[Recovered Thread: 70985]

[squirl033]

armadilloshield wrote:

Especially photo #2, looks very clear from 4 or 5 milesdistance

the Leica 12x lens is one of the best i've seen for clarity at extended zoom ranges. here's anotherexample of this lens's power. the first shotof Mt. St. Helens was taken at1x. the second shot, of just the lava dome inside thecrater, was shot at 12x with no digital zoom. both were taken from the observatory at Johnston Ridge,over 4miles away from the crater.





this lens is simply incredible. it's the main reason i bought the FZ20, and it has enabled me to get shots i could never otherwise manage.

[tiger98]

Great shots squirl ! Gotta love that lens! Jim

[tiger98]

Armadilloshield, I never use the digital zoom because it degrades the picture. I find if I need more than 12x it's better to drop the megapixels down to 3 and then I can get 19x of optical zoom. Jim

After posting the above message I realized I had never even tried the Digital Zoom on the FZ30, only the FZ20. So I tested the 2x digital zoom and was surprised at how well the picture looked. It wasn't 11x14" quality but wasn't bad enough to warrant my statement above, "I never use the digital zoom because it degrades the picture". So I guess I would have to say that in some circumstances one might be able to use it! Jim

[corcoj]

KENNETHD wrote:

"...folks should know that had you used the 5 or 3 MP settings you would have increased the zoom to 19 and 23 X respectively." KennethD

Explain, please.:? This results in increase in optical zoom?? And does the same apply if one were to use a lower mp setting on the fz20?

[tiger98]

Kenneth, Sorry I didn't see your question earlier. The above pictures were shot at full 12x zoom in the 8mp mode. Thanks for your comments. Jim

[tiger98]

corcoj, Yes dropping the FZ30's megapixel format to either 5 or 3 does result in an increase in the optical zoom. At 5mp the optical zoom is 15x and at 3mp the optical zoom is increased to 19x. This feature is not available on the FZ20. Jim

[squirl033]

it's not truly an increase in optical zoom... the lens doesn't gain any power. as i understand it, it's done by using the same actual optical magnification but only utilizing the center 5MP or 3MP of the sensor. when the image is viewed, it appears larger... much the same as the way digital zoom works. the difference isthat digital zoom crops away part of the image and the enlarges what's left. the FZ30 retains the full original image, but uses less of the sensor to record it. it's all "fudging", in that it doesn't actually increase the optical magnification of the lens, but it produces much the same effect, andit's easier to call it that when describing it to customers who don't know how digital cameras work.

[hamiltonarts]

Thats almost close enough to see the Diamondbacks getting beat.

[LoveLife]

tiger98 wrote:

And itcan stillbe improved with PP.

This is the ball park...

[tiger98]

Good Job LoveLife ! Now if you could figure out a way for the Diamondbacks to win ! :-) Jim