Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Digital Camera Review

by Patrick Singleton
Published on October 21, 2005

Navigation
Intro	Testing / Performance
Physical Tour	Components
Design / Layout	Modes
Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity / Extras	Overall Impressions
Conclusion	Specs / Ratings

Some film purists claim digital images cannot parallel the color rendering of 35mm negatives. This adage holds true for many cheaper compact digital cameras, which produce terribly inaccurate colors; however, more advanced digital processors can give 35mm negatives tough competition. As one of the most expensive non-SLR digital models on the market, the Panasonic FZ30 should perform well; the preceding FZ5 produced very accurate colors. We test the color reproduction of digital cameras by shooting several exposures of a GretagMacbeth color chart and uploading the images into Imatest Imaging Software. Imatest compared the 24 original colors of the chart to the colors produced by the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30. Below is the GretagMacbeth color chart modified by the software to illustrate the accuracy of the FZ30’s rendered tones. The inner vertical rectangle is the original color of the chart. The outer square is the color produced by the Panasonic FZ30. The inner square is the camera’s produced color, corrected for luminance.  

Those same 24 colors are shown on the spectral chart below. The ideal colors are represented by the squares; the circles represent the FZ30’s colors. It is easier to see just how accurate or inaccurate each color is with the line that connects them. The longer the line is, the more inaccurate that particular color.  

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 proves that the film buffs either still have grounds to avoid digital photography, or should bump up to a true digital SLR. The FZ30 achieved an overall color score of 7.36, which is decent but still not completely accurate. The overall color error was 6.36, while red #15 and green #14 were erroneous to the extreme. Part of the reason this model performed below par is because it was tested with the noise reduction mode on high. While the noise reduction mode is absolutely necessary on the FZ30, colors captured in NR high mode lost accuracy and saturation in the process. Still, the Lumix FZ30 over-saturated by only 6.2 percent. Overall, the 7.36 color score is a bit disappointing and does not offer the reproduction potential of closely priced DSLRs.  

 

Below is a shot of our Coleridge-esque still life scene captured with the Panasonic FZ30.

While the FZ30’s lens is impressive in its range and the MEGA O.I.S. functions do a good job of providing sharp images when there is camera shake, the sharpness of the images themselves was not quite as impressive.  

We again used Imatest Imaging Software to provide another means of analyzing the FZ30’s images. Imatest reports sharpness as LW/PH as opposed to the more conventional lp/ph because the later is geared towards 35mm negatives which offer a standard size, unlike digital cameras with varying sensor dimensions. Since the FZ30 does not contain a full frame sensor, but rather a 1/1.8” CCD imaging chip, the scores are reported in LW/PH.  

 

Imatest detected 1607 horizontal LW/PH and 1600 vertical LW/PH.  This is decent for a compact camera, but for the highly regarded Leica-branded glass, it is a bit disappointing.   

 

Panasonic’s digital cameras may have lots of strong attributes, but they are not known for their crisp images sans noise. Many of the Lumix models have the same problem with noise. Panasonic’s attempted remedy on the FZ30 was multiple noise reduction modes; however, even with the mode set on high, resulting images were still plagued by noise. The Panasonic FZ30 automatically selected a sensitivity setting equivalent to ISO 150 in our studio setup of 3000 lux. Noise was prevalent, giving this digital camera a disappointing overall automatic ISO noise score of 2.21.

 

We tested the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 with noise reduction set to Standard and then High to determine how effective the setting functioned in practice. Below is a chart showing the ISO levels on the horizontal axis and the noise levels on the vertical axis. The blue line shows the noise levels with the noise reduction mode on standard, while the red line illustrates the camera’s performance with the mode on high.

When all of the noise levels from the manual ISO settings were compiled into a regression analysis, the overall manual ISO noise score came out to a rather unsatisfactory 3.3. 

 

Because the sun is only up for so long and many photographers continue shooting at night, we test the low light performance of digital cameras. We do this by taking pictures of the color chart in progressively lower levels of light. 60 lux is equivalent to the amount of light emitted from two bulbs in a ceiling-mounted lamp. 30 lux is about the light from a single 40-watt bulb. We test the cameras at 15 and 5 lux as well to see how the camera will respond to longer exposures and handle minimal illumination.  

 

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

 

The Panasonic DMC-FZ30 performed much better than any of its other Lumix relatives in terms of illumination. Despite the waning light, the FZ30 retains fairly consistent illumination. The big drawback of this model’s low light performance is the same drawback it has in other areas: noise. Even with the noise reduction on high, there are purple speckles throughout the color charts. The FZ30’s noise problem is not unique to low light; noise does get worse with increased exposure duration, but image clarity will be an issue whenever shooting with the FZ30.

The noise graph below indicates a sharp increase in noise when exposures span just over a half second, so beware of this when shooting at night or slowing the shutter down.

For some reason, we have received a good deal of feedback from readers compelled to compare the Panasonic FZ30 to the Canon EOS 20D. While this does not seem very reasonable to us with the jump in price and performance capabilities in the 20D, we have included some night crops for those interested readers. The images below illustrate the difference in image quality between the two models. For greater clarity, they are magnified 200%. All of the images were shot in Aperture Priority mode with the lens open to f/2.8 and Auto white balance. Test images recorded with the Canon EOS 20D were shot using the 18-55mm EF-S kit lens.   

Start-up to First Shot (8.16)
The Panasonic FZ30 improves greatly on its other Lumix line models in the start-up area. While other Panasonic models were taking about 4 seconds to start up, the FZ30 is taking a much improved and more competitive 1.84 seconds to start up and take its first shot.

Shot to Shot (9.18)
There are two burst modes on the FZ30. The high burst mode is just short of 3 frames per second with its 0.3975 average time between shots. The infinite burst mode is a little slower at 0.575 seconds, but bursts until the card is full.

Shutter to Shot (8.24)
There is some shutter lag in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30. It takes the digital camera 0.38 seconds to take the shot from the time the shutter release button is pressed.