FZ1000 Does Indoor Basketball

 

This was  a test to discover whether my new FZ1000 can  manage indoor basketball.

Result:   With some reservations, yes, it can.

I had previously  photographed  junior indoor basketball with good results using a Panasonic GH4 with Lumix 35-100mm f2.8 lens.  I find this sport very difficult to photograph due to the boys' unpredictable style of play.  

You can see this particular game is an uneven contest. The small boys in blue had been winning all their games in a lower age grade so they got bumped up to play with the older boys.  Who won as they should,  but not by an overwhelming margin.

Camera Settings:

Memory Card: Sandisk Extreme Pro, 95MB/Sec, UHS1.

Drive Mode: Burst M.  I shot in short bursts of 4-5 frames, allowing the camera time to write files to the card between bursts.

White Balance: Auto. The lights at this venue produced  a strange color which was difficult to correct in Photoshop Camera RAW.

Focus Mode: AFC

Autofocus Mode: 1 Area, with the AF box size 4-8 of 15 counting up from the smallest. For readers seeking guidance, do not use the AF Mode called Tracking.

Mode Dial: S Priority

Shutter speed: 1/320 - 1/400  Mechanical shutter. A shutter speed of 1/500 or faster would have been  desirable but I wanted to keep the ISO settings down as far as possible.

Auto ISO

Quality: On this occasion I used RAW capture.  At other times I have used JPG which allows longer bursts but gives less opportunity for post processing.

Viewing: EVF

 

Comparison with GH4/35-100mm f2.8

Benefits of GH4

It is my impression that the  GH4 kit has slightly faster AFC with the lens used.

The GH4 pictures are less grainy at high ISO settings.

Due to the above I am able to use faster shutter speeds with the GH4.

In consequence of all three factors I found the GH4 kit produced a higher percentage of sharp frames than the FZ1000.  Some frames from the FZ1000 were as sharp as anything from the GH4 but quite a few were just slightly less crisp.

With the GH4, in about 85% of frames that part of the subject under the AF box was sharp.

With the FZ1000 I put that figure at about 60%, with many frames in focus but not quite sharp due to the relatively slow shutter speeds used.

Benefits of FZ1000   The built in 16x zoom allows me to photograph action or spectators at the other end of the court then in 3 seconds be ready with the wide angle to capture basket attempts.
Note that the FZ1000 will not zoom and focus simultaneously. The technique is to alternate between zooming and focussing. 

I actually saw more photo opportunities with the FZ1000 because of the big zoom range.

Summary  If I were a professional basketball photographer I would not use the FZ1000. But for family record photos it performs very well indeed with a decent percentage of keepers.

These results add to my growing discovery that I really can photograph almost anything with the FZ1000 and come away with a good  number of printable photos.  This camera is much more capable in a wide range of challenging situations than any other  fixed zoom lens camera I have used previously.

 

FZ1000 Getting Sharp Pictures at the Long End of the zoom

Plenty of structures here for the AF to see.  Handheld.

 

When I startedmaking pictures with the FZ1000, I noticed that quite a few shots taken at the long end of the zoom were not quite sharp.

I carried out systematic chart testing of the lens at all focal lengths and discovered that the lens is not quite as sharp at E400mm as it is at shorter focal lengths but it is still very good and should be capable of making convincingly sharp photographs.

I noticed that some of my pictures at E400mm looked impressively sharp when printed at 400x600mm in size while others were only fit for the trash bin.

I had previously had very much the same issues with the Lumix 100-300mm lens (E200-600mm) on Micro Four Thirds and the long end of the E25-600mm lens on the Panasonic FZ200.

Shot handheld from a moving ferry. Moderate wind, sunny afternoon.  Notice the wavy line atmospheric distortion seen on balcony railings and similar. No lens on earth could make a properly sharp photo in this situation.

 

What's going on?  I think the same issues apply to each of these lenses at the long end.

1. If some pictures are convincingly sharp and others are not the problem is most likely either

a) focus variation or

b) user technique  variation or

c) subject variation

I have come to the view that all three factors are in play.

2. The lens loses local contrast (a.k.a. microcontrast) as it is zoomed out. I can easily see this in my test chart photos. In addition in each case there is slight loss of resolution.

3. Due to the above, the camera's contrast  detect  autofocus  system  has more difficulty achieving focus at the long end.

4. The effect of camera shake is progressively magnified towards  the long end and this is not fully compensated by OIS, even the excellent 5 axis type in the FZ1000.

My impression is that OIS is very good for compensating relatively slow shake cycles but not so effective for compensating the fast cycles which are a significant cause of unsharpness due to camera shake with very long lenses.

5. I have noticed that the problem of intermittent unsharpness is most apparent with subjects at a long distance from the camera.

6. Observation of photos taken at long distance clearly shows the deleterious effects of haze and  atmospheric distortion. The latter is a phenomenon caused by swirling air currents within which the refractive index of the air varies enough to affect photographs, sometimes to a marked degree.

7.  Both the above factors make the task of the contrast detect AF system even more difficult.

In response to  the above observations and impressions I have worked out a set of guidelines for improving sharpness at the long end of the zoom.

Settings 

Mode Dial S with shutter speed at 1/400sec or faster for static subjects, 1/800 sec or faster for moving subjects.  This will usually see the aperture at f4.   OR

Mode Dial M with aperture at f5 or f5.6 and shutter speed as above, Auto ISO in each case.

This can be useful for static subjects as the lens performs slightly better at f5 than f4.  For moving subjects combatting shutter shake and achieving accurate focus are more important.

Focus Mode  AFS  or Manual with peaking for static subjects, AFC for moving subjects. Manual focus works best on tripod as the camera needs to be reasonably still to enable viewing of the enlarged image with peaking.

Autofocus Mode 1 Area, AF box sized to match the subject but larger = more sensitive, smaller = more precise. I usually have the box at around size 5/15 counting up from the smallest.

Shutter type, mechanical.  The FZ1000 does not have a shutter shock problem so the mechanical shutter is OK.

Technique

Hand Held:  

Stand, sit or lie comfortably and relaxed.

Look through  the EVF with the camera steadily braced against the skull bones.

Practice breathing technique. Mini meditate to slow the heart rate and  reduce muscle tremor. Squeeze the shutter button just at the end of a slow exhalation.

Place the AF box over a part of the subject which is reasonably light in tone, has good contrast and if possible has strong vertical lines (camera in landscape orientation). Note that Panasonic AF (and possibly others, I don't know) will not focus on a non textured subject with lines running only horizontally.

Make the box as large as possible without extending outside the main subject so focus on the background is prevented.

Tripod:

Use Timer 2 sec or remote shutter release.

Lowest possible ISO for the conditions.

Manual focus where possible.

 

Subject  For distant subjects try to photograph on a day with low air pollution and low haze. In most locations some seasons/wind directions are usually better than others.

Try to have the subject in cross lighting for maximum definition.

Early mornings usually see the least air turbulence of the day.

Summary  The FZ1000 can make very good or just mediocre photos at the long end of the zoom. In most cases good results can be attributed to correct settings, subject selection and optimal technique.  

I have taken my own advice and the  results are improving.

 

FZ1000 Does Fun Run

 

 

A recent district fun run  proved a good opportunity to test the FZ1000's sport/action capability.  Recent rains cleared for the day to the delight of all.

In the event the FZ1000 proved very capable and a pleasure to use.

Settings:

Quality:  JPG Fine. I did not have i-Dynamic set but will do so for any similar event in future  to keep highlights in check.

Image size: 20Mpx

Mode Dial S, shutter speed 1/1000sec.

Auto ISO

Burst Mode M, 7fps.

Focus Mode AFC

Focus/Release Priority, Set to Focus. Custom Menu page 3/8.

Autofocus Mode 1 Area, usually at size 5/15 (from the smallest), mostly in the top part of the frame on the centerline.

Viewing, EVF

I shot in bursts of about 1 second, giving 6-8 shots per burst with a chance for the camera to write to the card between bursts.

I did not zoom while capturing as the camera will not focus and zoom simultaneously. I alternated as in  zoom > burst > zoom > burst  etc.

 

 

Results 

Tonal fidelity   With JPG captures, the FZ1000 has a moderate tendency to clip (overexpose) bright highlights like the white T shirts in sunlight seen here. I pulled some tonality back by running these JPGs through Photoshop Camera Raw. In future I will set i-Dynamic and will use Zebras to apply some negative exposure compensation if required.

Autofocus speed   I found the AF to be remarkably fast.  In several frames there was no front runner under the AF box, just a back runner or the background trees or whatever.

 In several sequences the sharp part of the photo alternated between a foreground runner and the background or a rear positioned runner from one frame to the next at 7 fps.  That's fast.

Autofocus accuracy  I made 514 frames and viewed each at 100% on screen.

I rated 88% as sharp, meaning that part of the subject under the AF box was sharp.   I rated about 1/3 of those pictures as very sharp to the extent I could count eyelashes on the in focus runner.

10% were "just out" of focus, good enough for a small print or email attachment.

2% were obviously out of focus.

 

 

User Experience  The camera is very easy to carry and operate for several hours at a time. I just have a wrist strap, no neck strap. The controls are easy to operate and efficient. The EVF is of excellent quality, making for a natural view of the subject. Key camera data are easily seen beneath the EVF  live view image. I use "viewfinder" style for both the EVF and monitor.

 

 

 

Immediately after photographing the runners I made some pictures of flowers by the wayside. The camera is very versatile enabling the user to switch quickly from one style of photography to a completely different one  in seconds, without the need to change lenses, ever.

 

 

 

FZ1000 JPG i-Dynamic vs RAW

RAW

JPG, I-Dynamic Off

JPG, I-Dynamic On

 

Although the FZ1000is an excellent RAW shooters camera there are many people who prefer to shoot JPG for convenience and there are subjects, such as sport/action when JPG capture is desirable and  functions such as  i-Zoom or Macro-Zoom when JPG is required.

I have discovered  that the FZ1000 has a moderate tendency to blow out very bright highlights especially when subject brightness range is high.

Many cameras have a function which seeeks to improve both highlight and shadow detail in one shot JPG capture. In the FZ1000 this is called i-Dynamic which is accessible in the Rec Menu, Page 3/7. This works by slightly underexposing the picture to reduce the risk of highlight clipping then applying a tone curve correction to lift brightness in the shadows and mid tones.

The photos  I photographed this scene with high brightness range using RAW, JPG with i-Dynamic Off and JPG with i-Dynamic On. The aperture and ISO were set, the camera adjusted shutter speed.

The RAW file was converted and adjusted in Photoshop Camera Raw by moving the highlight slider to the left and the shadow slider to the right, then saving as a JPG.

The other two files are as they came from the camera.

You can easily see that RAW capture and post processing is the most effective way to manage high subject brightness range. It is also clear that the JPG with i-Dynamic On (Auto) has better highlight and shadow detail than the one with I-Dynamic Off.

I also tested i-Dynamic Low, Standard and High. I found that Auto gave the same result as High with the test scene.

I live in Sydney where I very often encounter subjects with high brightness range so I have i-Dynamic permanently set to Auto  so it comes into operation anytime I am using JPG capture.  It does not work with RAW capture.

I have thus far not discovered any adverse effects from this. In  particular Burst mode M with AFC appears to function just as well with i-Dynamic on or off.

Zebras  These diagonal black and white moving stripes have been used  on video cameras for several years to indicate areas of the frame which will be exposed above a certain level. The feature is now available on some still/video hybrid cameras including the FZ1000. I find that a setting of 100%-105%  works well for many types of still photo. If there are substantial areas showing zebras you can apply negative exposure compensation to protect the highlights. 

Getting best results with  this is still a work in progress for me but I am finding that lowering exposure until all the zebras have gone is probably a step too far, depending on how important every single highlight detail is to the photo.

Recommendations for JPG shooters: 

1. Probably always use i-Dynamic (unless someone finds a circumstance in which that setting would  interfere with some other camera function).

2. Switch Zebras On and use them to prevent highlight overexposure (clipping).

 

 

Panasonic FZ1000 For the Birds

GH4 with 100-300mm

FZ1000

Both these photos are heavily cropped from the original frame. The bird is a bit larger in the FZ1000 version as that camera was using E800mm while the GH4+100-300 was using E600mm and the FZ1000 sensor has more pixels.  The photographers were standing close together and the birds were about the same distance from the camera in each case.

 

FZ1000 + i-Zoom vs GH4 + 100-300mm lens

I recently testedThe FZ1000 at the long end of it's zoom compared with  a Lumix 100-300mm lens mounted to a Panasonic GH4 body.  For this  I used a test chart consisting of repeating pages of fine print.  I had each camera on a tripod and used  timer delay to release the shutter.

I found the two rigs to produce very similar and by the way really excellent results in the focal length range E100 - E300 mm.

But at E400mm which is the maximum optical zoom for the FZ1000, the 100-300mm lens on GH4 drew slightly ahead, with a bit more  microcontrast across the frame and slightly crisper corners.

At E600mm the 100-300mm lens was at the end of it's optical zoom range and the FZ1000 was well into i-Zoom range. Here the 100-300mm lens was clearly superior across the frame with better resolution of fine details.

A family memberis very keen to photograph birds in their natural habitat.

Following my initial testing I thought that the GH4+100-300mm kit would be the obvious choice for this duty.

However birds are not test charts and  the circumstances of wild  bird photography are very different from those which prevail for  test photos.

So we went to a place where birds are common. I had the FZ1000 with i-Zoom enabled. She had the GH4 with 100-300mm lens mounted. We would be using both cameras hand held in the open with no hide. We would concentrate on the little birds as they are the most difficult to photograph.  We swapped cameras from time to time.

The user experience  The GH4 with 100-300mm lens is really quite small and light compared to full frame kits but the FZ1000 is even lighter. This made the FZ1000 easier to hold and operate. The person with the smaller camera got the bird in frame more easily than the person with the larger kit.

The FZ1000 has a more effective image stabiliser than the 100-300mm lens. This means it is easier to hold the live view screen steady on the subject while framing and focussing. 

The GH4 is generally a super fast focussing camera but the 100-300mm lens has been on the market for a few years and is starting to show it's age in the technological sense. The lens is a bit slower to focus than the FZ1000 and that made getting the shot more difficult.

Again, birds are not test charts. The requirement for birds is not so much for vast amounts of fine detail but for good contrast at a somewhat coarser level, together with fast, accurate focus and fast operation.

The FZ1000 was operating at f4, the GH4/100-300 at f5.6. This allowed for potentially higher shutter speeds on the FZ1000, if required.

Results  I just show two examples here to illustrate that the photos show very little difference between the two cameras. This was a bit surprising to me given the superiority of the GH4/100-300mm on the test chart. Neither  photo is one I would want to frame and mount on the wall. But they are decent enough at small print size and show that the FZ1000 can deliver quite  acceptable results at the limit of it's i-Zoom range which is a focal length of E800mm.

Panasonic FZ1000 Panorama Guide

Not the easiest shot. There is considerable brightness range between inside and outside. Shutter speed 1/125, f2.8, ISO 800. Picture size 6964 x 2508 pixels. Most of the stitching is clean but an area around the orange cushion on the left looks a bit soft. Blown out highlights are more of a problem than underexposed shadows. I locked exposure on one of the window areas.

 

The FZ1000  is one of the most versatile cameras you can buy. One of it's capabilities is making good quality panoramas in camera. I offer some suggestions for best results.

Panorama Mode is accessed via the {Scn} Mode on the main mode dial.  It is the #25 and last item listed, after  such gems as "Cute Dessert", "Appetising Food" and "Romantic Sunset Glow".

Setting up

1. Go to the Setup Menu, Page 3 and set Menu Resume ON.

2. Turn the Mode Dial to {Scn}

3.  Press Menu/Set to enter the menus. See  a SCN submenu appear above the Rec Menu icon. Click on the [Scene Switch] tab and scroll to #25, Panorama.  If your camera is showing #1: Clear Portrait,  scroll backwards to #25 directly.

The next time you select {Scn} on the Mode Dial, Panorama will display.

4. Select JPG/Fine Image Quality, from whichever portal you have decided will access  Quality, be it the Rec menu, Q Menu or a Fn button.

5. With the Mode Dial at {Scn} enter the Rec Menu and scroll to [Panorama Settings], Page 4/7.  Press Menu/Set and see two submenus, [Direction] and [Filter Select]. Select direction. See four options.

At this point there is a disconnect between the Owners Manual, the icons on the menu screen and the camera's actual behaviour. 

My suggestion is to select the bottom of the four  options under [Direction]. Ignore the arrows.

This will allow you to hold the camera in portrait orientation and swing horizontally from left to right. This provides greater picture  height than holding the camera in landscape orientation often allowing a pleasing result particularly with architectural subjects.

Or you can select the top option under [Direction].  This gives less picture height but potentially more width and opens up the possibility of dramatic double perspectives.

You can hold the camera in landscape or portrait orientation and sweep either horizontally or vertically with either orientation. Just experiment with the [Direction] options until you find the one you want.

I have thus far not tried any of the filters, which include "Expressive", "Retro", "Old Days"  etc............There are lots of them.

6. Allocate the electronic level gauge to a Fn button or press the Disp button until it appears. You want to see this gauge to level the camera at commencement of the panorama sweep even though it disappears off the screen during the sweep.

7. Manual Focus with peaking  is compatible with Panorama but Manual Exposure is not.

How it works  The lens is set automatically to the wide end, focal length E25mm. Zoom is not available.

Look at the whole scene which will  be captured and decide which part thereof  you think is likely to provide the best exposure metering and autofocus (or manual focus). Half press and hold  the shutter button with the camera pointed at this part of the scene to lock exposure metering and focus.

Swing the camera to the start point of the sweep and when the camera is level, press the shutter button once, no need to hold it down.

Steadily and smoothly swing left to right while the camera fires off many exposures in quick succession. A little display on the live view screen shows (correctly) which way to swing the camera and indicates progress of the capture sequence.

The camera magically merges all the individual exposures into one big panorama which  you can review immediately on the live view screen.

Supporting the camera

Ideally you want the camera to be at a height  half way between the top and bottom of the anticipated final picture and you want to hold the camera so the sensor is vertical throughout the sweep.   The stitching software is pretty clever though and will tolerate the camera being pointed up or down during the sweep.  This however can introduce some curious perspective distortions with architectural subjects.

Hand Held  This can be at eye level viewing through the  EVF or waist level, which can work well indoors. In this case I recommend swinging out the monitor 90 degrees and viewing by looking directly down.  Set the LVF/Monitor switch to Monitor so the eye sensor doesn't black out the monitor as you hold the camera in close to your body.

Swing by pivoting your whole body around.

Tripod  Set up the tripod so the center column is vertical. This will prevent yaw as you swing the camera around.

Best exposure and focus  The best way to focus is manually. Otherwise you get 49 Area which may or may not focus where you want.

For exposure you need to experiment. The FZ1000 has a moderate tendency to clip highlights with JPG capture. So you need to select the optimum part of the scene to lock in exposure at the beginning.  Exposure Compensation is available and may be useful. You can also set the AF/AE-L button to AE Lock or AF+AE Lock but the Lock Hold tab is greyed out in {Scn} Mode.

Practice  The first 20 or so times I tried Panorama, things did not work out so well. There is definitely an acquired skill to holding the camera optimally, getting the optimum exposure, swinging around smoothly at the optimum speed and selecting good subjects for the pano treatment.

Post Capture Editing  I have found that even with my best efforts panos often need a bit of help in my image editor. I first use Photoshop Camera RAW (which can edit JPGs) to adjust highlight and shadow tone and often adjust color balance. Sometimes perspective corrections can be made here too.

But not uncommonly with hand held capture and architectural subjects there is variable departure of verticals from true,  across the width of the frame.

To fix these I use Photoshop > Edit > Transform > Warp. This allows me to push and pull sections of the image to get verticals lined up everywhere.

Summary  Making panoramas is fun, gives a different perspective on many subjects and is one way to overcome the lack of an ultra wide angle zoom setting on the FZ1000.

 

 

Panasonic FZ1000 a Blast From the Future

FZ1000 held overhead, viewing on the articulated monitor

 

Can the FZ1000 Replace

An Interchangeable Lens Camera with three zoom lenses or a  superzoom Lens ?

Really ?  I have been using Interchangeable Lens Cameras (ILC) for many years, not because I like changing lenses, but because until recently there has been no other way to have good picture quality and a decent selection of focal lengths from wide to telephoto. In addition ILCs have tended to provide  a higher specification level than Fixed Lens Cameras (FLC).

Actually I hate having to buy, carry and change lenses. This is the least user friendly and least ergonomic feature of any ILC.  It is also why many buyers acquire an ILC then permanently mount a travelzoom/superzoom style of lens.

I have for many years known that if someone made  a fixed zoom lens camera with the picture quality and focal length range of an ILC with a good quality travel/super zoom lens, or a 2 or 3 zoom lens kit,  I would buy it in a microsecond.

The FZ1000 appears on paper to be exactly that camera so I did indeed buy one  as soon as it arrived in Australia.

For this exercise I compared the FZ1000 to a Panasonic GH4 with Lumix 14-140mm travel zoom, and also the GH4 and G6  as  kits  with consumer grade zooms and pro grade f2.8 zooms, as this equipment was available to me for testing. 

The GH4 is the latest hybrid, multifunction supercamera from Panasonic which has been receiving well deserved rave reviews. The G6 is a very good upper entry level ILC which consistently makes excellent pictures. 

The M43 consumer grade zooms, super zoom and pro grade zooms have all been used and tested by me over a period of several years and I have found they make excellent pictures.

I also consider the option of a mid range DSLR with 16x superzoom lens. I did not have one of these for direct testing against the FZ1000 but I have previously tested a Nikon D5200 with Nikkor 18-200mm lens against a Panasonic G6 fitted with the Lumix 14-140mm lens. I found the G6 kit made better photos in the majority of situations, mostly because the lens was better.

I include a Nikon 1 V2 with 10-100mm all purpose zoom lens which has been in our household for some time but is soon going to make way for a second FZ1000.

Last I discuss some issues with full frame cameras.  I have not used one of these since the days of film so purchase of a full frame DSLR has never been a serious consideration for me. But I include some figures for  size, price and performance by way of comparison.

 Size, Mass, Price, Sensor size, Technical image quality

Kit	Width mm	Height mm	Depth mm	Box Volume cc	Mass with Batt grams	Price AU$ Retail	DXO Mark Score	Sensor size WxH, diagonal mm
FZ1000 f2.8-4	137	99	131	1776	890	1059	?69	13.2x8.8 15.9
GH4+14-140 f3.5-5.6	133	95	144	1819	850	2513	74	17.3x13 21.5
G6+14-140 f3.5-5.6	122	85	140	1451	640	1463	61	17.3x13 21.5
GH4+12-35+ 35-100+ 100-300 f2.8-5.6				2513	1750	4965	74	17.3x13 21.5
G6+14-45+45-150 f3.5-5.6				1145	765	1306	61	17.3x13 21.5
D5300+18-300 f3.5-5.6	125	98	198	2426	1310	2104	83	23.5x15.6 28.2
V2+10-100 f4-5.6	108	82	119	1054	610	1247	50	13.2x8.8 15.9
EOS 6D + 24-105 + 70-200 f4				2891	2200	4358	82	36x24 43

 The table above  basically shows that there is no free lunch. You can have a kit based on a larger sensor providing potentially better picture quality in some situations, but the penalty is more size, mass and price.

Or you can have a kit based on a smaller sensor which delivers somewhat lower absolute image quality (but which is good enough most of the time for most users in most situations)  with the benefit of much reduced size, mass and price.

The size, mass and price of a  fixed zoom lens camera is substantially less than the same or similar total zoom range spread over a 2 or 3 zoom lens kit, or a superzoom lens on an ILC.

Note about DXO Mark scores.   DXO is, as far as I am aware,  the only organisation which has attempted to put a numerical score on RAW image quality. The published scores have generated a fair bit of, shall we say, "discussion". Without joining the argument about the validity of DXO Mark scores I just note that a one EV difference  in quality (which is mostly due to digital noise, a.k.a. grain)  is represented by 15 points.

At the time of writing the FZ1000 has not received a DXO score but published comparison reviews rate it indistinguishable from the Sony RX10 which scores 69.  That is about one Stop (or EV step) less than the Nikon D5300 (with 28mm sensor) or Canon 6D (with 43mm sensor).

My point is this: If the FZ1000 can use a 1EV step slower shutter speed (which it can because of the excellent 5 axis OIS) or a 1 EV step wider lens aperture (which it can if you look at most of the kits in the table above) than a camera with 21.5, 28 or 43mm sensor, then the advantage of the larger sensor (in terms of digital noise anyway) disappears.

Comparisons  I don't want to bore the reader with minutiae but a brief summary of  the FZ100 in comparison with each of the alternatives might be useful.

Specifications and features  Many manufacturers deliberately withhold features and  restrict the specification list of their fixed lens cameras, presumably to encourage buyers to move up market to an ILC, and preferably a large sensor one, which I assume provides the maker with a higher profit margin.

Panasonic has gone the other way with the FZ1000 which has the most extensive list of specifications and features I have ever seen on a fixed lens camera (FLC). In fact the FZ1000 is very close to the GH4 in all round capability for both still and motion pictures and surpasses it in some ways. These include such useful features as the i-Zoom, Macro Zoom and Auto Panorama which can more effectively be incorporated into a camera with only one lens.

Picture Quality  This is a composite of technical sensor image quality, lens quality, focus speed and accuracy and other factors which impact on the final output.   I have made several thousand exposures with the FZ1000 now and have a good idea of the quality of photos coming from it.

As indicated above the FZ1000 is only about 1 EV step behind larger sensor cameras in technical image quality.

The lens on the FZ1000 delivers excellent sharpness across the focal length and aperture range at an aperture of f2.8-4. The focal length is equivalent to 25-400mm.  The only  kit  in the table above which can beat this on the numbers this is the GH4 with two pro style f2.8 lenses and a long lens.  Surprisingly, on my tests the FZ1000 is much closer in outright picture quality to the pro level GH4 kit than I first imagined would be possible. Now look at the price, size and mass of that pro kit.

Look for instance at the Nikon D5300+18-300mm lens. The FZ1000 has a 1EV lens aperture advantage across most of the focal length range immediately negating the technical sensor advantage of the very much larger and more expensive Nikon kit.

Consider even the full frame Canon EOS 6D. If you are doing documentary, landscape, architecture or similar and want the same depth of field (DOF), any lens on the 6D has to be closed down three stops more than the FZ1000. So if adequate DOF for the subject is achieved with f4 on the FZ1000 the 6D will require f11.  Assume the angle of view is the same and the camera is hand held, then the 6D will require an ISO setting 3 EV steps higher to prevent camera shake. This immediately negates and probably reverses any noise (grain) advantage given by the larger sensor.

Performance  Only last year you could be reasonably sure that almost any upper entry to mid range ILC would easily outperform any FLC. All that has changed with the FZ1000. Panasonic appears to have invested the FZ1000 with everything they know about camera performance. The result is fast startup, fast single shot or continuous AF, excellent MF, fast shot to shot times, fast response to all user inputs of all kinds, supremely consistent and accurate AF and  highly competent follow focus on sport/action subjects.

I have been using the FZ1000 alongside a GH4 with 12-35mm and 35-100mm f2.8 lenses. This GH4 kit is the fastest operating camera gear I have ever handled and the FZ1000 keeps up with it all the way, in bright light outdoors or low light indoors. The FZ1000 can autofocus accurately in light levels so dark I can hardly see anything.

Ergonomics

Holding  The FZ1000 is of substantial size which is required to accommodate the fast superzoom lens. The size permits inclusion of  a substantial and well designed handle, substantial thumb support and very well designed control modules.  The camera can be held comfortably and securely in landscape or portrait orientation with the fingers correctly placed for operation.

Viewing  Viewing   arrangements on the FZ1000 are up with the best I have ever experienced on any camera. The EVF is of excellent quality providing a clear, natural looking view of the world ahead of the camera. It is so good that I forget that I am viewing through an electronic device. Key camera data is always presented clearly and is easy to read in all conditions.

The fully articulated monitor is also of excellent quality. The user can segue seamlessly from EVF to monitor and see the same information presented in the same way.

Of the cameras in my table above only the  GH4 can match the FZ1000 for viewing capability.

Operating  There is not space in this post to delve into the differences in operating characteristics between MILCs, DSLRs and FLCs. Suffice to say that none of the alternatives to the FZ1000 offers a more user friendly or efficient operating experience in the Setup, Prepare, Capture or Review phases of use.

Summary  The camera industry has been in turmoil recently with falling sales across all categories. Some manufacturers have tried to stimulate consumer interest with an appeal to past days of camera glory with various retro style design themes. Call these a blast from the past, if you will.  In my view, this is going absolutely nowhere.

The FZ1000 is a blast from the future. Panasonic  has taken the lead from  Sony's  RX10 and improved it in almost every way.

Behold the future of cameras for the enthusiast/expert user.

FZ1000 Weaknesses   No fixed lens camera can do absolutely everything although the FZ1000 comes closer than anything else I have ever encountered.

There are some things the FZ100 cannot do, or at least not directly. Here are a few:

Ultrawide angle of view  is one.  The workaround for this is either auto panorama in camera which is surprisingly effective or multiple overlapping shots imported into Photoshop or other image editor for panorama stitching.

Indoor sport/action  I am still working on this one. In this situation one usually needs a fast lens, no slower than f2.8 and very good high ISO capability, in the 6400+ range. The FZ1000 is not quite there. I will experiment and report in due course.

Ultra telephoto lens  The lens goes optically to E400mm which is not super long. But i-Zoom stretches that to E800mm and still at f4,  with quite decent quality, certainly good enough for birds.

Conclusion  In my view yes, the FZ1000 can replace any and all of the kits listed in the table above and will soon do so.