Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200

Introduction
The Panasonic FZ200 is the company's latest superzoom camera and even at this early stage we think it'll be the best one yet. Its key feature is its lens which not only spans a vast focal length range of 25-600mm - some 24x zoom - but maintains a maximum aperture of f2.8 through its entire length. We're used to seeing cameras with f2.8 at their wide angle setting but to have such fast glass all the way to 600mm on a superzoom camera is almost unheard of.

The wide aperture means more light can enter the camera, for better low light performance, and you'll get better bokeh effects too.

On top of this, you also get 12fps continuous shooting, 1080p video, a fully articulated screen, full manual controls, a popup flash and hot shoe for external flashes and much more.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has a fixed lens with a focal length range of 25-600mm and constant f2.8 aperture for great low light performance and bokeh effects.

Design
The FZ200 isn't a subtle camera. It doesn't try and hide its large lens, or omit features for the sake of elegance. It's supposed to be a camera that does everything and it doesn't mind showing it. It's essentially as big as an SLR, with a large handgrip, viewfinder, popup flash, and of course that lens, and it's covered in controls too.

Screen and Controls
So, pocketable it certainly isn't. But, all that bulk and all those controls do make it a superbly nice camera to handle. The handgrip is large, nicely contoured and rubber coated for a comfortable and secure grip. On the back there's also a rubberised and raised thumb rest, to further help keep things steady.

The main controls also fall nicely within reach of finger or thumb, and there are dedicated buttons for video recording, continuous shooting and a function of your choice on the top plate alongside the motorised zoom control and shutter button.

You do only get one adjustment wheel, though, so it's a little slower to control in full manual mode than mid to high-end SLRs.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200's zoom lens is motorised rather than manual, with controls on the side of the lens and around the shutter button.

As well as the zoom control round the shutter button there's one on the side of the lens, which offers a finer control of zoom speed - all the better for steady video recording. This sits alongside a quick switch for auto or manual focus, and a button for manually operating the autofocus when in manual mode - a really useful feature for quickly setting the focus on your subject then reframing your shot.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has a full set of manual controls as well as a hot shoe and stereo mics for video recording.

Another key feature of the FZ200 is its 3in screen. With a resolution of 460,000 dots, it's not the sharpest going (SLRs offer 900,000 ) but it's better than most compacts (250,000 ish) and offers accurate colours, and has great viewing angles. Not that viewing angles could ever be a problem here as this screen is fully articulated. You can have it flat against the camera body, outstretched at any angle for convenient viewing and arguably most crucial of all, you can flip the screen to face the body of the camera to keep it protected.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has an articulated screen for easy shots at awkward angles.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has an articulated screen for easy shots at awkward angles.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has a 3in 460,000 pixel screen - not as sharp as high-end DSLRs but better than most compacts.

As well as a screen you get a high-quality electronic viewfinder too, which is particularly useful for framing shots in bright lighting conditions, or just when you fancy isolating yourself from the world around you to frame your shot. Its resolution is equivalent to 1,312,000 dots, which is impressively high. However, it's equivalent because it's of the field-sequential type where each colour is shown one after the other at 60fps. While you're still this is fine but moving the camera or blinking can result in you noticing the separate colours, which can be distracting. Still, it's markedly better than what's offered on most other equivalent cameras.

Performance
Turning the Panasonic FZ200 on and we're immediately struck by how quickly it's ready to get going, suggesting there should be few occasions where you miss your shots waiting for the camera to startup. What's more autofocus performance is stunning. Right the way across the focal length range we found it focussed near instantly during our testing. Lighting in the test area was good but even so it put the Samsung NX200 we were shooting with to shame.

Combined with a continuous shooting speed of 12fps, this has to be the perfect camera for budding sports photographers looking for something that'll capture the fast moving action closeup.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 at 600mm.

Video and Image Stabilisation
We've found Panasonic's Hybrid OIS to be the best image stabilisation system going and so it proves here with it remaining easy to shoot handheld shots at full 600mm without any blurring. Likewise when shooting video the camera eliminated an impressive amount of shake.

Video can be shot at Full HD 1080p, though 3D isn't on offer. Audio is recorded in stereo by two microphones on the flash or you can plug in an external microphone.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 has a pop up flash as well as a hot shoe for external flashes.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200's lens allows for a range of closeup and wide angles shots.


The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200's f2.8 lens combined with its Hybrid OIS and lightning fast autofocus allows you to get up close and personal without getting blurry shots or missing the moment.

The big question we can't yet answer is what the image quality of the FZ200 is like. With a small compact camera-sized sensor, it's not going to rival an SLR - something that is reflected in its relatively modest 12MP resolution. But the shots we took certainly looked great on the camera's screen, and that f2.8 lens should at the very least offer decent low light performance.

Wrap Up
All told, we're really impressed by the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200. That it offers a 25-600mm, f2.8 lens is staggering enough but that it then backs this up with excellent performance, superb ergonomics and a plethora of features leaves us truly bowled over. All that remains to be seen is how image quality holds up and what its high-street price will be.