Review on 📷 Panasonic LUMIX FZ1000 4K Point and Shoot Camera, 16X LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT F2.8-4.0 Lens, 21.1 Megapixels, 1" High Sensitivity Sensor, DMC-FZ1000 (USA BLACK) by Travis Jenkins

If you're buying based on picture quality, the FZ1000 won't disappoint. I bought this to replace my existing travel camera and wanted something that was clearly an IQ upgrade. I shoot with a few other cameras, including the full-frame Canon 5DM3, but for travel I wanted something more compact, no interchangeable lenses, with a decent focal range and a wide range of features that a manual photographer would like. It also had to work with my non-TTL flashes and wireless triggers for my studio flashes. I knew all of these things I was going to get with the FZ1000 even before I hit the buy button on Revain, and while I was impressed by the RAW file examples from other shooters, what really mattered to me was how my files were stored would you. Image quality is excellent, working with files is a pleasure. I won't be Mr. DXO, but I love the sharpness of the lens. That's really good for a superzoom. As with any other superzoom, the IQ is weakest at its extremes, 25mm and 400mm, but even there the images are very good. Notable downsides are barrel distortion at the wide end and slight softness and chromatic aberration at the 400mm output. That's impressive, by the way. I also like that the images have nice tonal gradations. I photograph a lot while traveling and that is very important to me in skin tones. This week I photographed a political candidate in my home studio and took a few shots with the FZ1000. The white balance of the image was more natural than the images from my 5DM3. Dynamic range is another plus, and not only do the files have shadow detail, they don't contain much shadow noise either. My usual complaint about my previous travel camera. While editing, I always do some edits at 100%. This shows all the differences between my full-frame camera and the FZ1000 in IQ. I find it exciting how well the images of the FZ1000 stand up to the comparison. No, they're not that good, but still excellent, and they'll easily give me 16X20 prints, if not more. The FZ1000 really is a full-featured camera. But as a handheld photographer with a camera on one lanyard and a light meter on the other, I'll never use scene modes, digital zoom, or other features that social media users love. Here's what I use and this camera does it all: 1. Focusing with the back button with the focus removed from the shutter button (this is a problem for me). 2. Manual focus to focus precisely on cityscapes, landscapes, etc. 3. Easy tablet remote control with the Panasonic Image App. 4. Point focusing (one point at a time) so the camera focuses on exactly what I want. I don't make videos. So if you've read this far hoping to find out, sorry for the disappointment. The only thing that strikes me as odd about this camera is how light it is. It doesn't feel as harsh and heavy as I've gotten used to over the years. He's not mushy. I think it will last, but it's just different. Since he's traveling, this lightweight could be a really good thing. My impression so far is very favourable. The camera does what I want and does it the way I want. The images are amazing and show how much has been done for small sensors. Highly recommended by me. Edit: I was testing the FZ1000 and came across a feature called "Picking". It's an assisted manual focus for old folks like me who wear hundredths glasses. When you manually focus on a subject while using this function (easy setting), the subject's subject is illuminated by a corona of light. Now I can zoom out to 400mm, focus manually and then shoot with 100% confidence that my distant subject is perfectly focused. I don't know how many other manufacturers offer this in their products, but this feature is invaluable to me.