Panasonic Lumix FZ82 Bridge Camera for Astrophotography?
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Is there a 3rd way with cameras for astro? In this video I try out a so-called Bridge camera (aka a superzoom camera) on a range of astro targets. I used a Panasonic Lumix FZ82 model which takes great daytime shots, but would it be any good on astro targets? Can it rival a DSLR for £300?
As has been pointed out by my fellow astro UA-camr Garnett Leary, a better option to try AP might be to pick up a used DSLR and give astro a try with an affordable lens like the Canon 50mm "nifty 50" which can also be picked up used. Check out Garnett's channel here for common sense advise: / garnettleary
I've got the older FZ72 and if I want to take a moon shot I just take a maximum 60x video and then use frame grabbing software to take 100+ consecutive frames then stack and the results are bloody great.
Hi Graham, you can get 60 second exposures with artistic nightscape mode with higher than 80 iso. There is another video on the web showing you how to do this. I was also able to get very sharp zoomed in pictures of the moon as good as with my telescopes and an Astro camera. The planets are small and noisy image though.
Ok thanks for that, I couldn’t find a way to overcome the ISO 80 limit.
@@JenhamsAstro Sorry, you were right. The ISO is set to 80 in artistic nightscape mode. It was the aperture that could be change by using exposure compensation.
Interesting video Graham. You are most definitely a cavalier among astronomers. Keep them coming 👍
Thanks! I really wanted this to work. In the end I have a new found appreciation of my EOS and Live view. On to the next!
Thank you for your interesting tutorial and views on this model, I have just purchased this camera Panasonic fz82, I didn't really get it to view the moon,but from your shots it is not to bad considering the moon is 230.000 miles away lol. Really I got it to take photographs for my daughters up and coming wedding. Thank you again for your tutorial and tips.
The FZ80 is a jack of all trade camera. It is extremely versatile but does have its limits. On the hand a DSLR with a lens that can take close up moon shots can cost serval times as much as the FZ80. If you want a camera for wildlife, landscape and traveling then a bridge camera is an all in one. A DSLR with a wide angle lens is great for the night sky but falls short in some of the other categories.
I agree, it’s a good camera but not ideal for Astro.
Thank you for the information. I've used Bridge cameras for 15 years and got better results than a DSLR. This is my first Lumix though so your video was very helpful, especially snap and shoot. But the back garden is great for practising night sky photos. So thank you for the helpful tips
Thankyou for your work! I own a Nikon P1000, due to its high magnification and high focal ratio it is very good at planetary and double star imaging for beginner, so far I have decent telescope, P1000 still very convenience to photograph the sun and the moon.
Thanks for the information on the P1000. Here in the UK it costs around £900 so 3 times the cost of my Lumix camera. It's great to hear it delivers superior performance. Clear skies. Graham
got the p900 basically the same
I have just managed to sort out adapter rings to attach my Nikon TC-E17ED 1.7X teleconverter to the FZ82. That brings it up to 2040mm equivalent focal length. Not yet tried out on the moon, but should be pretty good. 👍😎 The biggest problem is getting a sharp focus at full zoom. The image quality is good, but difficult to focus. I find that using post-focus mode enables me to select a sharp image after taking the shot.
I tried to replicate the “live view” function of my EOS using the wifi on the FZ82 but it didn’t seem to work with my phone. I was hoping to use it for focusing.
The 1320mm was from the slight crop when in 4k video mode, you can also use the left right button for manual focus, not that it tells you this.
Great video. I am getting delivery of the FZ82 on Monday, and I will be very happy with moon images like that, but I am not an astro photographer. I guess it depends how serious you are and the dedicated astro people will indeed need more ! ATB MMMD
Pretty impressive for a cheap bridge camera though.. I was under the impression I could only use this during the day.. I will be experimenting once I get a tripod.
I've managed to get video footage of Jupiter and its moons and Saturn and its rings with this camera. The images are a little blurry, but recognizable nevertheless.
Very interesting video, thanks. I was surprised that the camera had that Exposure/ISO limit, which is a serious problem for those wanting to try Milky Way photography. I also noticed that the menu & screen info looked very similar to my friend's Panasonic GH5. It did, however, do a decent job on the moon, so it wasn't all bad.
True. I think it’s a decent camera for non astro targets. I only have myself to blame for failing to dig into the details of the spec!
Fantastic experiment. I’d put most of these bridge cameras around the $300 mark US currency. The entry choice is clearly the dslr. I’ve seen hundreds of T3I’s pop up on Ebay. With all the big-shots leaning into mirrorless it’s easy to grab a cheap, but very capable, dslr. I think you pushed that thing about as far as you can. I think the only people who truly know the value to price of a nifty 50 are ones who bought one. Those things scream utility. I never really considered how limited the exposure settings are on bridge cameras. They’re not often advertised either as most people wouldn’t be pointing them up at night. That P900 is still popular. I’ve often passed them up but I wonder how it ranks in the genre. Well presented video.
Thanks Garnett, I thought it was worth a try. As you say it shows that picking up a used dslr is a better way into budget astro, especially if you can find an affordable lens to go with it. It’s easy to take for granted the ability to fully set up the camera, something that clearly isn’t on the radar of Panasonic. You’re producing some great deep sky images at the moment, I need to get back to that.
@@JenhamsAstro thank you. I’m taking a break from planetary. I’ll probably get back on that in December with upgraded equipment. Larger Maksutov if I can find one lol. I found a really interesting channel for Dobsonian. He’s extremely proficient in EAA. If you get time I think his work would be very interesting to you. I’m hoping you show more content with the one you own. I can actually reasonably forsee myself dumping everything I own off for a very large Dobsonian on an eq platform. Simplicity is no longer something I desire, it’s something I desperately need.
@@JenhamsAstro ua-cam.com/video/zS1YOGW-IP0/v-deo.html
@@GarnettLeary What’s the name of the channel? When I first saw a Jovian transit through the Dob I wished I could capture a decent image. I’ve looked at the Dob tracking platforms and may go down that route, but they are a compromise solution and not the eq you need for dso imaging as far as I’m aware (field rotation I think?) Getting a big Dob on a true equatorial is not trivial. Simplicity definitely a good aim though, and for visual use a basic platform may suffice.
At 3:55 you referred to it as an SL82 when it's an FZ82 lol, good job you're a fellow brit.
Great video and good to see your tests on the stars and moon. Would like to try this camera for the moon and the daytime shots but can imagine due to its small sensor it wouldn't be too great for astro stuff.
Thanks. Yes, it’s is a great camera for many targets, just not ideal for Astro.
Thank you for doing this. Useful info.
i have the sx40 hs that is hacked. So you can set the shutter to however you like. Maybe this can bring the limitations down. I'm really trying to find a budget star tracker but they cost around 300 dollars :/
How do you do this and would it work for nikon if not still tell me please
Have this camera and want to try astro photography and this video came up. Was surprised to learn of the shutter speed limitation so searched for more information. Using scene mode 15 allows exposures up to 60 seconds but then of course tracking would a problem. Going to try burst mode or, using the Panasonic app on my phone to avoid touching the camera, just taking many shots and stacking them on a pc.
Hi John, you’re right that tracking rapidly becomes a necessity - the 1 in 500 rule applies. Aside from this I wasn’t able to set a high ISO when in the 60s scene mode setting, which limited options somewhat. Maybe I missed it if you’ve found a way of forcing a higher value?
Interesting Video Graham!
Thanks!
The thing that struck me is how much wasted space there is on the body and how it could have been better used to make it more functional. There could be a front dial or manual zoom control but there isn't one.
When we were in lockdown, i thought about this, i have a 10-year-old Samsung camera with 26X optical zoom with a digital zoom that goes all the way up to 120 and i took a respectable photo of the moon but that time of year there wasn't much on the sky to try it on.
The biggest problem i realised with cameras is the magnification. Looking through one of my telescopes at 20X, the moon is large, full of detail, you can see Saturn's rings just separated from the planet, plenty of detail in Orion and so on. This wasn't possible with the Samsung, now i wasn't expecting much because of the old sensor that the cheapest modern android phone puts it to shame but the 26X optical zoom was nowhere near the same magnification as a telescope. A pair of 10x50 binoculars looks considerably more magnified than the 26X optical zoom on my camera.
The same thing happens with phones too, the image scale of their optical zoom doesn't reflect that of binoculars/telescopes at equal magnification. I have seen videos on some of these where they zoom in on things you can only just see with the naked eye, impressive how they manage to do it without magnifying daytime heat or to put another way, looks more like a scam.
Would love a compact camera that has the same image scale as a telescope, where 26X is actually 26X magnification like in a telescope. A while ago, without getting too far into detail, i watched a video and they said a 50mm lens doesn't change from being a 50mm lens even though the cameras have different magnifications.
The 26X is probably correct on the Samsung but that is only true to that sensor and 26X could have a different image scale/more or less magnification on a different camera, there doesn't seem to be a standard on optical magnification, at least not with cameras.
Yes it’s surprisingly difficult to match the view even at low power in a telescope or with binoculars, despite the claimed high optical zoom power. I’ve had more success pointing a smartphone into the eyepiece of cheap binoculars.
@@JenhamsAstro Yea, that works quite well on phones with pro-mode, the Nex-YZ is bulky and heavy with my Samsung but does the job nicely.
I have experimented with zoom monocular's too. Bought and sent back several on amazon because they didn't show a distant faint light about 1 mile away that i use to test optics on at night which means the so-called 40mm and 50mm apertures were grossly stopped down to reduce aberrations and the magnifications were not 10-30X50 etc. judging by image scale.
I kept one monocular that did show the faint light, it said it was metal, 10-30X40, in truth it was 30mm aperture and more like 5-15X and made out of plastic but does have a glass lens and felt that the £8 i bought it for was a bargain when you consider the ones i tested were £30 or more and had worse image contrast. Works well on the moon and brighter objects.
@@allnamesaretaken That’s interesting. Disappointing but perhaps not surprising that many cheap monoculars are stopped down plastic junk.
@@JenhamsAstro A couple of weeks later and thought i would clarify a bit more on what i heave learnt regarding optical zoom on cameras vs. magnification on telescopes and binoculars.
I recently bought a Canon 1300D for both daytime and un-modified anthropography which came with a 18-55mm stabilised zoom lens and bought a Canon 55-250mm stabilised STM zoom lens. I own the SvBony 305 astro cam too and have done one comparison, nothing big but now i understand that the larger the sensor, the wider the field of view you can obtain with a telescope and that smaller sensors give the impression of higher magnification because of the narrower field of view when compared with the much wider field of view on a much larger sensor Canon camera. The same thing happens with cameras, crop sensors look like the view is more magnetified than the view of the same scenery on a full frame.
So, a planet, like Jupiter looks more magnified in the SvBony than the Canon, except they are actually the same size, if you crop the image of the one taken with the Canon, all things being equal (which in truth they aren't because of sensor sensitivity etc.), both images would look similar.
Anyways, the 55-250mm zoom lens, the view at 250mm looks wide, more than 6 degrees at least but likely wider, crop the image and you can get the impression of a more magnified image but in truth nothing has changed. This is why some say that on a full frame a 250mm is 250mm but on a crop sensor camera it acts more like 400mm. I have performed loads of mental gymnastics to understand this, different sensor sizes but same pixel count and size but the full frame gives a wider image, it was that simple.
The above was a response to my above comment regarding the 50mm lens appearing to have more magnification on different cameras and i only posted it for anyone else who may find it useful.
As for the optical zoom on cameras, as you know, 10X on binoculars and telescopes means 10X magnification, this is where my confusion came from but after looking further and seen it explained on very old forum posts, optical zoom on cameras is not magnification. Crazy or what.
Camera manufacturers are playing fast and loose with the truth, they know that people will associate 26X or whatever they claim to be magnification but cover themselves from false advertising by calling it zoom.
So optical zoom, digital zoom (nothing more than image cropping like in a image editor) and magnification are all different and 26X or whatever optical zoom they claim can be different on different cameras. People who buy 60X optical zoom cameras are being cheated because it is never explained to them that this is not 60X magnification.
Celestron claim that magnification is (focal length/sensor size) = magnification but some dispute this and with my 55-250mm camera lens at 250mm, that would be 11.2X magnification but i am not convinced, zooming in on the image sort of does give that and more but that's digital zoom and the image doesn't break down because we are talking about reducing 5184 x 3456 pixels to 2K or 3k size etc.
Others say that the 250mm is more like 6X magnification or higher on a crop sensor, this seems too low but then, the 1300D has a 1.6X crop sensor, giving the impression of more magnification.
What a mess all of this is lol. There should be a standard, like there is with TVs and movies etc. to stop people being misled by manufacturers. They could just put the true beginning and up to magnification but then i guess a high magnification of 6X magnification doesn't sound as good as 60X optical zoom to the unsuspecting public.
I believe that the Artistic Nightshot mode allows for up to sixty second exposures…
Yes that’s the setting I used in SCN mode. Its ISO is fixed though.
@@JenhamsAstro Se puede modificar el ISO y obtener mas segundo de exposicion? Saludos
Hi Graham,Interesting Comparison,I Stick With My Canon T6 For Now,Not The Best,But What I Have To Work With Besides My AstroCams’s Like Yourself,I Have a Question About The Flip Mirror You Have On Your Mak 90,Still Love Mine,Weve Had 0 Skies For 3-4 Months But It Will Be Back Soon Hopefully,lol..Whats The Brand Of The Flip Mirror You Have,Ill Be Using It On My 6se As Well,Thank You and Clear Skies❤️🙏🏻✨🌏🔭
Hi, when you say flip mirror, do you mean the star diagonal? Mine is a mid range unit branded by Altair Astro.
Hey great video, very informative. One question, what bortle level of light pollution were these photos taken in?
Thanks! It’s Bortle 4.
Good video, do you think you can get photos of the Andromeda Galaxy with the camera ?
Not this model - The limitation on the maximum exposure time makes deep sky imaging very difficult. A DSLR would do a better job as you can control the exposure more easily.
Hi i purcjased the sky watcher 102 musk, and very happy with it! Im thinking of buying a svony purpose telescope camera! Ive a chrome book! Will it work with or do i need a special app etc to take photos?
I have never used an Astro camera app like sharpcap or fire capture with a Chromebook. Most people use windows laptops. I suggest you have a look at the Sharpcap and firecapture websites and see if they mention support for chrome books.
I have a FZ80 and a LA8 adapter, I am getting a evolution8 telescope soon. Is there any way to connect them ? I thought maybe a 55mmto42mm ring to a 42mm t adapter to telescope ? Any help would be really appreciated, thanks
Personally I’d spend my money on an affordable astro camera like an asi120 or 224. In the long term you will get better results. Just my 2p. Clear skies.
Hmmn, I think I will buy a DSLR camera, it will be my first camera, just bought a Skywatcher Startravel 120 refractor, any recommendations on a budget. Thanks mate, I love your videos im learning so much from them. Kev.
Thanks Kevin. For DSLRs there are a lot of options. People sit mainly in Nikon or Canon camps. I'm a Canon user so can only given first hand feedback for these, which are well supported by astro apps. Budget may dictate of course but assuming that you don't want the highest-end model there are a couple of routes to suit. 1) buy a new 250D or 2000D and use it to build your experience. 2) buy a used astro-modified EOS. These come up regularly on Astrobuysell and, while used and unwarrentied of course, they cost less than half a new model and will show emission nebulae much better - more red light will reach the sensor. If you buy used then make sure the model has "live view" - old ones don't. Nikon followers can give you their 2p - i've heard that Nikon sensors have lower noise, but again this isn't through my own experience - just forum talk. One other banana skin - if you want to use the camera with your ST120 you NEED a tracking mount. Without this you would be limited to lunar AP through the scope, or using the camera and lens on a tripod, without using the scope. I expect you know this anyway but wanted to mention it as the mount becomes very important in Astrophotography. I hope this helps, Graham
@@JenhamsAstro Graham thank you very much mate that's brilliant information, I will have a good think about all that. My friend is gonna sell his camera soon he wants to upgrade, it's in great condition with lots of extras, I might buy it, he could then show me how it all works it's a Nikon D 3200. Would that suffice for now ? Also I've bought a Skywatcher Star quest 102 MC +eq alt. Az Maksutov Cassegrain like the one you reviewed, it's got a RA drive with it, second hand eBay, hopefully it will be here tomorrow. Would that be ok to track the sky.? I've just bought a Ostara 2inch 45 degree prism diagonal and a 32mm wide field eyepiece for it and have just put it on my Skywatcher Startravel 120, it's fantastic !! Ye , I won't rush into a camera yet I will have a good look on Astrobuysell, I've never heard of them before so thank you for that as well. Keep up the good work Graham it's most appreciated mate. Kev.
@@Kemagic Hi Kev, a D3200 will be fine as it has a Manual mode with bulb setting and Live View on a laptop. Focusing is key, along with tracking. The 102MC will be a challenge as Maks have small fields of view. The camera and lenses or the ST120 with the Camera will be easier. Have fun!
@@JenhamsAstro Brilliant, thanks Graham, great advice. Have a belter mate. Kev.
My attempts to reply keep disappearing. Not sure why!
Message received Brian!
@@JenhamsAstro Oh good. Thanks for letting me know.
how do you connect the camera to the telescope ?
Basically you can’t. The lens is not removable as it is with a DSLR. So the camera is limited to use on a tripod or piggybacked on a tracking platform.
@@JenhamsAstro ah my misunderstanding , i thought you were connection it to a telescope like you would a DSLR , not actually doing the astrophotography with just the camera
Thanks for sharing this video.
But you can zoom even more with this camera, there is a secret settings that you won't find in the manual instructions.
I share the link with you for the video..
ua-cam.com/video/yHxa9jpy-64/v-deo.html
Thanks, good to know. 👍🏻
Man that camera is shocking for a modern bridge... My ancient Sony R1 can do anything my SLR will do and it's 15 years old and has a full size sensor too. Except it has a useless viewfinder...
Yep. Certainly a fail for astro.
TOO MANY BUTTONS
I’m thinking of putting my Astro photography to the next level soon and get a star tracker. Should I just use my Nikon p950 that I already have or buy a skywatcher 72ed apo refractor?
I haven’t used the p950 so can’t comment on what it can do vs the LUMIX. For astro with a scope, a small apo with a dslr is a popular way to go, but you need to factor in the cost of a mount as well, to give you a complete AP setup.
@@JenhamsAstro alright thank you! Because I have some friends in the discord channel of Astro biscuit and they calculated that it isn’t that much of a bad idea to use Nikon p950 with the star tracker instead of getting the sky watcher since I don’t wanna spend money and again thank you!