Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
The S9000 started up and took a shot for us in 1.22 seconds, while the FZ30 takes 1.84. Both are much faster than many compact cameras and much slower than most DSLRs. In many situations, users should keep the cameras turned on rather than hoping to get them started up before a shot disappears. We'd prefer that the cameras start up in less than a second – DSLRs usually clock in at under 1/4. Neither of these models comes close to that standard, but the S9000's 0.62-second advantage is substantial.
Shot to Shot (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
The FZ30 comes close to a 3 frames-per-second burst for 5 images in Fine mode, while the S9000 shoots less than 2 frames per second for up to 4 images. Both cameras have continuous burst modes, but they're much slower. The FZ30 drops to less than 2 frames per second, and the S9000 drops to a glacial 1.1 fps. Most DSLRs shoot bursts of 10 or more frames at a full 3 frames per second or faster.
Shutter to Shot (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
Shutter lag, the delay between pressing the shutter and getting the shot, is the critical timing measurement for most photographers. The ideal camera would have no delay at all: it would capture exactly what the photographer sees at the moment he or she presses the shutter. Even the most responsive cameras delay a little bit, however, in the range of 0.04 seconds. Many DSLRs delay about 0.08 seconds.
Unfortunately, the S9000 delayed much longer, about 0.45 seconds. The FZ30 delayed 0.9-seconds in our test. As we noted in our Autofocus section, those kinds of delays make it pretty tough to snag a good shot of an active subject.
Overall, the S9000 wins the speed contest purely for its shutter-to-shot score. The difference in start-up time is much less significant, and burst rate is only important in a camera responsive enough to shoot action – with shutter delays like these, shooting action is pretty much a random game.
Resolution
We test sharpness by photographing a standard ISO resolution chart and evaluate the images with Imatest software. Imatest measures line-widths per picture height (LW/PH), a unit that remains constant, regardless of image sensor size. Because of the way sensors are arranged on imaging chips, it's common for cameras to achieve different horizontal and vertical resolution scores, so we check both. In our standard reviews of the FZ30 and the S9000, we report how each camera performed at its optimum settings. For this comparison, we have added a variety of tests to indicate the cameras' performance in diverse circumstances.
Resolution: Maximum Aperture (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
We tested both the FZ30 and the S9000 at the equivalent of 85mm, or a slight telephoto, with their apertures set wide open: f/2.8. The FZ30 resolved the equivalent of 1704 LW/PH horizontally and 1741 LW/PH vertically. The S9000 scored a very comparable 1746 LW/PH horizontally, but only 1481 LW/PH vertically. That's a larger gap than we usually see between vertical and horizontal. Throughout our testing, we saw larger gaps between horizontal and vertical with the S9000 than with the FZ30, indicating that the difference probably relates to the sensor designs.
Corner Sharpness (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
We also tested edge and corner sharpness with the two cameras, shooting with the lenses set to 50mm equivalent. As with other resolution tests, the cameras yielded similar results.
Focal Range (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
We tested the two cameras throughout their zoom ranges. Because the S9000 has a wider-angle lens and the FZ30 has a longer telephoto, the line plots don't overlap throughout the ranges, but they show an interesting contrast – the FZ30, with its long telephoto, improves at longer focal lengths, while the S9000, with its extended wide angle capability, performs better at short focal lengths. The two cameras do best in the distinctive parts of their range.
Horizontally the FZ30 has a mean resolution horizontally of 1610 when averaged from our test results. The S9000 has a slight edge in terms of horizontal resolution with its averaged reading of 1701. Interestingly the FZ30 does have a higher vertical lwph average of 1620 while the S9000 fluctuates to a markedly lower 1528. These results, if averaged together, will produce a marginal advantage for the FZ30 but this difference is negligible.
Image Stabilization vs High ISO (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
Departing from our typical use of a sturdy tripod to hold the cameras steady and yield the best possible results, we added a more real-world test. We shot the two cameras handheld in low light to compare their strategies for avoiding motion blur. Shooting the FZ30 at ISO 400 with Optical Image Stabilization on mode 1, we got sharp shots at 1/30 of a second, with reasonable noise results. The FZ30 recorded 1127 LW/PH (Vertical), with 15.4% undersharpening and 1066 LW/PH (Horizontal), with 20.1% undersharpening hand-held, with a noise score of 2.8575.
The Fujifilm S9000, at an ISO of 1600 which allowed a shutter speed of 1/420, recorded 1341 LW/PH (Horizontal), with 15.1% undersharpening and 1568 LW/PH (Vertical), with 11% undersharpening. Its high resolutions scores were at the expense of noise, however, scoring 3.3975 on the noise segment of the test.
The FZ30 is the superior performer in our resolution tests. First, its horizontal and vertical results are consistent, which is a minor but notable advantage. Second, the FZ30's OIS system produced an acceptable result at 1/30 of a second, at ISO 400, while the S9000, which lacks optical stabilization, produced a sharp but very noisy image in the same conditions, because we had to bump the ISO to 1600.
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Panasonic FZ30 - IS
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 400
Color Fringing (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
The lenses on the S9000 and the FZ30 don't show much color aberration in our test shots. Usually, our dynamic range images are a torture test for color fringing. The S9000 images show some mild color contamination, but not much. The lower left margins of the numbers are a bit pink, while the upper rights are tinged with green. Though the FZ30 shows some color noise in the whites, it doesn't show the consistent colored borders that constitute fringing. We shot these images in the middle of the camera's telephoto ranges, where they should perform best.
Fujifilm S9000
Panasonic FZ30
Looking at the corners of wide-angle shots, where there should be more of a problem, we note more color fringing in the S9000 image, with a bold green halo around the white zipper. The FZ30 shows slight fringing as well. Though the FZ30 performs better, it's worth noting that the S9000's zoom was at its widest setting for this shot. It's much wider than the FZ30's lens, and zooms are more prone to fringing at their wide settings.
The FZ30 wins this test, but we hasten to note that the cameras perform more comparably at comparable focal lengths.
Moiré (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
The problem most photographers call moiré often translates into a subtle color error that affects areas of very fine, high-contrast detail. Both the S9000 and the FZ30 produce moiré patterns, as we discovered when we shot a standard “star pattern” test target from about 8 feet away with the cameras set to 35mm equivalent focal length. Our sample images started out at 160 pixels square and were blown up to 320 pixels to show the effect more clearly.
In our test, both cameras add color artifacts to the black and white target. The S9000 introduces much less than the FZ30, which builds up both warm and cool colors at the left, right, top and bottom of the target.
Fujifilm S9000
Panasonic FZ30
Moiré is a problem that manufacturers combat with anti-aliasing filters, which are optical elements on the sensors. The filters can cut apparent sharpness, and so it isn't surprising that the camera with sharper images, the FZ30, would have the worse moiré problem.
The S9000 wins this test, though the FZ30's problem may arise from its image sharpness.
Distortion (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
It's common for long zooms like the 12x on the FZ30 and the 10x on the S9000 to show barrel distortion at their wide-angle settings, and both lenses distort. Though the S9000 has a more extreme wide-angle setting – equivalent to a 28mm lens – it produces less apparent distortion than the FZ30 at its widest setting. In the cropped wide-angle images, the bright red line is straight, and was added in post-processing. The green and blue lines are part of the shot, and would appear straight if the cameras didn't distort them.
Fujifilm S9000 - barrel distortion
Panasonic FZ30 - barrel distortion
At their telephoto settings, the cameras perform better. At the 300mm equivalent, the S9000 doesn't show distortion at all – the black, straight lines of the grid look straight in our image. The FZ30's grid shows slight pincushion distortion at its maximum zoom, a 420mm equivalent. We added a bright green straight line to each image to compare with the black grid.
Fujifilm S9000 - tele distortion
Panasonic FZ30 - tele distortion
The S9000 takes this category, with less distortion over a more-challenging zoom range – its extended wide-angle capability could reasonably have caused more extreme distortion.
Noise / High ISO Performance (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
Noise in images is variations of color and brightness where they don't belong. All sorts of problems can contribute to noise – the image chip itself can create bad signals when a charge builds up in a sensor site because of heat or static, the image processor can add noise as it creates a JPEG, and so on. We use Imatest to examine our test images for noise. The S9000 performed better than the FZ30 in our analysis. The S9000 delivered lower noise at ISO 80, and maintained low scores as ISO increased to 400. The FZ30's scores were higher and got worse as ISO increased. The S9000's scores for ISO 800 and 1600 were much worse than its scores at lower settings, which is disappointing, because it didn't do as well as other compact cameras from Fujifilm and because it relies on its higher sensitivities as an image stabilization by proxy. The FZ30 displayed much more noise than the S9000 at ISO 400 and does not have 800 or 1600 ISO settings.
Night Scene
The following night scene shots were captured in aperture priority mode, with the apertures wide open. The cameras were placed on a tripod and set to average metering and auto white balance to remove as much human interference as possible.
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 80
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 80
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 100
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 100
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 200
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 200
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 400
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 400
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 800
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 1600
Low Light / Long Exposures (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
Light is what makes photography work, and most technology works best with lots of it. In low light, cameras need long exposure times, high ISO settings, or both. High ISO settings come at the cost of elevated noise levels. Long exposure times cause problems for digital cameras as heat builds up in imaging chips, and also add additional noise to images. It's also common for colors to lose saturation and take on casts in low light.
To test how cameras react to these challenges, we run a set of shots of a darkened street scene, testing long exposure times and various ISO settings.
Comparing two shots at ISO 80, with exposures of about 30 seconds – the FZ30 shot at 30 seconds and f/10, and the S9000 shot it at 32 seconds and f/9.8 – the FZ30 delivered much more saturated colors and a better-exposed image than the S9000. Given the sodium vapor, neon and fluorescent light sources, it's not wise to say that one image is more accurate than the other, but the S9000's green leaves are more plant-like, and the FZ30's tree looks bluish and electric. The white sign in the background is more neutral in the S9000 shot, but the dimly-lit copper flashing on the roof at right is also more neutral and subdued.
Fujifilm S9000 - 30 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 30 seconds
Fujifilm S9000 - 20 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 20 seconds
Fujifilm S9000 - 10 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 10 seconds
Comparing the same scene shot at ISO 80 for 5 seconds shows the same performance difference between the two cameras: the FZ30 shows brighter color and more shadow detail.
Fujifilm S9000 - 05 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 05 seconds
The FZ30's saturated colors, longer shutter durations (offering 40, 50, and 60 second exposures), and good exposure give it the advantage in this test. Neutral colors may be more a sign of desaturation than color balance in light like this.
Panasonic FZ30 - 40 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 50 seconds
Panasonic FZ30 - 60 seconds
Dynamic Range (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
A camera's dynamic range is the span of light and dark it can capture with detail. Subjects that are too bright for a given exposure are rendered pure white. Those that are too dark appear purely black.
Dynamic Range is not likely to be a strong suit for cameras with 1/1.8 and 1/1.6-inch sensors. The size of a camera's individual photo-sites is a key variable in dynamic range, and the S9000 and the FZ30 have small ones. Still, both Fujifilm and Panasonic tend to deliver better-than-average results on this test.
We use a standardized laboratory test for dynamic range, photographing a translucent Stouffer test target that is lit from behind. The target shows a series of rectangles that range from nearly clear to almost opaque. The lightest rectangle is more than 13 EV brighter than the darkest. We use Imatest software to analyze each camera's images of the target at each ISO setting.
The FZ30 and the S900 are closely matched in Imatest's Low-Quality measurement, which shows the number of steps the cameras distinguish with 1 full EV of noise. This low-quality range indicates that highlight and shadow values will retain some texture, but not crisp, readable detail. It's common for good compact cameras to score at or slightly over 10 EV at their lowest ISO setting, and both the S9000 and the FZ30 do. The S9000 keeps it up for ISO 100, but drops nearly a full stop at 200, and levels out for 400. 800 and 1600 also show a steady decline. The FZ30 shows a significant drop from 80 to 100, another drop at 200, and not much deterioration at 400, so that the two cameras have very similar low-quality scores at 400.
The High Quality measurement shows the range of tones over which each camera will render images with no more than 1/10 of an EV of noise. That's the part of the image that people look at, so it's much more important. At ISO 80, the cameras are closely matched, but the S9000 has a significant edge at ISOs 100 and 200. The gap is small at ISO 400, but still in the S9000's favor.
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 80
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 80
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 400
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 400
The S9000 has a significant edge in the dynamic range tests, with generally superior performance. It ought to be particularly useful that ISO 100 and 200 look good on the S9000 – keeping the ISO pegged at the minimum setting is a pain, but that's the best strategy with the FZ30.
Color (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
We test cameras for color accuracy by shooting images of a standard GretagMacbeth color chart under controlled lighting and analyzing the images with Imatest software. Because we wrote individual reviews of the S9000 and the FZ30 within the past year, and already reported on their performance at their lowest sensitivity settings, we chose to test them at ISO 400 for this comparison. Interestingly, their performance at 400 is similar to their performance at low ISOs. Below is a still life scene shot with each of the cameras at ISO 400. Click on the thumbnails to view the full resolution shots.
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 400
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 400
We report the tests with a chart showing a color gamut with each of the tiles of a GretagMacbeth color chart plotted in their ideal locations and as the camera recorded them. The distance between the two points indicates the amount of error in the reproduction.
Fujifilm FinePix S9000 - ISO 400
Panasonic Lumix FZ30 - ISO 400
Saturation measures how bright and pure the colors are. The ideal saturation figure is 100 percent – the colors are exactly as they were shot. Most cameras increase color saturation, though. It makes the colors pop, but it can be overdone, yielding cartoonish colors and making images difficult to edit digitally. Still, nearly all manufacturers boost color to be sure that their pictures don't look dull. The Panasonic FZ30 oversaturated our test shot moderately, with a respectable 105.3 percent score. The Fujifilm S9000 did a bit better, with a very good 102.6 percent score.
We also report mean color error – not how bright the colors are, but whether they're the right hue. In this test, the FZ30 came out ahead, with a 6.88 mean color error, while the Fujifilm turned in a 7.35 score. Both figures are pretty good for compact cameras, though we'd say that the difference – 0.47 points – is a significant gap. As a frame of reference, a color error under 5.5 is excellent, while an error value of 9.0 or above is terrible.
While the S9000 does not impose as much of a boost in color saturation, the FZ30’s advantage in color accuracy will make for a more realistic scene reproduction.
White Balance (Advantage: Panasonic FZ30)
The Panasonic Lumix FZ30 and the Fujifilm FinePix S9000 feature auto white balance, several white balance presets and custom white balance functions. Both can save two custom settings, and the FZ30 has a fine tune function, like those on many DSLRs, that allows the user to tweak the balance warmer or cooler.
The Fujifilm S9000 needs the tweaks more than the FZ30 does, however. Using the cameras' auto white balance setting, we shot the GretagMacbeth color checker chart under daylight, fluorescent and tungsten lighting, and found that the FZ30 performed better. In daylight, the FZ30 looks completely neutral, while the S9000 goes cyan. In tungsten, the S9000 goes very orange, as though it weren't compensating at all for the warm tint of the bulbs, while the FZ30 fairly subtly overcompensates, going slightly green. We weren't thrilled with either camera in fluorescent light, and we grant that it's the hardest test of the three. The S9000 looks kind of yellow-green, while the FZ30 goes a cooler green.
The Imatest charts we show below exaggerate the color errors for the sake of illustration.
Fujifilm S9000 - Auto white balance - Daylight test
Panasonic FZ30 - Auto white balance - Daylight test
Fujifilm S9000 - Auto white balance - Fluorescent light test
Panasonic FZ30 - Auto white balance - Fluorescent light test
Fujifilm S9000 - Auto white balance - Tungsten light test
Panasonic FZ30 - Auto white balance - Tungsten light test
The FZ30 has the strong advantage here, with better presets, better manual performance, and its useful fine-tune control.
Portrait (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
Both the S9000 and the FZ30 are prosumer cameras, and users in that market take plenty of portraits. In a nod to the serious family photographer, for whom super-zooms are a popular option, we used the cameras to photograph 13-month-old Bruce.
As thoughtful as Bruce is, he's a mover, as evidenced by his mother's firm grip on the straps of his overalls. It was a bit of a challenge getting focused, steady shots of him, given the shutter delay on each of the cameras. The FZ30's image stabilization came in very handy – the shots from that camera are much sharper than the S9000 images.
Panasonic FZ30
Fujifilm S9000
We shot these images with both cameras set to Program exposure, pattern metering and auto white balance. The color varied between backlit and side-lit images, but generally remained pleasing and natural. In paired shots, the FZ30's skin tones look slightly yellower and the S9000's look pinker. Though both cameras blew out the white of the boy's shirt when it was side-lit, they kept the shadow side of his face bright and open.
To set aside the image stabilization issue, we shot a few portraits with the cameras mounted on a tripod and the FZ30's stabilization turned off. Photographing our most mature staff member, we shot with the cameras set to aperture priority and a few ISOs, and on each camera's Portrait scene mode.
Panasonic FZ30 - ISO 200 - Aperture Priority
Fujifilm S9000 - ISO 200 - Aperture Priority
Panasonic FZ30 - Portrait mode - ISO 200
Fujifilm S9000 - Portrait mode - ISO 200
In aperture priority mode, the cameras showed their essential characteristics – the FZ30 looks much sharper, even with stabilization turned off. Given the ravages of time on our model's face, we're not sure we like all that sharpness in a print, but we'd rather have it, and blur it away, than not have it and want it. The S9000 image has less noise, a distinction that's visible onscreen at 100 percent viewing size, but much less noticeable in an uncropped 8x10.
Panasonic FZ30 - Aperture Priority crop
Fujifilm S9000 - Aperture Priority cropYoung Bruce's skin is smooth and pale, but the older model's skin has more color and unevenness. Looking above the eyebrow, we note a tendency for the FZ30 image to go blotchy, while the S9000 maintains smoother transitions from tone to tone. This difference could be a function of the FZ30's superior sharpness and inferior noise handling. Regardless, it's an advantage for the S9000.
The S9000 has the advantage here, with better skin tones, smoother transitions, and, importantly, faster operation. The shutter delay on both cameras is unfortunate, but the FZ30’s is worse.
RAW Files (Advantage: Fujifilm S9000)
Both the Fujifilm FinePix S9000 and the Panasonic Lumix FZ30 can record RAW files, which is generally an advantage for photographers who try to get the very best out of their digital cameras. RAW files preserve much more of the original data collected by the image sensor, while JPEG files, as they compress an image, lose data that may be useful in editing it.
We opened RAW files from both cameras with the packaged software, and found it limited – we jumped to Adobe Photoshop Elements, which accepts Adobe's RAW converter. The Adobe software offers options to change white balance, exposure, shadow level, brightness, contrast and saturation, in addition to some more advanced controls. Since we expect many RAW aficionados to rely on Adobe products, it's disappointing that neither camera's software offers as broad or well-implemented controls for RAW conversion.
For our shot of flowers on white paper, the software's default settings decreased exposure by a full EV on shots from both the S9000 and the FZ30. It also increased brightness and contrast. We let it, saved those images and then re-converted the RAW files “straight,” without the changes. We had assumed that the white background triggered the changes, guessing that the software was set to prevent overexposure of light subjects. That wasn't the issue in our shot – the paper wasn't blown out in either conversion. Interestingly, the red channel was the problem. In many of the flowers, it blew out in our straight conversion, but held detail in the default files. Still, the default images look gloomy to us. It may be that the way to get the best image out of the RAW files would be to do the default conversion and then selectively brighten the background without bothering the flowers too much.
Panasonic FZ30 - RAW default
Fujifilm S9000 - RAW default
Panasonic FZ30 - RAW flat
Fujifilm S9000 - RAW flat
We found that RAW files from the S9000 and the FZ30 are far more editable than their JPEGs, and that their JPEGs are inferior even without editing. The transitions from light to dark or from subdued to saturated colors are sometime ragged in JPEGs, but they're much smoother in RAW files.
Which RAW implementation is better? At first blush, we see more tonal information in the S9000 file. The Red, Green, and Blue channels all have detail, even in very saturated colors, which allows more scope for image editing. Fujifilm's Super CCD HR technology should deliver better tones than the FZ30's chip. RAW file conversion and editing aren't simple. We're sure that both the FZ30's and the S9000's RAW files have plenty to yield to dedicated users, but the S9000 files start out looking better.
