Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 review

Expert Reviews is proud to bring you this Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 review from Short Sharp Reviews – click through to YouTube for a 1080p HD version

We recently reviewed the FZ48, a capable ultra-zoom camera that marked a return to form for Panasonic. This time we’ve got its big brother is under the spotlight. The FZ150 was officially unveiled today, and while it’s too early to confirm UK pricing, we’ve reviewed it with the expectation that it’ll cost around £400.

Update 05/09/2011 – The FZ150 still isn’t on sale, though we’ve seen pre-orders for £369 online, which is a little cheaper than our initial estimate of £400

Initial inspection reveals more similarities than differences, with the FZ48 and FZ150 cameras both packing a 12-megapixel sensor, 24x zoom Leica-branded lens, 3in LCD screen, electronic viewfinder, a generous collection of buttons and a command dial. Both record 1080p video and both use a special lens coating to minimise lens flares.

There’s plenty to justify the FZ150’s higher price, though. Its 3in screen is articulated, there’s a hotshoe for an external flash or microphone, and photos can be captured in RAW mode for extensive tinkering on a PC. Panasonic tells us that autofocus speed has been improved, and it certainly seemed to be extremely quick. We measured a shot-to-shot time of 0.65 seconds, shaving a quarter of a second off the FZ48’s performance and making this the most responsive compact camera we’ve ever seen. It also managed just 0.9 seconds between shots in RAW mode, slowing to two seconds after 15 shots.

Continuous performance was at 12fps for 12 frames – up from 11fps on its predecessor, the FZ100 and much faster than the FZ48’s 3.7fps. It can also shoot at 5.5fps while updating autofocus between each shot – a crucial feature for following moving subjects. It can’t quite match a fast SLR, which is able to update its autofocus even more quickly and accurately, and also benefits from a largely uninterrupted view through its optical viewfinder. However, this is the best continuous mode we’ve seen from a compact camera.

Videos are captured in AVCHD format at up to 1080p and 50fps. Most cameras shoot either 25 progressive-scan or 50 interlaced frames per second, but these are both compromises: 50fps interlaced produces smoother motion but moving subjects aren’t as detailed. With 50fps progressive scan you get the best of both worlds, although it also generates twice the amount of data.

Even on our Core i7 PC, Windows Media Player couldn’t play these clips back smoothly. Our favourite video-editing software, Sony Vegas Platinum, had no problem handling them, although the number of clips it could play simultaneously was inevitably halved. The camera’s default video capture mode is 50fps interlaced (1080-50i), which makes more sense in most situations.

The FZ150’s videos also benefit from improved optical stabilisation to counteract camera shake, particularly while walking and shooting. That’s a technique we’d never normally consider without specialist equipment, but at the wide end of the zoom we were able to walk and record videos that didn’t induce motion sickness when played back – a terrific achievement. It’s also possible to capture 3.7-megapixel photos without interrupting video recording.

These improvements build on some impressive features inherited from the FZ100. Videos benefit from smooth automatic exposures or full manual control, responsive autofocus, 30-minute clip lengths, an external microphone socket, high quality stereo sound from the built-in microphone and silent zoom and autofocus motors. There was little evidence of video noise – subtle details were lost to noise reduction in low-light clips but noise only became intrusive in subdued artificial light. In bright conditions, videos looked flawless.

The FZ100’s weakest area was its photo quality, with its 14-megapixel sensor displaying significantly higher noise than its 12-megapixel predecessor. The FZ150 drops the resolution back down to 12 megapixels, and is all the better for it. There was still a suggestion of noise reduction suppressing subtle details such as grass and skin textures in bright light, but much less so than on the FZ100 and not to any significant degree.

When low-light environments demanded fast ISO speeds, noise reduction was applied liberally but it did an excellent job of hiding noise without degrading the image too obviously. We found high-ISO image quality to be slightly better than from the FZ48, and among the best we’ve seen from an ultra-zoom camera. Only the Nikon S9100 is significantly better, but large zoom aside, it’s quite a different camera to the FZ150.

Other aspects of photo quality were consistently excellent, with sharp focus, flattering colours and superbly judged automatic exposures. The Intelligent Auto mode made life very simple (although as with the FZ48, we could do without its digital zoom function), while the program, priority and manual modes offered extensive control over exposures and picture quality in general.

The FZ150 won’t be cheap, but compared to dedicated video cameras of similar quality and capabilities, it’s far from overpriced. Throw in the fastest performance we’ve ever seen from a compact camera, superb quality photos and great controls, and the FZ150 has comfortably earned itself five stars and an Ultimate award.