Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 – our king of the superzooms for the summer

To capture those summer holiday moments, you can’t go wrong with a decent super-zoom camera and in our eyes, you won’t find a better mix of features, high quality optics and all round performance than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100.

Not the cheapest, but probably the best all-rounder

Currently retailing for around £335/$430, it’s certainly not the cheapest superzoom about, but we feel the extra investment is worth it, with the 14.1MP hybrid camera being perfect for both casual snappers and enthusiasts wanting a bit more control over their exposures.

The build quality is very good, and although you’d need Fatty Arbuckle-sized trousers to fit this camera in your pocket, it’s still portable enough to carry around all day.

Mahoosive zoom

The super-zoom serves up a hefty wide-angle 24x f/2.8 – f/5.2 zoom lens (35mm camera equivalent: 25-600mm), backed by Panasonic’s Venus Engine FHD processor and the Power O.I.S (Optical Image Stabilisation) anti-shake system.

The camera can rattle off  11fps continuous shooting at full image resolution, as well as provide HD 1080i movie recording in AVCHD format at 30fps.

Manual and auto a-go-go

With a control interface blending elements of both SLR and a compact camera, the FRZ100 comes with a large mode dial on the top panel serving up a slew of scene modes, auto settings, a full range of manual exposure controls and Panasonic’s excellent iAuto setting .

Menu selection and navigation is taken care of via a conventional D-pad next to the monitor on the rear, with a dSLR style wheel above offering speedy tweaks to exposure adjustments etc.

Decent video

The generous 3.0-inch articulated LCD monitor offers 460,000-dot resolution, and the FZ100’s video credentials are enhanced with a dedicated recording button and twin microphones mounted on top of the flash housing.

The video mode is pretty polished too, with both autofocus and the optical zoom accessible while recording, plus optical image stabilisation to hold back the wobblies.

The camera is a tad noisy though, so your recording of a field mouse squeaking in the far distance may end up being dominated by the motor whirr.

Image quality

What sets this camera above many rivals is the still image quality, with the 1/2.33 inch, 14 megapixel MOS sensor producing sharp, well exposed noise-free images at ISO 100-200, with only small amounts of colour desaturation and noise starting to appear at starting at ISO 400.

Naturally, things get progressively noisier from there on in, although ISO 800 – and, at a push ISO 1600-  remains usable for small prints.

Chromatic aberrations were well handled and the pop up flash worked better than most – and of course, having a built-in hotshoe means external flash guns can be bolted on for more serious low light work.

The anti-shake also impressed, and special note goes to the macro performance, which let us get as close as 1 cm away from the subject.

Straight out of the camera, the photos were crisp and well exposed, although perhaps a little soft at the default sharpening setting (you can change this in-camera).

Conclusion

Packing a host of high end features backed by simple-but-smart auto modes, the Lumix DMC-FZ100 is a very tempting package indeed.

Sporting an almighty 24x zoom lens, with JPEG and RAW support, 11fps burst shooting, full HD 1080p movie recording, a handy articulated screen and loads of physical controls, the DMC-FZ100 is a hugely capable camera and a perfect travel companion.

Although it’s priced dangerously close to budget dSLR territory at around £335/$430, we feel that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 provides a great all round package, offering great  still and video performance for a good price.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 Ratings:

 – Build
 – Design
 – Features
 – Value for money
 – Overall

Buy the Lumix FZ100 14.1MP Digital Camera on Amazon here.

Full specs: