Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-05-09)

52 9 May 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench IN THE FIELD

thePanasonicDMW-BLC12,so

sparesareeasytofind.The

batteryalsochargesquicklyvia

theUSBport,witha 1.8Asupply

includedin thebox,butyou’ll

definitelywanta coupleof spares

in yourbagona bigshoot.

Tiny,tempered

Let’snowfocusonsomeof the

manyverypositivethingsabout

this camera. Once you have

figuredoutthemenusystemand

gotusedtohowthefp handles,it’s

verynicetouse.Thisis a tough

beast,madefromdie-cast

aluminiumandsealedat 42points

againstdustandmoisture.

AlthoughtheHG-1handgripsets

youbackanother£60it really

improvesthehandling,asdoesa

(muchcheaper)wriststrap.

Sigma’sQuickSetmenualsogives

quick access to ISO, white balance,

meteringanddrivemodes,along

withimagequality,aspectratioand

fill lightoptions.Buttonanddial

customisationoptionsarelimited

butthisisn’ta bigdrawbackin

practice;aspreviouslymentioned,

thefaffingaboutneededtoselect

thefocusareais a muchbigger

niggle.TheLCD,althoughfixed,is

clearandbrightwith2.1-million-

dots.If youreallyhankerforan

eye-levelviewyoucanforkout

another£289fortheLVF-11

LCDViewFinder.Bewarned,

though,it morethandoublesthe

camera’sbulk.I wasn’tsofazed

bythelackof aneye-level

viewfinder,butit mightbea

deal-breakerforsome.

Orangeisthenewblack

OnceI workedouthowtonavigate

thefp’squirks,it provedtobea

congenialtravelcompanion.With

a wriststrapattached,it’scertainly

noproblemtocarryaroundall

day.That24MPfull-framesensor

deliversrichanddetailedDNGraw

files,whichrespondwelltoediting.

Dynamicrangeis impressivewithin

everydayISOsettings,andany

lossof shadoworhighlightdetail

wasduetotheuser,notthe

camera.DNGfilescanbeopened

byallrawprocessingprograms,

too.AsAndy’soriginalreview

revealed,youcankicktheISOup

to25,600andstillgetusable

images.Thefp alsocomesin

handywhenyouneedtoswitchto

manual focus. When using a native

butthistendstobeslowand
unresponsive.
Withitscompactdimensionsand
sharpbutrelativelysveltelens,thefp
is goodforcandidstreetandtravel
photography,andtheface-and
eye-detectionproveditsmettle
manytimes.Myimageof a moving
Shintopriestin Tokyo’sUenoPark
wasthequickestof quickgrabshots,
butturnedoutto bemuchsharper
thanI anticipated.Thisis nota
naturalcameraforanythingmoving
muchfaster,however,especially
wildlifeorsports.TheAFis based
oncontrast,ratherthanphase,
detection,butit’sfinefor
slower-movingorstaticobjects.
Youcanshootupto 18framesper
second,witha 12-framebuffer,and
goupto 1/8000sec.The
electronicshutteris silentand
Sigmahasdonea goodjobof
minimisingbandingcausedby
flickeringLEDorfluorescentlights
indoors.Witha leisurelymaximum
flashsynchronisationspeedof
1/30sec,wecan’tseemanystudio
photographersgoingforthefp.
Pleasedon’tgetthewrongidea

• therearemanypositivesabout
  thefp – butlet’sgetanother
  negativeoutof theway:the
  batterylife.Evenwithoutshooting
  anyvideo,I wasemptyingthe
  BP-51batteryaftera day;record
  videotoo,andthejuicedrains
  steadilyaway.Fortunately,it’sthe
  samebatteryusedbythedp
  Quattro series, and is identical to

ThefacedetectionAFproved

a lifesaverin thisgrabshotofa

Shintopriestwhosuddenly

walked into the frame

TheColorModes

generatesome

attractiveeffects

andstyles,

particularly

Orangeand

Teal

The45mmlensis
alsoidealfor
portraits,beingjust
thatlittlebitwider
than a nifty fifty