Lens Limitations

At the end of the day, the lens in the Lumix DMC-FZ30 is still limited by the target price point. So, while the FZ30 still has a well-designed lens with 14 elements in 10 groups with one extra-low-dispersion (ED) element and 3 aspherical elements, it is not up to the apochromatic standards of Leica and it is not going to have the edge-to-edge sharpness of the Leica R-mount zoom lenses with non-linear movement of the internal elements. However, this is where design synergy comes into play. Although the lens still has chromatic aberration and vignetting, Panasonic applies additional digital processing to further correct these flaws via the on-board processor they've marketed as the Venus Engine II. Likewise, the smaller sensor works to mask focus errors that can occur from relying on conventional optical compensation with linear motion of elements.

What about the noise?

Unfortunately, the smaller sensor has its own problems. Having a superb lens and the Venus Engine II means that Panasonic has had to make sacrifices elsewhere. In comparison to other point-and-shoot 8-megapixel digital cameras such as the Sony DSC-F828, Canon PowerShot Pro1, Olympus C8080, and Nikon Coolpix 8800, the Lumix FZ30 has a sensor that's about 30% smaller. This translates into increased noise (film grain).

Using a 7 megapixel sensor from Sony would likely have produced a camera with less noise, however this would be a moot point because it would have cost Panasonic more money to incorporate a third party sensor or required Panasonic to sacrifice lens quality or the performance of the on-board processor. As a comparison, the Nikon Coolpix 8800 is $1000. The Canon PowerShot Pro 1 which is closer in price to the Lumix FZ30 does not have image stabilization.

In practice, the smaller sensor of the FZ30 means that we'll be limited to ISO 80 and 100 for maximum picture quality. This means that the DMC-FZ30 will have a tougher time with low-light photography in comparison to its peers. Image stabilization helps by allowing you to have a slower shutter by preventing camera shake, however it cannot freeze the motion of your subjects.

Lumix FZ30 compared to a 70-200mm and 400mm Canon lens

We'll leave further discussion of noise to the hands-on part of this article. Let's take a look at the Canon EOS-20D.