Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35

Resolution (14.13)

Resolution testing results for the FZ35 proved exceptionally strong. We evaluate sharpness, chromatic aberration (color fringing) and distortion in this three-part testing section, and the Panasonic outscored or equaled our three comparison cameras in all three categories. We shoot our resolution test under bright studio lighting, at three focal lengths, using program mode for compact and ultrazoom cameras. The Panasonic autoexposure system consistently kept the aperture as wide open as possible, maximizing shutter speed, which seems logical for a camera where maintaining long-lens handheld steadiness is likely to be a challenge. More on how we test resolution.

Distortion (15.0)

Long-lens cameras are prone to distortion problems, but the 18x Leica 4.8-86.4mm lens (27-486mm equivalent) was surprisingly trouble-free across the board. There’s modest barrel distortion at the widest setting (0.62%), and test shots at maximum telephoto range have just 0.18% pincushioning.

The flexibility of an ultrazoom focal length range usually leads to substantial problems in some areas of our resolution testing regimen, but the Lumix FZ35 proved an impressive performer across the board, deliveirng the best test results of our comparison group by a respectable margin.

Sharpness (16.16)

Image sharpness remains very high throughout the zoom range, with maximum performance at the midrange and slightly lower, but still impressive results at full telephoto.There is some visible oversharpening, which was taken into account in figuring the final score in this section.

Chromatic Aberration (7.73)

Chromatic aberration, the color halo surrounding lines in a photo when the lens can’t align the incoming light perfectly, is extremely low when shooting at the widest angle and midrange lens settings.There is some slight color fringing visible in the same-size crops taken from our test photos shot at maximum zoom below, but you’d be hard pressed to see this at any realistic enlargement size.

Quality & Size Options (11.00)

There’s a lot of flexibility in aspect ratio and image sizes here. As shown below, you can shoot in 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9 aspect ratio, with fourteen image size options in all.

There are two JPEG compression settings, Fine and Standard. The FZ35 supports RAW format shooting along with RAW+JPEG, but the JPEG image is saved with Standard rather than Fine compression.

Image Stabilization (6.32)

In our testing, the image stabilization system provided only modest insurance against camera shake, unfortunate in an ultrazoom camera which will inevitably be handheld in difficult shooting circumstances. We mount the camera in a computer-controlled rig that produces predictable camera movement. We set the system for a low shake level (about what you’d expect while shooting two-handed), zoom the lens to its full telephoto extent and shoot at 1/30 second with image stabilization turned on and off. By measuring the resolution difference between the two sets of test images, we can determine how much of an improvement the image stabilization system produces (in this case, about 13%). More on how we test image stabilization.

Stabilization Comparisons
Panasonic DMC-FZ35	Canon SX1 IS	Nikon P90	Sony DSC-HX1
Stabilization Off
Stabilization On

The Canon SX1 and Sony HX1 image stabilization systems were far more effective in controlling blur caused by camera shake. On the other hand, the NIkon P90 system produced no measurable improvement at all.