Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 Review – Better-Than-Average Megazoom

We loved:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 comes loaded with functional 27mm wide-angle zoom; wide assortment of automatic and manual exposure controls; superb image stabilization; superb 720p movie capture with outfitted manual and zoom controls and on top of it the DMC-FZ35 is rather fast.

We hated:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35’s JPEG photos suffer from compression artifacts and noise and the phone also doesn’t have a hot shoe.

Introduction:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 gets over the insides of the admired FZ28 Megazoom and brings a lot of the other enhanced and new features. The Lumix DMC-FZ35 comes with enhanced resolution, faster AF, supports the AVCHD Lite movie codec and an improved optical image stabilizer. But though the camera offers great performance and photo quality than some of its precursors, but it still is not ideal Megazoom and its only the vigorous feature set that differentiates it from crowd.

The Lumix DMC-FZ35 is a tad on smaller and lighter side, considering the fact that it is a Megazoom, but still the camera feels a little plasticky but offers comfortable shooting and even is comfortable to hold. One important thing worth appreciating about Lumix DMC-FZ35 is that rather then getting into the lens X war among the camera manufacturers, Panasonic still goes with its tested OK 18x zoom lens. Even though this model goes back several generations, but yes it still is far better for a wide range general-purpose shooting and shooters.

Build and Design:

Not many of the times it has been seen, but yes Panasonic somehow has managed to stuff a boatload of potential into their Lumix DMC-FZ35. Apart from the conventional set of modes like preset scene program, an intelligent auto and PASM, the DMC-FZ35 comes with a pretty vigorous movie mode having manual controls and the capability of saving three custom group settings. Now, that’s only one extra set than FZ28, Panasonic has also stuffed them all in just one single mode for making room for some additional features. The camera comes with plethora of AF options, counting tracking, face detection, a narrower spot, and 1-area, in addition to an 11-area mode which lets you to clump the areas in a wide variety of configurations. There also is an programmable Fn button which can reprimand quick review, white balance, ISO sensitivity, AF mode or intelligent exposure mode and metering.

One of the major problems that we have with FZ35 wide assortment of capabilities is that, regardless of your expertise level, you definitely will have to go through the manual before you start clicking pictures, so as to save yourself from any unpleasing surprises. For instance, we had a tad trouble in figuring out that when you shoot raw+JPEG, the camera drops down to standard-quality JPEG. However, even the manual sometimes is not sufficient, especially when it comes to distinguishing between high-speed 1-area focusing, which means the camera will focus quickly on the subject located in the AF area on the screen and 1-area focusing, which mean the camera will focus on the subject situated in the AF area of the screen.

Specifications:

Manufacturer: Panasonic
Part Number: DMC-FZ35K

Price: $325.95 – $399.95
Product Type: Digital camera, Compact
Weight: 12.9 oz
Dimensions (W x D x H) in inches: 4.6 x 3.5 x 3 inches
LCD size: 2.7-inch
Resolution: 12.1 megapixels
Optical Zoom: 18 x

Digital Video Format: MJPEG, AVCHD Lite and QuickTime
Software: ArcSoft MediaImpression, ArcSoft Panorama Maker, Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 4.0, and SILKYPIX Developer Studio

White Balance Presets: Cloudy, Shade , Daylight and Halogen
Additional Features: Direct print , DPOF support , Auto power save , Audio recording , Built-in speaker , Date/time stamp , Cropping an image , Contrast control , Resizing an image , Histogram display , PictBridge support , Sharpness control , Built-in help guide , Saturation control , USB 2.0 compatibility , Face Detection AF/AE , Digital noise reduction , Digital image rotation , RGB primary color filter , Highlight point display , Scene Detection Technology , In-camera red-eye removal , Camera orientation detection , Motion Detection Technology and Automatic face tracking technology
Focus Adjustment: Manual and   Automatic
Features: ED glass and Aspherical lens
Exposure Modes: Program,   Manual,   Shutter-priority,   Automatic and Aperture-priority
Connector Type: USB, DC power input, Composite video/audio output and HDMI output
Shooting Programs: Food , Pet , Baby1 , Snow , Beach , Baby2 , Sunset , Candle , Scenery , Panning , Fireworks , Pin hole , Soft skin , Starry sky , Film grain , Sports mode , Flash-burst , Party/indoor , Aerial photo , Hi-speed burst , Portrait mode , Panorama assist , Night portrait and High sensitivity
Shooting Modes: Frame movie mode
Peripheral Devices: CD-ROM drive and USB port
Included Accessories: Shoulder strap
Flash Modes: Fill-in mode,   Auto mode,   Flash OFF mode ,   Slow synchro ,   Red-eye reduction  and Rear curtain sync
Camera Flash: Pop-up flash
Battery: 710 mAh, Li-ion rechargeable battery

Performance:

In terms of performance the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 excels its precursors and offers an improved performance along with couple of noteworthy highlights for its class. The camera wakes up and get ready for shooting in 1.6 seconds, which is rather fast. Also the camera takes 0.4 seconds to focus and shoot, in decent lighting conditions, while it becomes 0.9 secs in dim lights.  But the 0.4 seconds of time is the best by a camera in this class. Even the shot-to-shot time here is pretty good and the camera takes   1.7 seconds for capturing two consecutive shots. The quality of the photos was also pretty decent, and we don’t think you will have any sort of problems in accepting the photos as well.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 offers better-than-average video quality as well, with an outstanding manual feature set. Though, the camera suffers from several drawbacks just as its competitors, including the average photo quality.

Expert Comments:

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 clearly is a better-than-average Megazoom option, and on top of it the camera delivers great video capability and offers a superb manual feature set. But still, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 deals with the same flaws as its other contenders and one of the most disappointing one is the weak photo quality.