FZ2500 Impressions and Comments?

[Mike Griffiths]

Whatever the US may say, it's not possible to ship a powerpack by air from the Uk by any commmon carrier- DHL/FedeX etc. Mine is now sitting in a 'DONOT FLY' post office in Ireland.
Carrying them with you is a completely different matter

[Chris Harding]

Understood Mike but I was mentioning that you can carry on batteries ONLY if they are below a stipulated wattage so make sure you find out what the limit is before recruiting someone to bring it by air as carry on. I have a feeling the big power banks might exceed the limit so finding someone then would be a fruitless exercise!! The problem (provided it is allowed) is finding an irishman travelling to Thailand .. we have a friend going to Ireland in May BUT sadly back to Australia not Thailand.

Can you get your money back from Amazon ?? surely they should know shipping rules and should have declined your order if it was going to be impounded!!

[Mike Griffiths]

Unkiely, I got it sent to my son in the UK ,he then posted it on, Amazon would not post it to me. I was trying to get around the restrictions. I've now found a RAV powerpack sold in Malaysia and it's on it's way to me (overland!!!!). I'll keep you updated

[Mike Griffiths]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Understood Mike but I was mentioning that you can carry on batteries ONLY if they are below a stipulated wattage so make sure you find out what the limit is before recruiting someone to bring it by air as carry on. I have a feeling the big power banks might exceed the limit so finding someone then would be a fruitless exercise!! The problem (provided it is allowed) is finding an irishman travelling to Thailand .. we have a friend going to Ireland in May BUT sadly back to Australia not Thailand.

Can you get your money back from Amazon ?? surely they should know shipping rules and should have declined your order if it was going to be impounded!!

Thanks Chris, I will be in Perth in May, but I think I've found an answer. Thanks for the offer.

[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!!!!!

You may recall I got this but small powerbanks just won't work. I tried to order a RAV that Frank suggested but it's no longer allowed to air post them.
I finally found one in Malaysia and it got sent to Thailand. It's a RAVPower Turbo+ 20100mAh (Type-C+QC3.0) Powerbank . It works, I don't know yet how long for, I've only just got it and am charging it and will then run a duration test. You can see it in the photos ( please excuse the mess, it's taking hours to update my wife's laptop). It's more expensive than Frank's one but I'm hopeful and it's the only one we people in Thailand seem to be allowed to buy :)
I'm sure the one that Frank suggested https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will work fine too it is cheaper and simpler than the one I had to buy. Thanks Frank for putting me onto this line of powerpacks.


I ran the FZ2500 in AVCHD 28MBPS. After 4 hours only one of the four 'battery level' indicators had gone out. It looks like it will last a very long time I did not switch on/off nor zoom but it really gives an extended battery life, is well made and portable. I think this is an answer for those of us who can't use a soldering iron

[Chris Harding]

That works very well it seems Mike! That's a brute of a battery too so obviously one does need a substantial power bank for it to work! Would you require anything longer than 4 hours for your purposes?

I would think that most long events would give participants adequate breaks anyway but that power bank certainly seems plenty for your needs.

[Mike Griffiths]

Chris, I think it's more than adequate. Plays sometimes run for 1 1/2 hours or more so battery changes are possible, but this gives a lot of confidence that it won't fail minutes before the climatic conclusion

[Mike Griffiths]

I've been using Toshiba SD 128Gb card recently, they are cheaper than Transcend or Sandisk. It works fine with 4K, but I thought I'd test the speed of the card against Transcend 128 GB card using the Black Magic disk speed test.

Result Toshiba read 28 MB/s write 75 MB/s
Transcend read 50MB/s write 86MB/s

So the Transcend card is faster, but in practice it seems to make no difference. I could not test a Sandisc card as I do not have one, Transcend is my usual card

[Chris Harding]

Hi Mike

Mine too ..I just have a bunch of the U3 Transcend 64GB cards and no problems so far in 2017 Beacuse we do weddings I don't mind paying a few dollars extra for peace of mind and over the past 3 years with both of our FZ1000's and the FZ2500 we never have had a card issue

[Mike Griffiths]

I’ve been trying for some time now to get the best monopod/head combination. I settled a while back on the Sirui 224S carbon fibre monopod. ( there is an aluminium version which is only slightly heavier and cheaper , but it was not available). This is just the best monopod ever. The links below show it well; superb design and manufacture and so well thought out. But finding the right video head was more difficult. I have a Manfrotto 501AH head which I like but it would not fit in the monopod case. I bought a Benro S4 but there is little drag resistance either in tilt or pan. I finally came across the Sirui VH10 head., fixed pan drag which is a little tighter the 501AH and variable tilt drag. The arm extends to allow delicate control over pan and tilt.
I’ve had the combination fora couple of days now and I reckon this combination can’t be beaten for small camcorders ( X70works fine), MFT and DSLRs

Links to videos below
Monopod

YouTube (Short URL)

Monopod comparison

YouTube (Short URL)

Sirui VH-10 head review

YouTube (Short URL)

What do you guys think?

[Bruce Reynolds]

Had mine for over a year. Really liked it, holds my GH4 in cage with standing by itself without touching it and am able to leave it by itself if needed. Now FZ-2500 in cage with cage, zoom and wireless receiver at 5.2 LBs stands by itself.
Only problem is that the different shafts get stuck, sometimes up or closed and you can't get it up or down.
Tried oil with no luck.Have to use a lot of strength to move shaft up or down. Does this with the middle and top sections.

[Scott Wilkinson]

Random Q here for everyone:

Do you regularly power your camera on and off when shooting in the field? Or do you just power it on once and leave the switch on for as long as you're holding the camera, only switching it off when done?

I ask because I've always wondered (really with all bridge cameras with lenses that extend on power-up) how much power extended/retracting the lens consumes...versus leaving it extended.

That said, I understand that after a set period of time with no shooting, the lens with retract anyway.

With absolutely no testing nor data to verify it, I've always assumed that if I'm not shooting for (say) 5 minutes or more, I'm better off powering off the camera.

But I also worry about power switch and lens extend/retract motor actuations, LOL. (Don't want to wear them out prematurely!)

Thoughts?
Scott

PS - I'm wondering now if there is a setting on the FZ2500 that lets you turn off the "auto retract lens after inactivity" feature? (I've never really understood why this feature exists? I find it a nuisance.)

[Scott Wilkinson]

Another random Q:

When I firast began shooting video with a DSLR several years ago, the standard thinking was "Always shoot with a shutter speed of 50 or 60, or twice the framerate you're using.

Does anyone stick to this rule with bridge cameras like the FZ2500? Or has that rule pretty much gone out the window as technology has improved?

Scott

[Chris Harding]

Hi Scott

I just power off when it's convenient ...We do mostly weddings so we would power down after we are finished at the bride's house , the after the ceremony etc etc ....The 2500 lens only extends once so you would use minimum battery there!

Technically your shutter needs to be twice your frame rate when you are shooting double frame rate (so 50P for me and 60P for you) I shoot most stuff at 25P anyway so I seldom bother with shutter issues ...If you are in bright sunlight just kick in an ND filter so the video doesn't stutter in high motion situations like motor racing in full sun. It rarely affects normal motion so I will ignore it.

[Steve Burkett]

Originally Posted by Scott Wilkinson

Another random Q:

When I firast began shooting video with a DSLR several years ago, the standard thinking was "Always shoot with a shutter speed of 50 or 60, or twice the framerate you're using.

Does anyone stick to this rule with bridge cameras like the FZ2500? Or has that rule pretty much gone out the window as technology has improved?

Scott

I can't see technology improving to a point this rule becomes obsolete. A shutter speed twice the frame rate gives the best motion in a video. Have shutter speed at the same frame rate and there can be too much motion blur in fast moving moments. Have the shutter speed even higher than 1/50 or 1/60 and motion can freeze the higher you go. You'll see birds hopping across the screen, movement will become a bit like stop motion - not quite as fluid.

That said, it is a rule I break when the need calls for it. However its not a pleasing look to my eyes and I try to avoid wherever possible.