This
Christmas season has been really busy and again it’s been a while since my last
review. This time I was looking for a good and pocketable digital camera with
WiFi and I finally narrowed my choices between the Canon S120/S110 and this
Panasonic LF1. The LF1 is a bit older and as a result you can find better deals
for it. Let’s see if I made the right choice.
Specs:
Image Sensor: 12.1 million effective pixels.
Metering: Multi zone, centre-weighted, spot.
Lens: Leica DC Vario-Summicron f2.0-5.9/6.0-42.8mm (28-200mm as 35 SLR equivalent).
Exposure Modes: Auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Sensor Size: 15mm CMOS.
Shutter Speed (stills): 60 to 1/4000 second.
Continuous Shooting: 10 fps.
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC plus 87MB internal memory.
Image Sizes (pixels): Stills: 4000×3000 to 640×360.
Movies: 1920×1080, 1280×720, 1440×1080 and 640×480.
Viewfinder: 7.6cm LCD screen (920,000 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, RAW, JPEG+RAW, MPO (3D), AVCHD, MPEG4.
Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80 to 12800 (with boost).
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI mini, WiFi.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
Dimensions: 103x62x28 WHDmm.
Weight: 192 g (inc battery).
Metering: Multi zone, centre-weighted, spot.
Lens: Leica DC Vario-Summicron f2.0-5.9/6.0-42.8mm (28-200mm as 35 SLR equivalent).
Exposure Modes: Auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority, manual.
Sensor Size: 15mm CMOS.
Shutter Speed (stills): 60 to 1/4000 second.
Continuous Shooting: 10 fps.
Memory: SD/SDHC/SDXC plus 87MB internal memory.
Image Sizes (pixels): Stills: 4000×3000 to 640×360.
Movies: 1920×1080, 1280×720, 1440×1080 and 640×480.
Viewfinder: 7.6cm LCD screen (920,000 pixels).
File Formats: JPEG, RAW, JPEG+RAW, MPO (3D), AVCHD, MPEG4.
Colour Space: sRGB, Adobe RGB.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80 to 12800 (with boost).
Interface: USB 2.0, HDMI mini, WiFi.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, DC input.
Dimensions: 103x62x28 WHDmm.
Weight: 192 g (inc battery).
Design
and Features:
The LF1
is about a year old but still it has most features you will find in recent 2014
camera. One of the requirements I needed was the ability to connect the camera
with my phone or tablet via WiFi. With the LF1, it’s quite easy using NFC and
the downloadable app for iOS and Android. The design of the LF1 is very similar
with the Canon S110/S120 range as they both have a compact square design with a
function ring in front. They also both use a larger than normal 1/1.7 inch
sensor which does improve on low light performance. In fact, it uses the exact
same sensor as Panasonic’s LX7 with the only difference of the lens. While the
Canon and LX7 have a wider aperture, the LF1 has the benefit of a very useful
28-200mm zoom range. One of the unique selling points of this camera is its built-in
EVF which is almost unheard of in this size of camera. It’s not the biggest and
brightest but it’s still quite useful to have.
Performance
and image quality
As a
premium compact camera, the image quality of LF1 does not disappoint. The
images are nice and clean even when shooting at a higher ISO. Focusing is quite
fast and good enough for capturing active kids or pets. You get full manual
control and a nice selection of filters and effects with “toy” mode being my
favorite. You can even shoot in RAW for better image quality and control. I do
wish it has a brighter aperture at full zoom but I guess that’s the price you
have to pay for useful zoom range. The EVF is not the most pleasant to use but
it’s there and very useful in bright sunlight and when you want to save on
battery. In fact, battery life was better than I expected but one thing that
really irritated me was the proprietary charging port that Panasonic uses.
Verdict
Overall,
I was very happy with my decision to get the LF1. I got what I wanted which was
good image quality and the ability to connect to my phone. I do wish it has a
brighter aperture and top end of the zoom but like I mentioned, that’s a compromise get the 28-200mm
range. Also the proprietary charging cable is a bit annoying because
that’s another cable I need to bring with me. It just gets to me because it
looks so much like a micro USB and I just can’t figure out why Panasonic didn’t
just use one. Still, this camera may be a bit old and you won’t have to look
hard to get it at a good price.
The
good:
-
Good image quality and
performance
-
Useful 28-200mm zoom
-
EVF
-
WiFi and NFC
-
Full manual control
The bad:
-
Proprietary charging cable
-
EVF resolution
-
Slow aperture and top end of
zoom
e Easy to accidentally press power button
No comments:
Post a Comment