+++ Panasonic at the CES show+++

[tiger98]

Thanks Kenneth ! I appreciate you reading it and glad you enjoyed it. Jim

[Grant2]

Sony looks huge! Thanks very much Tiger.

[tiger98]

Your welcome Grant, Sony = large and heavy ! Jim

[Digigal]

tiger98 wrote:

Your welcome Grant, Sony = large and heavy ! Jim

On the Sony, considering its 24-150mm equivalent focal length, that lens is very large - but I suppose it's because it's a large sensor. For a REALLY good illustration of how nice and compact, and self-contained, our FZ30's lens is, you should have a look at a Samsung Pro815 some time, when it's at full zoom (420mm like ours). The sensor is only a bit bigger but the extension of the lens is positively frightening! I've handled that camera and it's actually a very impressive design for a first-time-in-this-sector model, but it couldn't tempt me away from Panasonic even though I handled it before buying (or even having handled) an FZ30.

Regarding the dSLR, I too remember the Olympus link being mentioned (no bad thing, I like Olympus) but as Four Thirds is an open system, the lenses wouldn't have to be by Olympus - anybody who wants to can sign up, I believe (for a fee, no doubt!).

[PeHa]

Thanks for the report, tiger! Nice indoor shots as well!

Regarding Sony R1; if I wanted a large sensor (about APS size) camera I would certainly prefer the flexibility of a dSLR. The only selling point with R1 (IMO) is a large sensor combined withpreview LCD, that's it... not enough.

[Nizidramanii]

What is this "Four Thirds" system that I've been hearing about in this thread?

[Digigal]

Nizidramanii wrote:

What is this "Four Thirds" system that I've been hearing about in this thread?

It's the system that Olympus uses for its digital SLRs - the E1, E300 and E500. It was co-developed with Kodak and several other companies and is said to be open for others to sign up to - which I think Panasonic has done - so that they can use the same lens mount and sensors. It was designed from the ground up to be a digital system, so the lenses have certain characteristics suiting them to digital which lenses that also fit 35mm film SLRs do not have (I believe telecentric design is often mentioned, which is apparently a way to ensure the light rays hit the CCD as straight-on as they can), and the lens mount specification allows data from the lens electronics to communicate its characteristics to the camera body, for automatic correction of known optical shortcomings of the design (apparently!). I'm oversimplifying here a lot, because I don't understand it much deeper than that! The Four Thirds sensor (named for its ratio of size, I believe) is somewhat smaller than the APS-C sized sensor in Canon, Nikon etc dSLRs but Olympus don't view that as a disadvantage. I forget the exact dimensions, but I know that the actual focal length of an Olympus E-system lens, when translated into better understood 35mm film equivalents, is 2x rather than the 1.5x or 1.6x of the other makes of dSLR with APS-C size sensors - that is, the 14-45mm lens acts like a 28-90mmwould ona 35mm SLR.

[tiger98]

Your right about the Samsung Digigal, when the Pro 815 lens is extended you could use it as a baseball bat ! :-) Jim

[tiger98]

Thanks PeHa, I agree with you, the Sony couldn't begin to pry me away from the FZ30 ! Jim