PANASONIC LUMIX FZ80 4K 60X Zoom Camera, 18.1 Megapixels, DC VARIO 20-1200mm Lens, F2.8-5.9, 4K 30p Video, Power O.I.S., WiFi – DC-FZ80K (USA BLACK)
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Product Specifications
- Panasonic’s exclusive 4K PHOTO burst, plus 4K Video capture performance
- 18.1MP sensor resolution, plus 3” touch control LCD
- Optically stabilized 20-1200mm (60X) LUMIX DC VARIO lens
- Fast and accurate focusing utilizing LUMIX DFD focusing system
Travel-ready USB in-camera battery charging
Product Description
Style:FZ80 The perfect 4K technology enabled point and shoot camera for travelers, featuring a super long 20-1200mm (60X) lens. The LUMIX DC VARIO lens features a super bright F2.8-5.9 aperture range that is optically stabilized with Panasonic’s Power O.I.S. technology. Now you can use the high-resolution power of 4K video technology to create printable photos with 4K PHOTO’s blistering 30 frames per second burst feature. Post Focus and Focus Stacking allow for changing the photos depth of field or focus points after you take the picture. Enjoy travel ready technologies like USB charging and WiFi connectivity to your mobile device.
Product Reviews
I Expected a Lot, but…….
Initial impression: It’s hard to believe what this camera’s capabilities are until you’ve used one. I have bags full of camera equipment including a Mamiya RB-67, Pentax 6x7, Canon 5D Mk2, Canon T2i and a lot of glass so trust me when I say, this camera lives up to the pre-release hype. I originally had my sights set on the Canon SX50 which is a good camera, but falls short of its Lumix peer. My focus was to get an easy to use point-and-shoot camera for my wife since the SLRs were just too much for her to handle - but now she’s going to have to fight me for it. I will update this review as I gain more experience with the video and special functions (which there are many) in the future. Until then, I recommend you get one while the price remains well below $400 because I don’t think it will stay their long when the word gets out how great this camera performs.UPDATE: After using this camera for nearly 6-months, I am still VERY happy with it and the pictures it produces - and would be glad to share some of the shots. I find the extremes between other reviewers ratings interesting since I have not experienced many of the negatives mentioned and have experienced most of the positive remarks. This camera simply works for me. I’ve shot everything from sports car road races to retirements to scenery with great success and carrying this 1 lb 7.2 oz camera sure beats the heck out of hauling my 12 lbs of 5D Mk 2, with dual battery pack and 50-500mm Sigma lens around all day plus a couple extra lenses and batteries in a camera bag. I also have no trouble taking my shots to 13x19 inch prints from either RAW or JPEG format files. I’ve also read this camera is big and bulky. Well, if you wear XXL gloves like I do, it fits just right in my hands. It also works much better in my wife’s hands than the DSLRs we have (T2i in addition to the 5D)so she is happy too! The weight is simply not a concern to us as we’ve both carried it around all day without any problems or side effects. In fact, now that the price has dropped to $249 I’m going to buy another one to keep peace in the family.Several reviewers mentioned soft pictures at the 1000 to 1200mm end of the zoom range. I’d bet your paycheck that most of the problem is camera movement since it is very difficult to hand hold any camera still enough at this extreme magnification to get a super sharp picture - regardless of image stabilization system employed. I’ve had much better luck using a monopod or even better, a solid tripod (as one reviewer suggested) to get those very sharp long range shots.I also discovered the automatic backlit scene sensing and exposure system when I moved to the fully automatic setting - very effective!But as I said, the proof is in the final product so if you would like to see a sample of images - reply to this review and include your email address and I’ll share a few with you.
Lots of Zoom! Low Noise! So far I am happy!
Update: 11/17/2014. I have used the camera for several months now and love it. I really like the zoom range of the camera from 20mm to 1200mm and it is my main daily carry camera. It takes great detailed photos and the noise levels are very good.The is going to be a quick review on the camera and I will add more as time goes on. The FZ70 takes really good sharp photos, but hand held might be a problem in lower light levels. I went out yesterday evening and took some shots hand held and they all came out blurry. I should have paid more attention to the shutter speed.The camera works fantastically in iA, which is the auto mode. I mainly use Aperture but was impressed with the auto settings.It will go with a 60 second exposure in the Starry Sky Mode, which is under the SCN mode on the main dial.The lens thread is 55mm so if you plan on using your filters from any other Pany camera, you will need a 55 to 52mm Step Down Adapter. Amazon has them for cheap. I don’t think vignetting will be a problem using 52mm filters as the lens is way smaller than the filter threads on the camera. Here is the 55 to 52mm Step Down Adapter.Goja 55-52mm Step-Down Adapter Ring (55mm Lens to 52mm Accessory) + Bonus Ultra Fine Microfiber Lens Cleaning ClothThe camera has no shutter remote cord jack, so a shutter release cable will not work. My Yongnuo YN-560 flash will not work on the camera either. It physically hits the camera flash housing, which is raised a little. The answer to that is to use a wireless flash trigger with the Yongnuo Flash and that works fine.Addition: I looked at the Yongnuo flash again and it will fit on the camera, but it is a tight fit between the camera flash and the Yongnuo flash housing. I modified the Yongnuo flash by taking some of the plastic off the flash housing where the camera flash is hitting, with a pencil grinder. It doesn’t take much, and it is right in the middle of the housing. You could remove some of the plastic in the flash housing with sandpaper, but it would take longer, but will also give you more control of how much plastic you are taking off. Now my Yongnuo Flash works perfectly on the FZ70 camera!The video does not have a progressive setting. Interpolated is the best you are going to get with this camera.The FZ70 does not have a jack for a shutter release cable and does not have an infrared input either. The camera has to be set to a timer delay within the camera for 2 or 10 seconds. If it was a Sony or Canon, the timer is set and stays on till you shut it off. Unfortunately this camera requires you set the timer delay for each and every photo.The longest the camera will go on exposure under the Shutter or Manual Mode is 8 seconds. In the Starry Sky Mode it will go 15, 30, and 60 seconds.Like I said the lens thread is 55mm so your filters will have to be that size or use an adapter. The camera will use a teleconverter with the DMW-LA8 adapter, which is not available yet. Addition: Those LA8 adapters are available on Ebay now. They are being sold out of Japan though. I had that happen with the FZ200 camera as well and had no problem getting one from a Japanese Ebay member. There are several teleconverters that work well with this camera, but may not be needed as this lens rocks as far as zoom goes!Update: An aftermarket adapter is now available for a good price.Lens Adapter For Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 (55mm) (Alternative For DMW-LA8)It will take Raw pictures, but no one is supporting the FZ70 Raw files yet. It will come. Added: I found that FastStone will support the Raw files from the FZ70 and it is much better than Silkypix, in my opinion. Just Google FastStone and download and install the software. It is free.Upadate: Raw for the camera is now supported in Lightroom and Photoshop.Start up time is very fast. I was able to take a picture in one second after turning the camera on.The focus button is on the top of the camera now. The AF/MF/Macro button is on the right side of the LCD instead of on the camera lens.One thing I have noticed with this camera is the noise, or should I say the lack of noise! The shots I took at ISO 800 and ISO 1600 still look pretty good, and at ISO 100 noise is hard to find.The camera will zoom to 60X (1200mm 35mm Equivalent) in the 16mp picture size. Setting the picture size to 10mp will give you 75X zoom, setting the size to 7mp will give you 90X, at 5mp you get 108X and at 3mp is 135X. This is Extended Optical Zoom. If you need more zoom than that, under IResolution, use I-Zoom for an additional 2X at all picture sizes and digital will give another 2X, but image quality will suffer. I took some shots at the 10mp picture size with I-Zoom on, and the photos in my photo software are showing 3030mm zoom and they look amazingly good! I will post a link to some shots in the first comment on the review.There are two FN buttons on the camera that can be set the way you want them to be. I set FN 1 button to Bracketing and FN 2 button to Flash Control. I may change them as time goes on, but I find it really great to be able to get Bracketing with the push of a button.I don’t care much for the lens cap, and ordered a better 55mm one on Amazon.eForCity 55mm Camera Lens Cap, BlackI use filters as it seems more often than not, I end up with my fingerprints on the lens filter. It also keeps dirt and grime from getting to the lens. It might offer some protection in an accident too. I would stay away from Hoya UV filters on this camera. I was using one for a while and noticed the photos look fuzzy at full zoom. I discovered it was the Hoya HMC filter I was using. I now use a Sigma UV filter on the camera and it works great with no distortion at high zoom.Sigma EX DG 55mm Multi-Coated UV FilterThe camera does not come with a lens hood and none is available in the Accessories on the Panasonic web site either. It seems there is no lens hood for this camera at this time.This is it for now. I will add to this review as time goes by, so check back often.Addition:I had a chance to check out the high speed picture mode with the camera and found this: At 2 fps (frames per second) all works as advertised and it takes 2 fps for an extended period of time. 5 fps - it takes 5 frames per second for 3 shots and goes back to the 2 fps rate. I tried it in Auto Focus mode and the regular mode with the same results. 9 fps - Once again, 3 shots and then the 2 fps rate. H Mode - the camera took a very fast rate of speed (at least 9 frames per second) for 9 shots, or 1 second. I have since found in the manual that at that speed the picture size is 2.5 or 3 mp. I forgot which. That is excellent. The last mode is the Flash and it will take 5 quick photos with flash before stopping. That could come in very handy at times.I really like this camera. I like the menu system on the Panasonic Cameras too. I have the Canon SX50 as well, and still have problems with the menu settings and I have had that camera for 6 months. The menu system just doesn’t make sense to me on that camera.I did a shootout with the Canon SX50, the Pany FZ200, the FZ70, and a Sony Nex 6. The FZ70 images look about the same as the Canon SX50, and in my mind better than the Pany FZ200 camera. The last shot is a Raw shot from the FZ70 camera converted to JPG. The picture files can be seen in the Comments on page 12, the 7th post.Added: After using this camera for a while now, I am even more impressed with it. It takes great pictures and I really like the Panasonic Menu, which is laid out well and easy to use. I am getting lots of keeper photos and the lack of noise in the shots is really appreciated!Addition 10-29-13 I sent the first FZ70 back because the photos at high zoom were soft. To make a long story short, it turned out that the Hoya UV filter I was using on the camera was responsible for the soft photos. I have changed to a Sigma DG 55mm filter and the results are outstanding. Sharp clear photos at all zoom levels. This camera takes photos every bit as sharp and detailed as the Panasonic FZ150 or FZ200 camera and is as good as the Canon SX50 in sharpness as well.
Immensely improved my picture taking ability
This camera works far better than I expected. Literally just point and shoot for great pictures. I decided to try the Moon shot because it should be very difficult to hold the camera steady. The moon picture on Aug 4 2014 was not done with a tripod. Think I might have a typo and put the 14th instead of the 4th but the picture is what is important. It came out very sharp for a maximum zoom picture without a tripod. I will absolutely recommend this camera to friends and family.
Wow!
I’ve been a fan of the super zoom category since 2001, back when Olympus arguably created the category with the introduction of the C700 with a 10x zoom. It was ground breaking at the time to have a camera of that size, that much zoom, and at that price point. I feel the same way about this Lumix. The 60x lens is an incredible amount of magnification that is usable, hand held, in good light, the image stabilization is that good. It may be the largest super zoom camera I’ve owned, but I don’t mind carrying it, given it’s ability to take long distance shots of small objects, with nothing more than a steady hand (in good light).
Panasonic DMC-FZ70 meets expectations
I bought this camera because I noticed that my iPhone was outperforming my Panasonic DMC-FZ100 by its’ ability to stop a tennis ball in flight. The iPhone has a feature called HDR that permits better photos of rapidly moving objects. The DMC-FZ70 also has this ability. I tested it and it also stopped tennis balls in flight. I wanted this capability for sports pictures and because I have young grandchildren that seem to be in constant motion when I want a picture. I also wanted the telephoto ability for sports and wildlife photos. It would cost a small fortune to get the telephoto ability for a DSLR camera.
and am most pleased with the resulting quality
I did a long and extensive amount of research before purchasing this camera, and am most pleased with the resulting quality, perfection and overall design of the product.
Nice long zoom camera
Brings me closer to the birds, than my 24x zoom, and wasn’t too expensive.
Three Stars
A good camera but big
Vote for hillary
The zoom on this is awsome. Also Vote for hillary
Favorite
This has turned me into an avid amateur photographer! Have taken stunning photos! Has every feature I need, excellent value for the money.
Good camera for beginners
It is a really good camera for an beginner like me. I have gotten some really good pictures with it.
Five Stars
Great camera !!
I have more expensive cameras but this is a Must
This camera I bought but I understimated its quality for much more expensives pro cameras. This lumix is Just amazng for birding because 60 x zoom and HD
Features for the price cant’ be beat, quality is nice as well.
I just got my FZ80 a few weeks ago and am beyond impressed. I needed something to supplement my drone and GoPros to do proper time lapses and 4K video, mostly for amateur…
Impressive camera at a great price!
comments powered by DisqusVery impressed with this camera. Have had it a couple years now. Most impressed with the zoom. The picture I am sharing was taken on a night when the moon was super large.
