Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 Review
Review Date: September 15th 2008
Author: Mark Goldstein
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Conclusion
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Ratings
(out of 5) |
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| Design | 4.5 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Ease-of-Use | 4.5 |
| Image Quality | 4.5 |
| Value for Money | 3.5 |
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 is an incremental upgrade of an already excellent camera, with few design changes and a smattering of internal improvements. Unless you really want to shoot 720p HD movies, there's little to tempt current DMC-FZ18 owners to upgrade, but if you're in the market for an all-in-one, do-everything camera, the DMC-FZ28 should be at the top of your list. You can get crisp close-ups with the minimum of fuss, whether shooting from a safe distance away using the extreme telephoto, or taking macro shots with the camera's lens practically resting on your subject matter. Plus, that 27mm wide-angle setting lets you capture the whole scene before you without having to step back too far - and all without having to buy an expensive set of comparable lenses, as with a DSLR system.
The move from an 8 to 10 megapixel sensor thankfully hasn't come at the expense of image quality, which has actually been slightly improved since the last generation of Lumix models. ISO 800 on the DMC-FZ28 is comparable to ISO 400 on the older FZ18, despite the increase in megapixels, with much less aggressive noise-reduction techniques. I'd be happy to use ISO 100-400 for most photos, with ISO 800 reserved for low-light situations, a marked improvement on the FZ18. Having said that, image quality isn't in the same league as even the cheapest DSLR, especially at the higher ISO settings, so if that's your main priority, you'd be better off compromising on the zoom range and looking elsewhere.
The main new feature offered by the DMC-FZ28 is the HD video mode, with the added benefit of being able to use the zoom during shooting. While it sounds great on paper and fits in well with Panasonic's vision of an HD-enabled home, the DMC-FZ28 is no match for an entry-level dedicated video camcorder, and also suffers from some glitches including slow and inconsistent continuous auto-focus, very slow zooming speed, muffled sound-quality and huge file sizes that quickly fill your memory card. 720p HD video in a pocketable camera is still a nice-to-have feature, but don't buy the DMC-FZ28 solely because of this headline-grabbing feature.
In summary the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 is a marginally better camera than the FZ18, with better image quality, a slightly bigger LCD screen, very useful and improved Intelligent Auto mode for beginners, and the added attraction of HD video. And thanks to it's essential core feature of that excellent Leica-branded lens, which exhibits very little barrel or pin-cushion distortion despite the huge zoom range, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 remains the super-zoom camera to beat.
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