Need some advice

[jcharris]

Hello ,

I am about to purchase a new panasonic lumix fz20 . I have heard quite a lot of good things about this camera from this forum . Unfortunatly i am not so clued up with all the terminology.
In the reviews of this camera it states that the camera has a constant F2.8 brightness throughout the entire zoom range .
Could you please explain to me what that means ?

Thanks

Regards
james

[JK_Photo]

If I'm reading you right that means as you zoom out, if you've got the lens set to it's max. aperture(2.8) it will remain at 2.8 throughtout the zoom range. This is a good thing.
In a varible aperture zoom the maximum aperture would change as you zoom out. So instead of being 2.8 at the wide end as well as the long end it might change to 3.5 or 4.0 or whatever as you zoom out.
In order for the manufacturer to offer this "fast glass" the lens is usually bigger and more expensive.
The Lumix is a nice piece of kit.

[Liz]

This is correct. And one of the reasons I chose the FZ3 over the Canon SI IS as a 2nd camera. The FZ20 is an amazing camera by the looks of the reviews. It's a bit over my budget though, for a 2nd! I have a Rebel 300D and just want another smaller camera to keep with me.

Nice choice - one I was seriously looking at. ;)

Liz

If I'm reading you right that means as you zoom out, if you've got the lens set to it's max. aperture(2.8) it will remain at 2.8 throughtout the zoom range. This is a good thing.
In a varible aperture zoom the maximum aperture would change as you zoom out. So instead of being 2.8 at the wide end as well as the long end it might change to 3.5 or 4.0 or whatever as you zoom out.
In order for the manufacturer to offer this "fast glass" the lens is usually bigger and more expensive.
The Lumix is a nice piece of kit.

[jcharris]

Thank you Jon ,

For your explenation.It start to make more sense now. I will catch up with the terminology eventually !

Liz ,

I got the smaller lumix fz1 , but it do not have manual controls and was limited up to 2.1 megapixels . But the 12 optical zoom is fantastic . I thought i need to move on but a slr was a bit out of my budget . This fz20 kind of fits the bill perfectly .

Regards
james