Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 5.5Mb.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 produced images of very good quality during the review period. The 1/2.33 inch, 14 megapixel MOS sensor used in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 produces noise-free images at ISO 100-200, with limited noise and colour desaturation starting to appear at ISO 400. ISO 800 exhibits quite visible noise, smearing of fine detail and colour desaturation, and ISO 1600 is even noisier, although still usable for small prints.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 dealt very well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The pop-up flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate exposure. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 60 seconds allowing you to capture plenty of light. Anti-shake is a feature that works very well when hand-holding the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto end of the zoom range.

Macro performance is amazing, allowing you to focus as close as 1 cm away from the subject (although it's difficult to get the lighting correct at such a close distance). The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. The new Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some unwanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 24x optical zoom to 32x, again with a slight loss in quality.

Noise

There are 5 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100's 24x zoom lens provides a focal length of 25-600mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

25mm	600mm

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 has 2 different image quality settings available, with Fine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

14M Fine (5.70Mb) (100% Crop)	14M Normal (3.37Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 handled chromatic aberrations excellently during the review. There's very slight purple fringing between areas of high contrast, but it's only noticeable on really close inspection, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)	Example 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 1cm away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 are Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction, Forced Off, and Flash Synchro. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (25mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (25mm)
Flash Off - Telephoto (600mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (600mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Forced On setting or the Auto/Red-eye Reduction option caused any amount of red-eye.

Forced On	Forced On (100% Crop)
Auto/Red-eye Reduction	Auto/Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100's maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds in Manual shooting mode and the Starry Sky Mode scene mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100. I've included a 100% crop of the image to show what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/20th / 25mm
1/25th / 600mm

Intelligent Resolution

The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look like a higher resolution one by processing the contour areas, texture areas and smooth areas individually, or it digitally boosts the zoom magnification from 24x to 32x.

Off	On
i.Zoom
Off	i.Zoom

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 camera, which were all taken using the 14 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Panasonic RAW (RW2) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Turned On

Isometric View

Isometric View

Front of the Camera / Flash Raised

Front of the Camera / Lens Hood Fitted

Front of the Camera / Lens Hood Fitted

Rear of the Camera / LCD Screen Closed

Rear of the Camera / LCD Screen Open

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Quick Menu

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Rear of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Front of the Camera / Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The popular FZ38 camera is a hard act to follow, but the new Lumix DMC-FZ100 propels Panasonic back to the super-zoom leading pack, with a host of new features and usability enhancements that add up to one very capable do-it-all camera. The FZ100 only narrowly misses out on our highest award thanks to poor image quality at higher ISO speeds and the rather eye-watering price tag.

With the addition of a 24x zoom lens, 11fps burst shooting for JPEG and RAW files, large free-angle LCD screen, full HD 1080p movie mode recording, rear control dial and external hotshoe, the DMC-FZ100 is a far more capable and also more intuitive camera than its predecessor. It may not be able to match the 30x zoom or DSLR-like manual zoom and focus ring controls of its main rival, the Fujifilm HS10, but importantly it's much faster to use when shooting RAW files, something that drove us mad when reviewing the HS10.

There is one key area where the Panasonic DMC-FZ100 doesn't improve on its rivals or its predecessor, though, namely the poorer image quality once you get above ISO 400. Noise is apparent at ISO 400 but becomes much more obvious at ISO 800 along with smearing of fine details, with the fastest speed of ISO 1600 being something of a last resort. Although this is a similar performance to the year-old FZ38, we'd hoped for some improvements in this area. The merely average quality electronic viewfinder is also disappointingly the same as the one on the FZ38.

In these tough economic times, price is also a big concern. £449.99 / $499.95 is a lot to ask though for what is still essentially a fixed lens camera with a comparatively tiny image sensor, and is certainly a lot more than the £329.99 / $399.95 launch price of the FZ38. That said, there's no denying that the FZ100 is a more fully-featured, easier to use and faster camera than its predecessor, and with full HD movie recording on-board, it could replace your video camcorder. Just like the Fujifilm HS10, it also makes less or more sense depending on what you're comparing it to. Taken as a super-zoom, it's one of the most expensive models on the market, but also one of the most capable in terms of features. As a DSLR alternative, the FZ100 clearly makes a lot of economic sense if you want a similar handling experience but don't mind a drop in image quality.

If you can stomach the price, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 is certainly a lot of still and video camera for the money, offering a relatively compact all-in-one solution that will more than satisfy most photographer's needs.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4
Value for money	4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 from around the web.

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