Hi Jack

Just got back from a destination wedding down South and the venue had a lighting controller that had "low" function1" and "function2" .. it was set at "low" so I asked the co-ordinator if I could lift it to function1 for the speeches. Before they started I checked with the A-Cam and decided it was enough light and shot the entire reception with the lighting on "low" ..No on camera light needed the whole evening with the FZ's and images look really good! I post some grabs when I recover from the long drive in 35 degree heat but they certainly looked really good in camera!! It was rather nice not having to setup any lighting!!

These little cameras do an outstanding job for me!!

Sounds encouraging, Chris. The more time I spend with mine the more I like it.
The damn thing is coming between me and my Canons!!!!! Definitely getting another one at least....

Sharpness can be a problem as these cameras are so sharp even in 1080. I used to shoot with the two Sony EA-50's and an SJ4000 action cam but seldom used the SJ footage because it always looked sharper than the Sonys. Now I have the same problem BUT in reverse ..Due to the super sharp image of the FZ1000 the action cam now looks soft!! I think that you will have a problem with the Canons so if you continue with them you might just have to modify the profile you are using and turn the sharpness slider right down near negative otherwise the Canon could quite easily look very soft.

Dunno if it's the processing or the Leica optics that does it but footage on the FZ really sparkles !!

No way to adjust the in-camera settings to reduce sharpness?

Oh, I do have one question: How to focus while shooting video? Will I be doing it manually all the time? Or is there a convenient way to stay focused.

For instance, on the 70D, I have a touchscreen and it will do a passable job tracking faces. It makes moments like shooting approaching bride in the aisle pretty easy.

Hi Rob

Each profile is fully adjustable on the camera including sharpness. You just go into the menu select your profile (I just use standard) and do a right arrow press and it takes you to the adjustments. On another part of the menu you can also either preselect contrast curves or even design your own so you can crush blacks, lift drop highlights and much more! There is a myriad of menu options that most never even see. The PDF manual is worth a download and a good read!!

In creative video mode you can use half shutter press to grab focus or you can even assign a function button to do the job ... The normal operation is a half shutter press to grab focus (49 point) but you can use it anytime as well during filming to correct focus if subjects move ..once you have got focus you can also leave continuous focus running if you are using the camera handheld ..I have it off for the tripod mounted camera though and just correct manually. A word of warning, the lens barrel focus ring is crappy so I just use the push to grab focus and it nails it every time!! I use continuous focus for bridal entry and it's really good even on long aisles!!