Testing the amazing zoom of the Panasonic FZ82 – 4k video comparison with the FZ330 and G7

The Panasonic DMC-FZ82 increases the maximum zoom of its older sibling the FZ330 from 648mm to an incredible 1680mm. The trade-off is a drop in minimum aperture from F2.8 to F5.9.

This video shows a comparison between the FZ82, the FZ330 and a G7 with Leica 100-400 and Lumix 14-140 lenses. Filmed in 4k, this is footage is straight from the camera without any adjustments, audio is from the built in microphones. Camera profiles were all on standard with auto white balance and exposures were set manually. With the exception of the dragonflies, where I wanted a shallow depth of field, I have not used ND filters. Please note that the audio contains various backgrounds sounds, they are not noise from the cameras.

Hopefully, after uploading, it will still be clear which has the sharper images, although taking in to account cost I think it is still amazing the results achieved by a low cost bridge camera. Rather surprisingly image quality of the FZ82 appears to be poorer at lower zooms and is much stronger at the longer focal lengths, which is the main focus of this test.

Both the FZ330 and the FZ82 use a 1/2.3” sensor, however the FZ82 has a higher resolution and is cropped more to increase its zoom capabilities. When recording 4k video the FZ82 has a crop factor of 7.8 whereas the FZ330 is 6 and the G7 2.42. With such a high crop factor and small sensor the FZ82 can quickly get grainy in low light. Any lower than 200 ISO and this begins to be noticeable, but it should fine in normal daylight conditions.

Probably the biggest weakness of the FZ82 is the lack of an external microphone input. It has no lens hood nor the facility to fit one. It also lack an articulated LCD screen which can be a limitation in some circumstances. Nonetheless, LCD image quality is very good and on a par with the other cameras.

Sorry, I wasn’t able to test all aspects of the camera’s abilities but I hope this video will still be of interest. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them.

Видео Testing the amazing zoom of the Panasonic FZ82 – 4k video comparison with the FZ330 and G7 канала Discover Nature