Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-06-08)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 8 June 2019 47

CAMERA TEST Testbench

FEATURES 8/10

BUILD& HANDLING 7/10

METERING 8/10

AUTOFOCUS 8/10

AWB& COLOUR 8/10

DYNAMICRANGE 7/10

IMAGEQUALITY 8/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 8/10

WhiletheFZ1000II’s1-inchsensoris nomatchforanAPS-Corfull-frame

sensor,it certainlyprovidesa considerableadvantageoverthemuch

smaller1/2.3-inchsensorstraditionallyusedin bridgecamerasin terms

ofnoiseperformance.Atlow-sensitivitysettingsofISO 100 toISO 400

resultsaremostlycleanandfreeofnoise,althoughbyISO 800 some

imagedeteriorationis visibleat100%.ByISO 3200 imagedegradationis

morenoticeable,withimagesdisplayingvisiblyincreasednoiseanda

sharpdrop-offin detail.Beyondthis,imagequalityquicklytailsoff with

thehighestsensitivity settings bestforemergencyuse only.

Noise

RAWISO 80 RAW ISO 100 RAW ISO 400

RAW ISO 1600 RAW ISO 6400 RAW ISO 25,600

Resolution

JPEGimagescapturedatthelowestnativesensitivity
settingofISO 100 arecapableofresolvingupto3,200
linesperpictureheight,droppingto3,000l/phatISO
400 and2,800l/phbyISO1600.Howeverourlabtests
revealed that it’s possible to squeeze alittlemore

resolutionfromrawimages,withISO 100 resolving

3,400l/phwhileISO 400 producesa figureof3,200l/ph

andISO 1600 is capableof3,000l/ph.Thehighest

nativesettingof12,800producesa figureof2,200l/ph

forJPEGsand 2,400l/phforrawimages.

Withits1-inchtype20.1MPsensorwe’dexpecttheFZ1000II toproducebetterresultsthan
thesmaller1/2.3-inchsensorsthatarecommontomanycheaperbridgecameras,andindeed
thisis confirmedbyourlabtests.TheFZ1000II is fittedwithanopticallow-passfilter,although
thisdoesn’tpreventit fromproducingsharpresults– especiallyat lowersensitivitysettings.
Likewise,in-cameraJPEGimageprocessingis generallyquitekindtoimagesat lowISOsettings,
although cranking up the sensitivity does quickly lead to a drop-off in overall image quality.

Lab results

AndrewSydenham’slabtestsrevealjusthowthe camera performs

Ourcamerasandlensesaretestedusingtheindustry-

standardImageEngineeringIQ-Analysersoftware.

Visit http://www.image-engineering.de for more details

BRIDGEcamerasoccupya curiousplacein

today’sdigitalcameramarket.Whilethey

usedtoplugthegapbetweenregular

compactsandDSLRs,thatspacehasnow

beenlargelyclaimedbymirrorlesscameras.

Onewaythatmanufacturershavefought

backagainstthisis byequippingtheirlatest

modelswithasmanyusefultoolsand

featuresaspossible.Thishashelpedto

ensurethatbridgecamerasremaina viable

optionforthoseseekinga one-size-fits-all

camerathatcancoverjustaboutany

eventualitywithouttheneedtoreachintoa

camerabagtoswaplenses.TheFZ1000II

is a classicexampleof thisapproachandis

generouslywell-equippedwitha widerange

of features.Thatsaidit takessomegetting

usedto,withanextensivemenusystemand

manycustomisationoptions.

Unfortunately,andasis oftenthecase

withbridgecameras,theFZ1000II is rather

largeandheavy,andin thisrespectcarrying

it aroundwithyoualldaydoesrequirea bit

of commitment,orat leasta decentshoulder

bag.Thoseaftersomethingmorediscreet

andportablemightfindthey’rebetterserved

bya travelcompactliketheLumixTZ200.

WhilePASMexposuremodesandraw

captureareprovidedforthosewhoprefer

totakefullcontrolovertheirimagesat the

captureandpost-processingstage,I suspect

thattheFZ1000II is morelikelytoappealto

thoselookingtogetinstantresultsstraight

fromthecamera.Thankfully,thisis anarea

wheretheFZ1000II shines.JPEGimage

qualityfromthe1insensoris verygoodand

representsa step-upin qualityoversmaller

1/2.3insensorsthatmanycheaperbridge

camerascomefittedwith.

Overallthere’sa lottolikeaboutthe

FZ1000II andit certainlyhasa lotgoingfor

it, albeitwithsomeminorhandlingandsize/

weightcaveats.If youcanlivewiththeseand

you’rein themarketfora bridgecamera,the

FZ1000 II is defi nitely worth a closer look.

Verdict

Hereweshowdetailsfromour
resolutioncharttestpattern
(above).Multiplythenumber
beneaththelinesby 200 togive
theresolutionin lines per
picture height.

RAW

ISO 25,600

RAW

ISO 6400

RAW

ISO 1600

RAW

ISO 100

Thecropsshownbelowaretaken
from the area outlined above in red

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