The Compact Camera Contest - Part 1

There is nothing that excites a photographer more than a big, new, complex, camera. A close second is an equally imposing lens - and photographers can be seduced with ease if the gear has some new feature. I often used to think that the lens makers chortled evilly to themselves in their secret laboratories until I saw a not-so-secret Panasonic laboratory at Yamagata in Japan. No-one chortled - they were very serious and careful people. This report has no chortling either, and very little in the way of complexity or imposition. The equipment is not flash-bang pre-order Photokina stuff either - it is readily available goods that Camera Electronic has in stock. But the idea is to see if there is a better way to do a certain task - a task that may be similar to ones that you, the reader, want to do. The brief I gave myself was to see if the smaller sort of compact digital camera was up to the task of small-scale studio illustration. To see whether I had overlooked a resource for my specialised subjects. To see whether my conclusions about the full-frame camera vs the APS-C camera could be turned the other way with even smaller sensors. I picked Panasonic equipment - I knew from the Panasonic GX-7 that I was allowed to use in Japan that their micro 4/3 gear is superb. I know they have a number of compacts as well that feature Leica lenses or that have especially small sensors and lenses - the waterproof cameras. With access to two good examples, now was the time to try. I chose the Panasonic Lumix TZ110 as the Leica-lensed example and the Panasonic Lumix FT30 as the underwater shooter. Other photographers with loyalty to other brands can find equivalent models in other lines. In both cases I did not take into account the especial advantage that the cameras would have for doing other things - the long zoom lens of the TZ110 for tourists and the underwater capability of the FT30 for divers - I just concentrated on the macro or close-up work - I know there are wildflower, fungus, and mineral shooters who may well want the same things I want, albeit out in the field. Both cameras have no surprises for their types - you can see that the controls are distributed in the standard places. They are small in the hand, as befits their normal use, but they both do have tripod sockets underneath to help in the studio. Their sensors are tiny compared to those of the mirror-less and DSLR cameras. This means that their lenses start with short focal lengths - and go up a long way in the case of the TZ110. I don’t worry about long - I want short. They have shortcomings for studio use, as they were never intended to be used in one - no cable releases - no lens hoods - and no hot shoes for flash sync. The FT30 does not appear to have a RAW option. It remains to be seen whether these points will be detrimental to the project. Adapting equipment that has been aimed at a different section of the market is always a marginal proposition...but I have seen many customers do just that. Sometimes it has been economics that has dictated the experiment, and sometimes it has just been cussedness. I also think that people pick up ideas from others at photo clubs and trade shows and sometimes the things that were said were not exactly the things that were heard. But sometimes, someone finds that they have a brilliant solution in hand where no-one else ever saw it. It is worth while sitting under the tree and hoping for an apple in the hand...or on the head.