Panasonic FZ1000, Rise of the Fixed Zoom Camera

From the right: Baldafix, Pentax Spotmatic with 55mm f1.8 lens, Canon EOS 300 with 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 lens, Panasonic  GH4 with E28-180mm f3.5-5.6 lens,  Panasonic FZ1000 with E25-400mm f2.8-4 lens.
(Prefix E means "equivalent focal length on a full frame, 43mm diagonal sensor camera")

 

I call it the  Vee Zee [V]iewfinder [Z]oom lens Camera

 A (very) brief history  of camera design in one photo.

The photo above highlights some of the key features of hand held camera design and technology over the last 60 years. I used these particular cameras because I happen to own them and because together they illustrate my little story.

On the right is a Baldafix 6x9cm folding rollfilm model produced in 1950. I first used this camera at age 10. It is still in the household and still works although it's lens succumbed to the ravages of fungus many years ago. There is a built in lens of fixed focal length and  a dreadfully inadequate viewfinder.  It has by far the largest "sensor" of this little group and even at it's prime made the least sharp pictures which were really only intended for contact printing.  Due to it's folding bellows design this has the smallest carry mass and volume of the group, even though it uses the largest film size.

Next comes a Pentax Spotmatic, introduced in 1964. This uses 35mm perforated film to produce an image 24x36mm (43mm diagonal). This imager size remains in use today for professional and enthusiast DSLRs.  This is a Single Lens Reflex camera (SLR), a type of Interchangeable Lens Camera (ILC). The lens fitted here is a 55mm f1.8. This type of camera was very popular in  it's day. 

Compared to the Baldafix the Spotmatic's imager size has shrunken dramatically yet picture quality has improved markedly. Versatility and speed of operation have improved also.

In the middle we have the Canon EOS 300, a consumer film SLR  launched in 1999. Here we see the arrival of a consumer zoom lens with a decently useful range of focal lengths from 28-105mm. Electronic controls, a Main Mode Dial and motorised operation all make an appearance.  The transition from all manual device to hybrid mechanical/electronic machine is well under way.  Another key feature of the consumer SLR is seen. This particular camera like many others of it's type has never been used with any lens other than the 28-105mm zoom with which it was initially purchased.  The convenience of the zoom easily outweighed the slight improvement in picture quality which might have resulted from using several single focal length lenses.

Further to the left we come to the Panasonic GH4 fitted with a 14-140mm all purpose zoom lens. While Pentax and Canon have a long history of making cameras, Panasonic did not begin making cameras until 2001. They jumped straight into the digital/electronic era. The GH4 shown here is a highly sophisticated hybrid stills/video model with very advanced specification and features.  The imaging sensor has a diagonal of  21.5mm giving it only a quarter the area of the old 35mm film. Despite this the imaging output is of very high quality. The small sensor also allows the lens to be much smaller. Canon does or did make a zoom of comparable focal length range for the 43mm sensor. It is huge, heavy and expensive.

Last is the Panasonic FZ1000.  This has a fixed zoom lens with an even longer zoom range and wider aperture than that fitted to the GH4. The sensor continues the trend to even smaller size while giving up very little in picture quality.

This camera has the zoom range, picture quality and performance to replace many DSLR and MILC multi lens kits on the market today. It is much smaller than or has a much greater zoom range than any current interchangeable lens camera (ILC) fitted with a superzoom/travel zoom lens.

I have been making a lot of photos with this camera in recent weeks and have been very impressed with it's capability both indoors and outdoors.  I have been printing some of the pictures at 600x400mm size and been very favourably impressed with the results.  People look at these prints and say, Wow ! that looks good.

The FZ1000  is a nice camera to use, with good ergonomics and performance. It is very versatile and competent in many different photographic situations. I will probably use it exclusively for several months and in due course decide whether or not to keep my ILC and lenses.

FZ1000, casual hand held snapshot. This picture illustrates the excellent clarity, resolution, highlight and shadow detail which is routinely available from the FZ1000.

 

Summary  The  little group camera photo  illustrates some very clear trends in design and technology over the last 60 years.  Each camera is approximately the same size. No surprise there, each is intended to be used hand held and human hands have not changed size in the last little while. The use of electronics is one dramatic change. Imaging sensors have become progressively smaller. This has allowed designers to fit compact lenses of ever increasing zoom range. The FZ1000 lens would have been hailed as the ninth wonder of the modern world had it appeared ten years ago. 

Discussion   In retrospect it seems to me that the interchangeable lens camera was a clever answer to a specific question arising in the first half of the 20th Century, namely "How can a camera system  provide for different angles of view when lenses are of fixed focal length ?" 

Now we are in the first part of the 21st Century and zoom lens technology has improved dramatically. It is no longer necessary to use different lenses to cover the angles of view required by most photographic situations.  

It seems to me the question now is "Is it possible to include most of  the benefits provided by an ILC in a very much smaller, more affordable  single module package ?"

And I think the answer to that question is moving closer to "yes" with each generational improvement in the Vee Zee camera.