Archive for the ‘Cameras’ Category

I have been wanting to upgrade my Panasonic FZ8 and the time has finally come. I just bought a Panasonic FZ40 from Amazon with super fast Prime shipping. Here are some pictures of the camera and as you can see, it is made in Japan (as most panasonic cameras are, except the low end models).

This camera is a capable camera for all kind of people, from casual to serious photographer (though there are some limitations for serious photography). It is not that compact but it is still smaller than normal SLR/DSLR. For myself, I can deal with it though it is a lot bigger and heavier than my Panasonic FZ8. The selling point of this camera is the zoom range, it covers from wide angle (25mm) to tele photo (600mm), based on 35mm film standard.

16:9 Sample Images (Click on the image for higher resolution – 1200×676):

4:3 Sample Images (Click on the image for higher resolution):

Click Here for sample HD video

Panasonic has added a very nice feature, a wheel button. In my FZ8, it really takes a long time to change shutter speed, focus, or/and aperture. Panasonic had done a great job designing the wheel button, it can be pressed to jump between aperture or shutter speed. I shoot most of my pictures in Manual mode, so this wheel button is an A++ feature.

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What I like about this camera:

• Great zoom range (25mm-600mm)
• HD video
• 14 Megapixels
• Power O.I.S (Optical Image stabilization)
• Fast focus
• Made In Japan
• Leica Lens

• Fast lens (f/2.8 @ 25mm)

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What I DON’T like about this camera:

• Lens protrudes too long at maximum zoom
• Minimum (or smallest) aperture is f/8
• Shutter speed is limited to 1/2000s
• iA (intelligent Auto) mode can only be saved as JPG
• New Panasonic RAW format (*.RW2)

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