Panasonic LX2/FZ50 firmware petition..

Guys, I've just started a petition for a Panasonic firmware update. The Venus III engine is simply too aggressive and kills a lot of details. We discussed this problem at dpreview forums and then I though about petition for simple firmware update (applicable on LX2 and FZ50), which will allow us to to turn the in-camera picture adjustments completely OFF, especially the Noise Reduction. Adjusting Noise Reduction to LOW is simply not enough.

If you check these full resolution FZ50 images..
http://www.pbase.com/fz3pics/fz50_low_light_test_pics

..or these full res. crops I made from the above full res. images..

ISO 100:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO100_crops.png
ISO 200:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO200_crops.png
ISO 400:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO400_crops.png
ISO 800:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO800_crops.png
ISO 1600:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO1600_crops.png

You will clearly realize how strong is the Venus III noise reduction, even at lowest possible level. It would really be great if Panasonic would release (finally) a user installable firmware, which will allow us to set the JPEG noise reduction to OFF.

So if you are interested, read and sign the petition, which is available here..

http://www.gopetition.com/online/9523.html

Maybe if we collect enough petitioners, we will change something? ;)

Some time ago, many Casio z850 buyers cried about bad quality of video taken with this camera in high-quality mode. The official Casio statement was "there will be no firmware update nor we are working on it". But now, few months after Z850 release, there is a firmware fix (better said workaround) for this problem!

So why not with Panasonic? I'm sure, we can be successful if we will act together..why not give it a try? We can't lose anything. So please, read and sign the petition and tell about it to as many Panasonic photographers as you know.