZ100 with a 12.1-megapixel sensor, improved optics and ISO performance plus new Full HD video recording capabilities.The Lumix DMC-FZ150 replaces the FZ100 at the top of Panasonic’s super-zoom digicam line-up.

Buy this camera if:
– You want P, A, S and M shooting modes plus a useful range of functions in a long-zoom digicam.
– You require effective image stabilisation.
– You like shooting close-ups of flowers and other small objects.
– You’d like the ability to shoot both still pictures and HD video clips.
– You require good performance at moderately high sensitivity settings.

Don’t buy this camera if:
– You’re looking for a pocketable camera.

 

Full review

The Lumix DMC-FZ150 replaces the FZ100 at the top of Panasonic’s super-zoom digicam line-up. Announced on 26 August, it features a new, 12.1-megapixel MOS sensor (down from 14MP in the FZ100) but retains the same 24x zoom lens but adds a new ‘Nano Surface Coating’ to minimise flare and ghosting caused by internal reflections. The lens also carries a new zoom control on the side of its barrel, providing an alternative to the lever zoom surrounding the shutter button.

Released concurrently with the FZ150 is a lower-featured model, the DMC-FZ47. Both new models support the recent AVCHD 2.0 ‘Progressive’ standard, which was formulated by Panasonic and Sony and uses the same AVCHD folder structure and container files for storing video. However, it provides a maximum bit rate of 28 Mbit/s. Both models also include a dedicated 3D Photo Mode.

While keeping most of the key functions of previous models, Panasonic has nonetheless made a few changes to the new cameras that will appeal to some potential purchasers, although maybe not to others. The main differences between the new models and the FZ100 the FZ150 replaces are outlined in the table below.

	FZ150	FZ47	FZ100
Sensor size	6.16 x 4.62 mm		6.13 x 4.60 mm
Effective resolution	12.1MP		14.1MP
Lens	Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 4.5-108mm f/2.8-5.2 zoom
Nano Surface Coating	Yes		No
Side zoom lever	Yes	No
Raw file support	Yes	No	Yes
Shutter speeds (normal) Starry Sky mode	15-1/2000 second 15 or 30 seconds		8-1/2000 second 15, 30, 60 seconds
ISO range (normal) High-sensitivity Mode	100-3200 1600-6400		100-1600 1600-6400
LCD monitor	Free-Angle	Fixed	Free-Angle
Internal memory	70MB		40MB
Continuous shooting Max. resolution High speed (image size)	12 fps 60 fps at 2.5MP	3.7 fps 10 fps at 3MP	11 fps 60 fps at 3.5MP
Shutter & aperture adjustment for video	Yes		No
Dedicated 3D Photo mode	Yes		No
Remote control socket	Yes	No	Yes
Social network connectivity	Yes		No
Dimensions (wxhxd) in mm	124.3 x 81.7 x 95.2	120.3 x 79.8 x 91.9	124.3 x 81.2 x 95.2
Weight (without battery & card) in grams	468	454	496

Build and Ergonomics
Panasonic has stuck with its SLR-like styling in the new camera, so changes to the body design are largely cosmetic. The lens still dominates the front panel with the new power zoom lever a conspicuous addition to the side of the barrel. The focus selector switch and focus button carry over from the FZ100 and the front panel is otherwise the same in both cameras.

Front views of the Panasonic Lumix FZ100 (left) and FZ150 (right). (Source: Panasonic.)

Nothing much has changed on the rear panel, either. All control buttons and dials remain in the same positions as on the FZ100 and the free-angle LCD is unchanged.

The top panel is unchanged from the FZ100 and carries the same mode dial, stereo microphone grilles and flash hot shoe. The shutter button and surrounding zoom lever haven’t changed and the on/off switch, movie and drive buttons are the same as on the FZ100.

As in the FZ100, the rechargeable battery and memory card share a compartment in the grip of the camera, accessed via the base panel. Lift-up hatches cover ports for HDMI, USB, AV-out and Microphone/remote connections on the left side panel.

Sensor and Image Processing
The drop in sensor resolution from 14 to 12.1 megapixels will have little impact on what users can do with their pictures as correctly-exposed shots should be able to tolerate enlargement to poster size, particularly if they are captured in raw file format. The FZ150 also sports the Venus Engine FHD LSI image processor that was introduced in the FZ100.

The reduced resolution has enabled the FZ150 to offer a faster burst speed of 12 frames/second, using the mechanical shutter. Buffer capacity, however, has been reduced, with a maximum of 12 JPEG frames at full resolution or 11 RW2.RAW images or RAW+JPEG pairs. Typical file sizes are shown in the table below.

Aspect ratio	Image Size	Resolution	Fine	Standard
4:3	RAW	4000 x 3000	15.5MB
	L	4000 x 3000	7.3MB	3.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 3000	23.3MB	19.7MB
	M	2816 x 2112	4.0MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 2112	19.7MB	17.7MB
	S	2048 x 1536	1.7MB	0.87MB
	RAW+JPEG	2048 x 1536	17.1MB	16.5MB
3:2	RAW	4000 x 2672	14.6MB
	L	4000 x 2672	7.0MB	3.5MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 2672	22.3MB	18.3MB
	M	2816 x 1880	4.0MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 1880	19.0MB	16.5MB
	S	2048 x 1360	1.5MB	0.8MB
	RAW+JPEG	2048 x 1360	16.0MB	15.5MB
16:9	RAW	4000 x 2248	13.5MB
	L	4000 x 2248	6.8MB	3.4MB
	RAW+JPEG	4000 x 2248	20.5MB	17.1MB
	M	2816 x 1584	3.9MB	2.0MB
	RAW+JPEG	2816 x 1584	17.7MB	15.5MB
	S	1920 x 1080	1.1MB	0.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	1920 x 1080	14.6MB	14.2MB
1:1	RAW	2992 x 2992	12.2MB
	L	2992 x 2992	5.4MB	2.7MB
	RAW+JPEG	2992 x 2992	17.7MB	15.1MB
	M	2112 x 2112	2.4MB	1.2MB
	RAW+JPEG	2112 x 2112	14.6MB	13.5MB
	S	1504 x 1504	1.2MB	0.6MB
	RAW+JPEG	1504 x 1504	13.5MB	12.8MB

If you swap to the electronic shutter, image resolution is reduced but the camera can record up to 60 frames at between 2M and 3.5M resolution (depending on aspect ratio) with a burst rate of 60 fps. At 40 fps, image sizes rise to between 3.5M and 5M but buffer capacity is reduced to 50 frames.

The High Speed Video setting in the Scene sub-menu lets you record a video clip at 220 frames/second and capture movement too fast to discern with the eye. Photos taken with the burst modes are automatically organised and can be played back either in the camera or on a computer using the bundled PHOTOfunSTUDIO software.

Video capabilities are the same as the FZ100, with two recording modes: AVCHD and Motion-JPEG. Top AVCHD quality is 1920 x 1080 pixels (50i recording, 25 fps image sensor output with an average bit rate of 17 Mbps). Soundtracks are recorded in stereo, a step up from the FZ100.

For the AVCHD format, ‘quality’ options are based on bit rate (the faster the bit rate, the higher the quality) and whether interlaced or progressive scanning is used. Top quality is obtained with the PSH setting which uses progressive scanning and has the highest bit rate. The FSH setting uses interlaced scanning and records at 1920 x 1080 pixels, while the SH setting has progressive scanning for 1280 x 720-pixel clips.

In Motion JPEG mode, the frame rate is 30 frames/second and the ‘quality’ settings relate to the image size. The table below shows the approximate recording times for an 16GB memory card.

Video format	Aspect ratio	Quality	Picture size (pixels)	Bit rate	Frames /second	Approx. recording time/16GB card
AVCHD	16:9	PSH	1920 x 1080	28 Mbps	50p	1 hour 15 min.
		FSH	1920 x 1080	17 Mbps	50i	2 hours 4 min.
		SH	1280 x 720	17 Mbps	50p	2 hours 4 min.
Motion JPEG		FHD	1920 x 1080	n.a.	30	1 hour 41 min.
	4:3	HD	1280 x 720	n.a.		3 hours 13 min.
		VGA	640 x 480	n.a.		7 hours 5 min.

As with the FZ100, still shots can be recorded while shooting a video clip, although the maximum image size available is 3.5M with a 16:9 aspect ratio. If you press the shutter button halfway during a video recording, the refocusing movement will be recorded in the video clip. Fully pressing the shutter button reduces the refocusing time and minimises this effect.

Shooting in burst mode is possible during a movie recording with a top burst speed of 10 frames/second. Up to 40 still frames can be recorded with each movie clip.

Playback and Software
Playback settings for still pictures are essentially the same as in other Panasonic models and include the standard single-frame, index and slideshow options, the latter with selectable background music. Both 2D and 3D slideshow playback are supported, the latter requiring a 3D TV set.

The camera comes with the new built-in Lumix Image Uploader tool for transferring still pictures and video clips to social networking websites like Facebook and YouTube. This facility requires Windows PCs (XP, Vista and & are supported).

The playback mode also lets users grab a still frame from a video recording. However, the frame size is confined by the video frame and images captured from the PSH, FSH, SH, FHD and HD are only 2M in size, while VGA shots are 0.3M.

AVCHD and Motion JPEG videos can be played separately. The standard play/pause, stop and fast or frame-by-frame forward and rewind controls are provided and you can divide clips to remove unwanted footage. DPOF tagging for automated printing is also supported and selected images can be tagged for protection against accidental deletion when memory cards are formatted.
Owners of Panasonic’s Viera TV sets can playback recorded images and videos by inserting the camera’s memory card in the Image Viewer slot on the TV set or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player. They can also use the set’s remote control to operate the FZ150 for playback.

Two applications were provided on the software disk: PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.5 BD Edition for Windows, which is used for acquiring and viewing images and AVCHD video clips, and Ichikawa Soft Laboratory’s Silkypix Developer Studio 3.1 SE for Windows and Macintosh. There was also a web shortcut to a 30-day trial download of Super LoiLoScope, a video editor with a game-based user interface. We’ve covered these applications in previous reviews of Panasonic cameras.

Performance
The review camera lived up to our expectations for the Lumix Super-zoom series being both responsive to operate and a generally good performer. Both contrast and saturation were better controlled than in the FZ100 and low-light pictures were noticeably sharper with less image noise at high ISO settings.

Imatest showed the review camera to be capable of high resolution and the FZ150 is among the cameras supported in the latest release of Adobe Camera Raw, which enabled us to obtain the maximum performance from them. Consequently, at ISO 100, JPEG images came close to expectations for the sensor’s resolution while RW2.RAW files were slightly above expectations.

Resolution declined slightly as ISO sensitivity was increased, with raw file maintaining their advantage across the camera’s sensitivity range. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests.

The lens appeared to be distortion-free – or distortion was corrected by the image processing system. With most focal length settings, the highest resolutions were obtained at wide apertures although edge softening was evident at most focal lengths here.

Diffraction reduced resolution from about f/5 onwards by f/8 a significant drop in resolution had occurred across all the focal lengths we were able to test. The graph below shows the results of our tests, which were unable to cover the entire focal length range of the lens due to a lack of space in our testing set-up.

The built-in flash proved capable of illuminating an average-sized room at all ISO settings and flash shots showed little apparent noise right up to ISO 1600. Flash exposures were consistent across the supported ISO range.

Close-up shots were impressive, particularly with the Macro mode when the lens was zoomed in on a subject more than a metre from the camera. This produced images with attractive bokeh whereas close-ups shot with the lens at 4.5mm tended to have busy backgrounds, due to the camera’s small sensor. Digital zoom shots were sharper than those we commonly see from long-zoom digicams, thanks to effective image processing and lens stabilisation.

Auto white balance performance was similar to the FZ100’s. The warm cast produced by incandescent lighting was suppressed but not eliminated while shots taken under fluorescent lights had close to natural colours. Both pre-sets produced close-to-natural colours and manual measurement delivered neutral colours under both types of lighting.

Video quality was as good as we found with the FZ100, regardless of the file format and resolution setting and the AF and AE systems appeared slightly faster to respond to changes in the position and brightness of subjects. Clips shot with the FHD setting in the Motion JPEG mode were almost as sharp and clear when played on an HD TV set as those recorded in the AVCHD format.

Even VGA recordings were relatively artefact-free when viewed at the appropriate size. Soundtracks were mostly clear and surprisingly crisp, although wind noise was an occasional problem and the wind filter tended to reduce clarity slightly.

Our timing tests were conducted with a SanDisk 32GB Extreme Pro SDHC U1 memory card, one of the fastest available. The review camera took just under two seconds to power-up but shut down in roughly one second. Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.86 seconds without flash and 2.25 seconds with.

We measured an average capture lag of 0.18 seconds, which reduced to less than 0.1 seconds with pre-focusing. JPEG images took 1.7 seconds to process, while RW2.RAW files took 2.6 seconds and RAW+JPEG pairs 3.1 seconds. Recording high-resolution images with the high-speed burst mode, the camera captured 12 frames in 1.3 seconds and took 5.2 seconds to process the burst.

For raw file bursts, the buffer limit of 11 frames was reached in just over one second. It took 18.3 seconds to process this burst. The same 11-frame limit applied to RAW+JPEG capture but capture rates were marginally slower as it took 1.2 seconds to record the full burst. Processing was completed within 28.1 seconds of the final frame.

 

TESTS

JPEG image files

Raw image files converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.

 

SAMPLES

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

4.5mm focal length, P mode, ISO 100, 1/400 second at f/4.

108mm focal length, P mode, ISO 100, 1/320 second at f/5.2.

Digital zoom; 108mm focal length, P mode, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/5.2.

Close-up in macro mode; 4.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/500 second at f/4.

Macro zoom; 108mm focal length, ISO 250, 1/125 second at f/5.2.

8 second exposure at ISO 100; f/3; 6.6mm focal length.

6 second exposure at ISO 800; f/5.6; 6.6mm focal length.

3.2 second exposure at ISO 3200; f/4.5; 6.6mm focal length.

High sensitivity mode; 1/4 second exposure at ISO 6400; f/3; 6.6mm focal length.

Flash exposure at ISO 100; 35mm focal length, 1/40 second at f/4.

Flash exposure at ISO 800; 35mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/4.

Flash exposure at ISO 3200; 35mm focal length, 1/60 second at f/4.

Backlighting; 4.5mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/3.6.

Distortion at 4.5mm focal length; 1/2000 second at f/4, ISO 100.

Distortion at 108mm focal length; 1/1000 second at f/5.2, ISO 100.

108mm focal length; 1/125 second at f/5.2, ISO 125.

108mm focal length with Extended Optical Zoom; 1/200 second at f/5.2, ISO 100.

25mm focal length; 1/1000 second at f/5.2, ISO 400.

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the PSH mode.

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the FSH mode.

Still frame from AVCHD video clip shot in the SH mode.

Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the FHD mode.

Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the HD mode.

Still frame from MP4 video clip shot in the VGA mode.

 

SPECS

Image sensor: 6.16 x 4.62 mm MOS sensor with 12.8 million photosites (12.1 megapixels effective)
Image processor: Venus Engine FHD
Lens: Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 4.5-108mm f/2.8-5.2 zoom (25-600mm in 35mm format)
Zoom ratio: 24x optical, up to 4x digital
Image formats: Stills – JPEG (Exif 2.21); RW2.RAW, RAW+JPEG; Movies – AVCHD, MP4
Image Sizes: Stills – 4:3 aspect: 4000 x 3000, 3264 x 2448, 2560 x 1920, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480; 3:2 aspect: 24000 x 2672, 3264 x 2176, 2560 x 1712, 2048 x 1360, 640 x 424; 16:9: 4000 x 2248, 3264 x 1840, 2560 x 1440, 1920 x 1080, 640 x 360; 1:1 aspect: 2992 x 2992, 2448 x 2448, 1920 x 1920, 1536 x 1536, 480 x 480; Movies: AVCHD – 1920 x 1080 (50i 0r 50p), 1280 x 720 (50p); MP4 – 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, all at 30 fps
Shutter speed range: 15-1/2000 second; 15 or 30 seconds in Starry Sky mode
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay plus 10-sec. delay, 3 shots
Image Stabilisation: Power O.I.S.
Exposure Compensation: +/- 3EV in 1/3 EV steps
Focus system/range: Contrast-based AF with 23 AF points; range 30 cm to infinity; macro to 1 cm
Exposure metering/control: TTL metering with Multiple, Centre-weighted and Spot modes
Shooting modes: Intelligent Auto, P, A, S, M, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Close-up, Scene ( Panorama Assist, Party, Candle Light, Baby 1, Baby 2, Pet, Sunset, High Sensitivity, Flash Burst, Panning, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial Photo, Photo Frame, High-Speed Video, 3D Photo), Custom
Picture Style/Control settings: Expressive, Retro, High Key, Sepia, High Dynamic, Pin Hole, Film Grain, Miniature Effect
ISO range: Auto, ISO 100-6400
White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Kelvin temperature, White Set (x2)
Flash modes/range (ISO auto):
Sequence shooting: Max. 12 frames/second at full resolution (40 or 60 fps reduced size in High-Speed burst mode); up to 12 JPEG; 11 RW2.RAW or RAW+JPEG
Storage Media: 70MB internal memory plus slot for SD, SDHC or SDXC memory cards
Viewfinder: 0.2-inch EVF with 202,000 dots, 100% FOV; dioptre adjustment -4 to +4 dpt
LCD monitor: 3-inch vari-angle TFT LCD with 460,000 dots
Power supply: Rechargeable lithium ion battery; CIPA rated for 410 shots/charge
Dimensions (wxhxd): 124.3 x 81.7 x 95.2 mm
Weight: Approx. 468 grams (without battery and card)

 

Rating

RRP: $799

Rating (out of 10):

• Build: 8.5
• Ease of use: 8.5
• Autofocusing: 8.5
• Image quality JPEG: 8.5
• Image quality RAW: 8.8
• Video quality: 9.0

 

Buy