Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

By way of a mercifully brief introduction, I make a goodly portion of my living with the use of digital cameras, and have for a very long time. My applications are wildlife and the outdoors, product reviews, industry consulting work, and legal work. Part of the territory is optics, whether binoculars, laser rangefinders, scopes, or cameras. Image examples are readily found online and in print from numerous devices, you can check the latest issue of African Adventures magazine if you wish. The FZ-70 is Panasonic's attempt at entering the 1000-1200mm equiv. "bridge camera" market, joining the 1200mm equivalent Canon SX-50, the 1000mm eq. Fuji HS50, the 1000mm equiv. Nikon P520, the 1200mm eq. Sony HX300, and others. If you have been working with cameras for a while, as far as "phenomenal" and "amazing" image quality, well . . . everyone makes that model. Just ask them. The reality of the situation is far less than amazing. There is no small sensor camera that competes with, for example, a basic D-SLR. The Nikon D5100, to cite just one example, currently sells for about $475, including an 18-55mm lens, and no small sensor camera can touch it. Size and convenience matters to a lot of folks, the reason a $750 compact like the Sony RX100 M2 gets so much press, even though that camera's excellent image quality is handily exceeded by full-sized system cameras. With sales of point and shoot cameras in a dramatic downward spiral, heavily pressured by smartphones, many of which have improved their imaging, the long zoom range is one of the areas remaining with commercial appeal. It wasn't that long ago that ten times zoom was a "super-zoom" camera. Times have changed, although cameras are not totally reinvented every few months as the press releases would like you to believe. Spend enough time reviewing product, and you'll quickly develop a healthy sense of skepticism. The FZ-70 ostensibly replaces the FZ-60, though at a higher price point, a slightly slower lens, and significantly increased bulk and weight. The weight increase is understandable, as most of the camera weight is glass, yet the FZ-70 is bulkier than the Canon SX-50. For years, Panasonic has loudly associated this basic form factor of camera as "with a Leica lens, Made in Japan," as in FZ20, FZ35, FZ60, FZ-47, FZ-100, FZ-150, and FZ-200. However, the FZ-70 breaks with the branding of the line: it is made in China, with a "no-name" lens. This has turned off a lot of people, quite understandably so, as Panasonic themselves has put the largest images of this camera on their own websites misrepresented as having a "Leica lens." As it turns out, the apprehension many have had turns out to be justified. My example of the FZ-70 took noticeably soft, blurry pictures particularly at the end of its zoom range. It does not improve on the turtle-slow burst mode of the FZ-60, either, for 3 images is the limit. It is marketed as "9 fps," but 9 frames are not happening. While Panasonic has not gone as eccentric as Sony with small photosites on a dinky sensor, the SX-50 pixel size of 1.54 microns compared to the 1.34 micron pixel size of the FZ-70 seems to be significant enough for the SX-50 to outshoot the Panasonic consistently, along with the superior image stabilization of the SX-50. Panasonic has put out some very, very good lenses in times past (FZ200) but in the case of FZ-70, the no-name lens array can only be considered wonderfully adequate here. Panasonic sensors are often poor in tonal range, dynamic range, and color sensitivity. A look at DxO Labs results tells the tale: [...] . While sensor performance is only part of the equation, the terrific lens of the FZ-200 manages to close the gap in most shooting conditions with the SX-50. Here, the unremarkable FZ-70 lens quality offers no such help . . . and it shows. Moreover, there are a couple of key potential advantages that the FZ-70 ignored: the most significant being the articulated display of the SX-50. This class of camera that offers 1200mm reach is not a unique item, for the Fuji SL1000, Sony DSC-HX300/B, and the Canon SX-50 all have the exact same 1200mm (35mm reach). Of these five cameras, this Panasonic has by far the worst LCD of the group, something you use every time you use the camera. Canon has the only fully articulated display, while Fuji and Sony both have 920K dot displays that tilt. The FZ-70 finishes dead last in this department with its fixed LCD. Responsible grading of a product dictates that it reflects if the product works as promised and functions as described. The FZ-70 is one of the most ridiculously over-hyped products in recent memory, promising blazing fast speeds, phenomenal images, noise-free images, and phenomenal images in high-sensitivity shooting scenes. It does not deliver the low-light prowess claimed, nor does it deliver on its promise of being well-suited for capturing action. The FZ-70's "bright" F2.8-5.9 lens actually isn't quite as bright as the lens on its cheaper but more satisfying predecessor, the FZ-60 having an F2.8-5.2 lens array, and isn't close to the current FZ-200. The FZ-70's burst speed is no better than the FZ-60, either, and far behind the FZ-200, the Canon SX-50, and others. The images are not at all noise-free: it is ridiculous to market them as such. It has average shooting performance, slower than other cameras in the Panasonic line, not at all blazing fast. If truth in advertising was the sole criteria, this camera would rate zero stars, for it frenetically is promised and re-promised to be what it is not. If your expectations are more realistic, in bright light, you may well find its output acceptable, though it is outclassed by other bridge camera offerings in several categories, including those branded as Panasonic although with less optical zoom (FZ-200). The more credible reviewers, such as Ben Pitt, have had similar reactions: "A good all-rounder with a massive 60x zoom range, but overshadowed by the competition." That's a far more realistic assessment than the usual hollow gushes of disingenuous fawning. For the numerous reasons stated, the Canon SX-50 rates a spot in my working array, while this FZ-70 simply did not. The previous Panasonic FZ-60 takes better, sharper pictures than the FZ-70 particularly at the end of its focal range: it is lighter, less bulky, and at the time of its release, substantially less costly. While the FZ-60 was the best camera at its price point and class, the FZ-70 at its higher price point offers less image quality, and does nothing to improve upon the FZ-60's EVF, LCD, and poor three-image burst capacity. It is hard to call a heavier, more expensive FZ-70 that takes lesser quality images anything other than a disappointment. The FZ-70 fails in value to the bargain-priced Fuji SL1000 Fujifilm FinePix SL1000 16.2MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black), which has better quality LCD and EVF, and has (at least) as good IQ . . . for a lot less money, as the Fuji is currently @ $250 - $270 or so. For more advanced enthusiasts, the FZ-70 does not compare favorably with the Fuji HS50XR with its ground-breaking phase-detection AF. It fails in low-light capability and shooting speed to the FZ-200, which also has a far superior LCD and EVF. As as all-around mega-zoom, the similarly priced Canon SX-50 puts it to shame in IQ, image stabilization, better scene modes, a better (articulated) LCD, Zoom Assist / Zoom Framing Assist Lock, much better factory software, and so forth. Several cameras are as good or better performers, for less money. Several cameras are far superior in performance and features at similar price points. By lacking value, build quality, lens quality, a tilting or swiveling LCD, shooting performance, and image quality . . . the FZ-70 is just a "me-too" type of initial mega-zoom effort that can only be described as lackluster compared to its many competitors. ©2013 by Randy Wakeman & Randy Wakeman Outdoors. All Rights Reserved.