Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ45 review

Panasonic’s collaborations with Leica have produced some stunning ultra-zoom cameras, combining Leica-branded lenses with Panasonic’s sensors, digital processing and knack for mass-market appeal. It’s a combination that earned the Lumix FZ38 a Best Buy award.

The FZ45 is a predictable evolution of the FZ38, upping the numbers in all the usual areas. The sensor moves from 12 to 14 megapixels, the zoom range is up from 18x to 24x and the screen has grown from 2.7in to 3in. Bigger screens can damage battery life, but in fact this too has increased, from 470 to 580 shots. The screen’s resolution remains at 230,000 pixels, though – a 460,000- or 921,000-pixel screen would have been nice.

The lens is the most significant change, extending further for both wide-angle and telephoto shots. Focus was incredibly sharp throughout the range and right into the corners of the frame – a remarkable achievement for such versatile optics. The extra telephoto reach has obvious advantages for shooting distant subjects, but the 25mm wide-angle setting is just as useful. We particularly appreciated it for video, giving a dramatic widescreen field of view and minimising handheld wobbles. As with the FZ38, video quality was excellent, with the 720p AVCHD Lite format delivering a crisp picture with effective noise reduction and a detailed stereo soundtrack.

The cosmetic design is largely unchanged, but the FZ38’s mini joystick has been replaced by a clickable wheel that makes it quicker to dial in manual exposure and focus settings. Flash control has been relegated to the Quick Menu to make room for a dedicated ISO speed button – a much better use of the available space, especially considering that the pop-up flash can be suppressed simply by keeping it closed. As before, there’s a mass of photographic options in the menu, such as the ability to enter numerical white balance settings or to limit the range of the auto ISO mode. With RAW capture and well implemented manual exposure and focus, this is a camera that will appeal to creative photographers.

This makes it particularly odd – not to mention frustrating – that Panasonic has opted to fit the FZ45 with a 14-megapixel sensor. Ever since the FZ-series cameras moved from 8 to 10 megapixels two years ago, the improvements in details captured in bright light have come at the expense of increased noise levels in low light.

This time, the negative outweighs the positive so much that the FZ45 is not just noisier but also less detailed than the 12-megapixel FZ38. Even at ISO 80, heavy noise reduction was applied to keep images smooth, and that had a detrimental effect on fine details. Higher ISO speeds were necessary indoors or at long telephoto zooms in anything but direct sunlight, and this resulted in smudged details, messy edges to objects and blotchy colours. Otherwise, image quality was excellent, with well-judged automatic exposures and natural white balance, but the sharp lens was let down by the sensor. Take a look at our sample photos in our gallery

At least the 14-megapixel resolution hasn’t damaged performance. We measured 1.2 seconds between shots in normal use, rising to 2.7 seconds in RAW mode – both fine achievements. However, choosing to save both RAW and JPEG images together and taking a quick succession of shots resulted in a card error, despite using a fast SDHC card. Continuous performance was poor, capturing just three JPEGs at 1.1fps before it needed a rest.

Had Panasonic stuck with a 12-megapixel sensor – or better still, used a 10-megapixel one – we’d have no hesitation in recommending it. As it stands, we can’t help feeling disappointed. We have some sympathy for camera manufacturers at the budget end of the market, where there’s pressure to produce cameras with ever-better sounding specs. However, in an enthusiasts’ camera such as this, Panasonic should credit its customers with a little more intelligence (as it did with the Lumix LX5)

The FZ38 was an excellent ultra-zoom camera, and ultimately, the FZ45 isn’t much different. Its bigger zoom range is welcome; its higher-resolution sensor most definitely isn’t. On balance, there’s not much to choose between the two, and the newer model is no more expensive than the older one at current prices. However, both cameras are overshadowed by the Fujifilm FinePix HS10, which is now available for around £250. Panasonic needs to step out of the megapixel race if it wants to regain the ultra-zoom crown.