First Photo 1885-CC DMPL Morgan: New Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 Digital Camera -- 12x Leica Optical Zo

Stuart · December 2, 2004 1:14PM

Today I received my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 5MP digital camera with 12x Leica optical zoom lens f/2.8, electronic image stabilization (anti-shake) and really close-up macro capability. I first tested one out at my local camera store taking some sample macro shots of PCGS, NGC and ANACS slabs.

I hope to be up and running with some sample digital pictures within a few days once I get used to the camera and figure out how to download the photos to my computer.

I'll keep you posted on my progress up this steep learning curve...

ccex · December 2, 2004 1:31PM

Congrats, Stuart. I hope the learning curve is worth it and look forward to seeing the results here.

Today I received my much less expensive new digital camera: An Olympus D-580 for $169 shipped and another $80 for a larger memory card, AC adapter and clamp for mounting to a pole (thanks to earlwbolinger's pictures posted in this thread. It's 4 megapixels with macro feature, OK white balance controls. But then again, I collect mostly circulated Barber stuff.

Stuart · December 3, 2004 5:29AM

CCEX: Good luck also with your new digital camera. I hope that you enjoy using it!!

earlwbollinger · December 3, 2004 5:46AM

Congrats and good luck.
Looks like someone's going to be busy for the holidays having fun.

mgoodm3 · December 3, 2004 6:48AM

Looking forward to the new pics.

poorguy · December 3, 2004 6:50AM

Looking forward to the new pics.

Me too. Curious to see them.

Stuart · December 3, 2004 8:55AM

Earl: Yes, this will be a fun new toy for Holiday family photography and after the Holidays will be used for taking coin photos.

FC57Coins · December 3, 2004 9:20AM

Details Stuart - How many megapixels - is it a true optical zoom - cost???

cosmicdebris · December 3, 2004 9:58AM

Another budding CU Photographer

Stuart · December 3, 2004 11:18AM

Frank: It is a 5 megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 with 12x Leica Vario Elmarit Optical Zoom lens which maintains a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range. I tested out the great optics and macro capability on some slabbed coins at a local store prior to purchasing it. The cost from Vann's Electronics was $500 delivered.

I also purchased some additional accessories from some other e-sellers for good prices such as 1GB SD memory card ($76 delivered), 2 spare Li-Ion OEM batteries for $40 shipped, and an adapter tube to attach to the frame to which I can attach UV and/or Polarizer filters for outdoor photography and to protect my Leica optics from dust, fingerprints, etc.

There are many posts regarding this camera on the following Panasonic Forum: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1033

Here are some recent objective (non-Panasonic) reviews on this camera if you'd like more details.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/fz20.html

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz20/

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/panasonic/dmc_fz20-review/index.shtml

matteproof · December 3, 2004 11:32AM

Hi Stuart. Congratulations on your new camera. I hope that you have much joy with it. The Leica lens is a terrific feature. Leica has always made great products. Look forward to seeing those great images.

matteproof

dizzlecc · December 3, 2004 12:56PM

12x zoom......wow....you could use that to replace your loop and pick out over dates.

I guess it doesn't fit in your pocket.

Stuart · December 3, 2004 11:54PM

Damian: Although it won't fit in my pocket, it is a bit smaller and a whole lot lighter than a 35mm SLR which will make it easier to carry with me on trips.

I forgot to mention that this Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 digital camera also has an electronic Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) to help reduce shake when using the high magnification portion of the Leica DC Vario Elmarit 12x Optical Zoom Lens.

This lens and the image stabilization are 2 of the camera's strongest features.

LanLord · December 4, 2004 12:05AM

Stuart, please make followup posts when you have some experience with this camara.

Looking at the panasonic site, I almost ordered one last night. This looks like the coolest camara I have seen - ever!

I may buy one after the new year if it is as good as it looks on paper.

Congrats on the pickup.

Stuart · December 4, 2004 12:36AM

<< Stuart, please make followup posts when you have some experience with this camara. >>

Tom: Will do!!! I'll also eventually be posting some coin photos on this forum so that you can all see how the images look for yourselves.
I may need to find some type of large image web hosting with my DSL provider or with Yahoo so that you can evaluate higher resolution images than I can post with forum hosting storage (50 KBytes).

There will be a significant learning curve to overcome for which I will invest some time learning how to use the camera and also learning how to download the photos to my computer, etc. It will take me a couple of weeks to get proficient with all of the above.

ER · December 4, 2004 8:48PM

Waiting

SUPERCARCOINS · December 4, 2004 11:57PM

....waiting too

Stuart · December 5, 2004 12:53AM

Guys thanks very much for your interest in some follow-up posts on my new camera. We have visitors in town, so I won't be focusing on the camera for at least several days (no pun intended).

I am still at the early stage of trying to determine how to get the new USB software download utility to work on my old computer. You are going to have to be patient with me on this project because it will take some time -- I detest computer networking and communications projects.

I'll post updates as soon as I have something new to show you. It's very easy to take pictures with this camera, but now I've got to figure out how to download them to my computer.

Thanks again for your interest!

mgoodm3 · December 5, 2004 1:20AM

Don't need any software for the most part with the usb connection. Plug the camera in and turn it on. Your computer should see the camera as another disk drive. You can drag and drop all you want from there.

dpoole · December 5, 2004 1:28AM

Stuart,

Keeping us posted about the lighting arrangement you find that works best, too!

Enjoy!

Neptune · December 5, 2004 1:40AM

Looks like a nice camera - will have to read more about it when I have more 'me time'. I am wanting to get a new digital sometime in future - but have time to research. I currently have an older Mavica MVC73, and if you ask me - nothing beats the use of a floppy disk as the medium - so easy to transfer, give others a copy (while away from computer), etc. (no USB needed)

Does anyone have any experience with the later model and new Mavica's regarding zoom and quality, etc. Or - are there any other models out there these days that use the floppy drive as it's medium/storage?

Stuart · December 5, 2004 2:00AM

<< Don't need any software for the most part with the usb connection. Plug the camera in and turn it on. Your computer should see the camera as another disk drive. You can drag and drop all you want from there. >>

Mark: Not so simple with my old computer and Win 98 operating system. I downloaded the USB driver per camera instruction manual, connected the camera to the USB port, but the computer is apparently not recognizing (not seeing) the new device.

I may try the same procedure on my wife's newer computer running a more recent version of the Windows Operating System to see if I can get it to at least work on her computer.

Stuart · December 6, 2004 10:35AM

As an update to my new digital camera learning experience, it was quite simple to download photos from the camera to my wife's computer because her computer is running a newer version of windows than mine.

Now that I've got the boring technical stuff out of the way, I will set aside some time to take some pretty photos to share with my fellow forum members after our out of town family guests depart later this week.

As promised, I'll keep you posted!!

K6AZ · December 6, 2004 10:38AM

Stuart, what media does that camera use?

Stuart · December 6, 2004 10:45AM

Eric: This Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 uses either of 2 types of memory -- either SD or Multimedia memory cards.

I have installed a 1GB KingMax Platinum 20x SD Card (SDC-001G3) which I purchased for $76 delivered from Newegg.com

K6AZ · December 6, 2004 10:51AM

OK, and which version of Windows do you have? And do you know which type of USB ports you have on your computer?

ldhair · December 6, 2004 10:53AM

Win 98 had all kinds of problems with USB. A cold boot will sometimes find a new device.

Stuart · December 6, 2004 11:08AM

Eric: I've got the Windows '98 Operating System (standard -- not SE) installed on my old computer, and I think that i've got the older USB Type 1 ports on this computer.

K6AZ · December 6, 2004 11:25AM

OK, you're probably better off using the wife's computer then. To really have reliable USB connections, you need Win 98 SE or later. I have a card reader installed in my computer that reads seven different cards including the SD cards, and it's pretty slick.

Stuart · December 6, 2004 11:33AM

Eric: Thanks very much for trying to help me out with my Computer/Op Sys/USB Port compatibility challenge.

I may try to upgrade my Op Sys on this older computer to Win 2000 or something more recent prior to replacing the computer to see if perhaps that will make the difference.

In the meanwhile I will use the wife's computer and make do with that workaround solution.

K6AZ · December 6, 2004 11:35AM

What processor do you have in that computer? How much memory do you have installed?

Stuart · December 6, 2004 11:42AM

Pentium II with 128 MB RAM & 8GB hard disk (4GB Available). Will that be enough to support Win 2000 or better??

K6AZ · December 6, 2004 11:46AM

No, at a bare minimum you need a PIII or AMD Athlon at 800mhz with 256mb of RAM to run Windows 2000 or XP reliably. Check out the Dell Factory Outlet, they have plenty of desktops with XP installed for around $300.

JRocco · December 6, 2004 11:50AM

Hi Stuart, Eric is correct. My windows XP eats up about 9 gigs of hard drive just supporting its own "junk". Dell is running some sweet deals right now.

Stuart · December 6, 2004 11:53AM

Eric and JRocco: Thanks very much for the information, I'll check out the Dell factory Outlet!

dizzlecc · December 6, 2004 12:52PM

$300.... uh oh.

You will have to sell off some of your hoard.

or I'll trade you my dell cpu for your icon coin and i'll throw in a monitor for an 1880 CC.

Stuart · December 7, 2004 12:40AM

Damian: I'm lucky that you didn't also try to hit me up for my 1893-CC $20 Liberty... and that you "only" want an 1880-CC for your monitor.

However, it is a nice monitor, buy more like an 1883-CC than an 1880-CC...

kranky · December 7, 2004 1:00AM

I've had my FZ20 for a couple of months. It's got a few quirks (for example, the display can be too dark to see easily in low-light situations, and a slightly anemic built-in flash) but overall it's a fabulous camera for the money. But it's not the camera for point-and-shoot users. It will take some work to learn how to get the best results because of the amazing number of features and operating modes.

Someday I'll get a copy stand so I can do coin pix.

Stuart · December 7, 2004 5:40AM

Kranky: Thanks for your post mentioning that you've also got a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 digital camera.

I already have a copy stand, so I'll let you know (and see) how the pix come out using it with my new FZ20.

Barry · December 7, 2004 5:46AM

<< Pentium II with 128 MB RAM & 8GB hard disk (4GB Available). Will that be enough to support Win 2000 or better?? >>

Stuart - You've got to stop buying coins for a minute and buy a new computer

BTW, I'm anxious to see some pics!

Stuart · December 7, 2004 6:02AM

Barry: What's funny is that my old clunker computer works fine with DSL for both my e-mail and surfing the web. For now, I will use my wife's computer to download my digital pix.

It's hnot the cost of purchasing a new computer that I dread, it's the networking it into DSL and e-mail that always is a royal pain, as well as archiving my old files (and e-mails)...

Barry · December 7, 2004 6:12AM

I know what you mean. Transferring files and setting preferences is the biggest disincentive for me when it comes time to think about a new computer. Believe it or not, I still have a 486-25 with 8 Meg RAM that I use from time to time - there's one program I have that requires very precise CPU timing and must run native DOS, so that's what the old clunker is still good for.

K6AZ · December 7, 2004 6:53AM

<< there's one program I have that requires very precise CPU timing and must run native DOS, so that's what the old clunker is still good for. >>

I can just guess...

Barry · December 7, 2004 7:05AM

<< 

<< there's one program I have that requires very precise CPU timing and must run native DOS, so that's what the old clunker is still good for. >>

I can just guess... >>

I'm waiting for your guess...

K6AZ · December 7, 2004 7:26AM

Actually there are several that come to mind. One of the keying programs? Perhaps one of the logging programs? I'll have to get on my other computer to figure out which ones require precise CPU time. Another non-ham program that requires it are the satellite receiver emulation programs.

Barry · December 7, 2004 7:28AM

Yes, RUFZ. Neat program that sends a callsign, you type in result, and the next one comes faster. Best I've done is 96 WPM...

Stuart · December 7, 2004 7:29AM

Here is the first photo which I am posting to the forum from my new digital camera. The original .jpg file size was ~500 KBytes which included the entire slab and has not been enhanced or post-processed in any way.

I only cropped and reduced the image to 95% of its original size to comply with the 50KByte forum file size limitation. Thanks for your patience!!

1885-CC ANACS MS-64 DMPL Morgan Dollar

K6AZ · December 7, 2004 7:34AM

<< Yes, RUFZ. Neat program that sends a callsign, you type in result, and the next one comes faster. Best I've done is 96 WPM... >>

I've got that, but haven't used it in years since I'm not a contester. We used to use it for the CW challenged in preparation for field day.

ss350camaro · December 7, 2004 7:44AM

Very Nice pic Stuart !!

stephunter · December 7, 2004 7:48AM

Very nice pic and coin. The reverse looks a lot better that a 64. 64+ coin.

Stuart · December 7, 2004 7:58AM

This first picture was taken in natural sunlight using macro mode at f/2.8, the auto-focus feature, optical image stabilization and 2 second shutter delay to help avoid camera shake. This was a "quick and dirty" photo which can be significantly improved upon with more practice using the camera's advanced photo features.

I've also got a 100% sized original image and also a post-processed version of the same image which looks more liek the coin actually does in person. However, I'd need someone to please volunteer to host these images (send me PM with your e-mail address) to display them because they are greater than the forum 50 KByte file size limitation.

First Photo 1885-CC DMPL Morgan: New Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 Digital Camera -- 12x Leica Optical Zo

Comments

Leave a Comment