FZ2500 Impressions and Comments?

[Mike Griffiths]

Thanks Chris, the problem was bright sunlight, run and gun following a festival, the girl for the head snd shoulder shot stopped for about 30 seconds to pose for still photographers so it was EVF, I couldn't use the screen. I'll follow your advice in future

[Chris Harding]

Great Mike

For run 'n gun I just use AFS, continuous focus on and 49 point mode and haven't had a soft shot yet ...sheesh in bright sun it should have had a huge DOF unless you had some serious ND switched in. If I'm running around like an idiot I try and keep my clips short so each time I restart the camera gets a manual focus lock from the shutter depress but at weddings I go around tables getting interviews with the guests (like 15 sec ones) so I'm moving from person to person and never have an issue even in low light! I'll mess with the 2500 tomorrow and see if I can get it to lose focus !

[Mike Griffiths]

I've ordered one of these from aliexpress. It claims that if you attach a 5V 2A battery ( the sort used to power phones) it will output 8.4V and with the dummy battery fool the FZ into thinking it's attached to the main supply. Just choose a suitable battery and it should all work. I'll let you know ( Chris, a friend of mine is making up your version, your insturctions are great he says) ( I'm not sure if the files are attaching)

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Mike

According to specs the battery must have an onload voltage of 8.2v so it will be interesting to see how they manage to get a 5v spec battery to deliver over 8v ...if it drops below 7.2 the camera will reject it that's why I made mine using a 12v pack and then the voltage regulator to set it between 8.2 and 8.4

Do they also supply a charger with this one?

[Mike Griffiths]

TheDC coupler provides 8.4-8.7 V output. It ends in a USB connection which is plugged into a powerbank
Images attached!!!!!

[Mike Griffiths]

And another. If you want to use an XLR mic on the FZ you can quite cheaply.
The photo shows an XLR mic in a suspension sytem attached to an iRig Pre and then a Rode LC3 TRRS to TRS adaptor.
The iRig has a gain control and 48V phantom power.
This should mean that you can run an XLR cable some distance and still connect to the FZ. It's cheap, the iRig is around £40, the LC3 about £6 and the rest is up to you. The preamp in the iRig seems OK but I m no expert, but listening to the sound on my Mac it sounds great

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Mike

Ok I see what they are doing ..so taking the 5v from any powerbank unit boosting it to 8.7 and sending that into the DC coupler ....I assume you have ordered it? If so, let me know how it works??

The Phantom unit is neat too ..I have a Saramonic AX107 XLR adapter under my main camera which gives me dual channel, audio peaking, mic or line inputs and of course phantom power too.

[Paul Mailath]

I've used this on a couple of weddings but not overly impressed, it just seems slower to respond than the 1000, there's no auto focus on the variable frame rate and the video button seems ever harder to press (I hate the video button on all the panasonics.

I do like the sloe zoom, I think that will come in handy but I'm really struggling to get a usable dolly zoom.

not sure at this stage if I'll keep it or go back to the 1000

[Chris Harding]

Hi Paul

I've done 3 weddings so far and the camera behaved very well ...the slow zoom is awesome ! This camera is made in Panasonic's China factory and yes, I agree about the buttons ..the power lever is nowhere as smooth as the FZ1000 and the shutter button (I don't use the video button) doesn't have the same feel as my FZ1000's ....there doesn't seem to be as much travel in the shutter button either ...My couple moved back a bit so I half pressed the shutter to grab focus and the video stopped ...I'll assign the focus to the AE button now but I still like the FZ2500 ....the touch focus is great ... I have a Live Stream encoder sitting on the hotshoe so it's easier to use the touch screen focus... that is a definate plus!!

I would suspect that the external buttons/switches have been sourced locally and don't come from Japan!

The FZ1000 hi speed video mode has neither focus nor exposure once you start recording so I suspected that variable frame rate would also be lacking in that so I don't use it. Dolly focus (if you read the manual) requires you to still track the camera forwards or backwards while you are dolly zooming to keep the subject the same size so especially at weddings that would be hard to do on the spur of the moment! Did you check if VFR has exposure control or not or is it just AF?? The Fz1000 at100fps has neither try a VFR shoot and move from dark to light and see if the camera corrects the exposure?

[Noa Put]

there doesn't seem to be as much travel in the shutter button either ...My couple moved back a bit so I half pressed the shutter to grab focus and the video stopped ...

It looks like the G80 inherited that shutterbutton from the fz2500, I took my g80 with me on a short holiday to put it through it's paces and can't even remember how many times I stopped recording instead of refocusing during recording, a problem I never had with my gh4,

[Chris Harding]

Glad it isn't just my camera then Noa! Does the G80 have touch screen focus? I don't have an issue handheld as I'm doing mainly short clips but on the tripod with all the gear in the way it's difficult to touch the button softly so I have taken to using the LCD to grab focus if I need the camera to shift focus.

[Noa Put]

Yes it has touch screen focus but I need that shutterbutton to function correctly because I do a lot run and gun handheld with my eye pressed against the viewfinder, it is possible to refocus using that button but you need to press it very gently. I"m only not that confident using it because I don't want the camera to stop recording during a critical moment.

[Chris Harding]

Yeah me too .. I wonder if you can reassign another button to focus that would be easy to find with your finger when the camera is up against your eye? I'll have to look ..trouble is I'm (probably you too) quite used to using the shutter button with the FZ1000 that I instinctively go to it!! Guess we have to learn to be gentle on the button?

[Noa Put]

On the g80 you can reassign it to another button but it hunts more while it attempts to lock focus, looks like I "m stuck using the shutterbutton.

[Mike Griffiths]

Originally Posted by Mike Griffiths

TheDC coupler provides 8.4-8.7 V output. It ends in a USB connection which is plugged into a powerbank
Images attached!!!!!

Well the adaptor finally arrived from Aliexpress. Unfortunately the powerbank I bought ,although claiming to be 2.1 amp. does not provide enough current, the lens tries to open and fails. But plugging the USB into the ouptut on a USB hub attached to my iMac and yippee! it works. The trick seems to be to find a powerbank with enough current. I'll keep trying