Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Design and Controls (Part 2 of FZ1000 Review)

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review (Part 2)

Part 1 of the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review can be found here. 

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Design and Controls

 

The Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 is more like a DSLR than a standard super zoom. The only similarity to a super zoom is the fixed lens. I did consider the Sony RX10 or RX100 instead as they are smaller form factors and both have the criteria I wanted.

 

The FZ1000 measures 137x99x131 mm and weighs 831 g with battery and SD card. It is quite hefty; an entry level DSLR such as the Nikon D3300 with a 18-55mm kit lens actually weighs 20% less than a FZ1000.

 

The size makes it comfortable to hold and also allows ample room for the FZ1000's numerous physical controls.

 

The FZ1000's large lens barrel diameter provides good support for your left hand and allows comfortable operation on the dual purpose zoom/focus ring. The zoom ring is smooth but slow, so small adjustments are better with the rocker switch around the shutter.

 

There's a mode dial on the top left, and the main mode dial on the upper right side. A rear thumb dial is only control wheel. The dial is pushed in to switch function between aperture and shutter in manual mode.

 

The FZ1000 has five programmable function buttons. Fn1 is slightly larger and protrudes slightly, making it easy to differentiate from the smaller, flush mounted Fn2 behind it. Fn5 to the back left of the viewfinder toggles the display between the electronic viewfinder and the LCD screen. In default mode this happens automatically via an eye sensor below the eyepiece, but it's good to have the override when shooting from the waist using the articulated screen. Fn3, the Q.menu button, is on the right side of the viewfinder close to Fn4 which is the four-way controller. Also on the back right are a three-way switch for selecting AF modes, the playback button, and display overlay toggle button.

 

There's a mini HDMI port, USB / A/V out port, and a socket for the DMW-RSL1 wired remote on the right side of the body. On the other side there's a port for an external stereo microphone, but no headphone socket.

 

From a full charge you can get 360 shots from the FZ1000's DMW-BLC12E battery, so spare batteries are essential. I bought an extra three and so far haven't needed more.

 

The FZ1000 has a pop-up flash which is raised by sliding a switch on the right of the viewfinder. It has a maximum range of 13.5 meters and has forced on, forced on red-eye, slow sync and slow sync red-eye modes. The standard hot shoe allows you to fit an external flash. I've tested it with a few Yongnous and it works fine.


Read Part 3 of Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review (Links to parts)

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review (Part 1) Introduction


Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review (Part 2) Design & Controls
Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review (Part 3) Autofocus
Pansonic Lumix FZ1000 Review (Part 4) Viewfinder & Screen
Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Review (Part 5) Shooting Modes

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review (Part 1)

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review (Part 1)

 

I've had the FZ1000 for a few months now and thought I'd share some thoughts on it. I was choosing between the FZ and the RX10II, but as far as I could make out the FZ1000 did everything I wanted at a lower price than the RX10II. I didn't care about photos as I use my Canon 6D for images. I was primarily interested in the 4K and slo-mo video capabilities. Both of these lived up to my expectations.  

Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 Introduction

 

The Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 is a DSLR-styled super-zoom camera with a 16x / 25-400mm range, a 1 inch sensor and 4k video recording. The FZ1000 was the first compact camera to record video at resolutions up to 4K (3,840x2,160) in MP4 at 30/25fps or 24fps.

The FZ1000 has a 20 MP/1 inch sensor with four times the surface area of models delivering lower noise, wider dynamic range, and higher resolution. The lens starts at f2.8 on the wide-end and ends at f4 at the long end.

The FZ1000 has the same fully-articulated 3 inch LCD screen and a 2359k dot OLED viewfinder as the Lumix GH4, top shutter speeds of 1/4000 or 1/16000 (with mechanical or electronic shutters), 12fps continuous shooting, built-in Wifi with NFC, autofocusing down to -4EV, and defocus profiling from the GH4, an external mic socket, and support for 1080p video at up to 120fps (100fps in PAL regions), or 4K UHD at 25 or 30fps.


Part 2 of the review can be found here.