Panasonic FZ80 Review

While the Panasonic FZ80 doesn’t start shipping to the general public until mid-March, we got our hands on an early production model and after posting First Shots, we immediately Insta 360 camera sent it out to photographer and writer Jeremy Gray in Maine to check it out. To see how this affordable superzoom fared in the real world, see Jeremy’s Gallery images and click here to read his detailed Panasonic FZ80 Field Test!

Introduction
Back in 2013, Panasonic launched the FZ70. The all-in-one superzoom camera offered a then unprecedented 60x optical zoom. Since then, many new superzooms have entered the market, but Panasonic hasn’t had any reply, at least not in the superzoom category. That has changed with the introduction of the Panasonic FZ80.

Sporting the same 60x zoom lens, the Lumix FZ80 brings with it a new higher-resolution image sensor, new processor and a bevy of new features, including 4K UHD video recording. Let’s see how the Panasonic FZ80 fares in the field.

FZ80 has a good touchscreen interface
The Panasonic FZ80 shares similar styling with its predecessor, the FZ70. It is an SLR-styled superzoom camera that offers a massive 60x optical zoom range, meaning that it is not a compact camera. The FZ80’s dimensions are about 5.1 x 3.7 x 4.7 inches (130 x 94 x 119 millimeters) and it weighs 21.7 ounces (616 grams) with card and battery, which is just a bit shorter and a bit heavier than its predecessor.

Priced at $400, which is a great bargain for a 4K-capable superzoom camera, it is hard to be overly critical of the build quality of the FZ80. There are ample physical controls on the camera, which is excellent. Compared to the $1200 Panasonic FZ2500, which I used recently, the FZ80, as would be expected, feels like much more of an inexpensive camera and the FZ80 certainly feels less robust in use. The image stabilization and the autofocus system both work well but I did notice some noise from both systems when in use.

The Panasonic FZ80’s controls are quite good overall, and the touchscreen interface performs nicely. The shutter release feels fine and the zoom toggle switch around the release works well. The FZ80 only has one control dial, but it’s pressable which allows it to quickly change functions. For example in manual exposure mode, you can switch between controlling the shutter speed and the aperture by simply clicking the dial. You can also press it switch to/from exposure compensation in aperture- or shutter-priority mode, etc.

The built-in electronic viewfinder is a 0.2-inch color LCD with 1,166k dots and approximately 100% coverage. The 35mm equivalent magnification of the EVF is only 0.46x — still useful, but it’s small, as is par for the course for this class of camera. There’s no built-in eye sensor, but rather switching between the EVF and the rear display requires you to press a button to the right of the EVF; which is troublesome when wanting to shoot through the EVF and review images on the rear display. A minor issue I have with the EVF is that the diopter adjustment dial to the right of the eyecup is easy to adjust accidentally. I occasionally had to tweak the diopter back to my desired setting after carrying the camera around my neck because my jacket would move the dial.

The rear display on the camera is good and I often found myself opting to use it in lieu of the EVF in many situations. The 3-inch touchscreen LCD has 1,040,000 dots and is a fixed display. A tilting display would be welcome, especially because the display can be difficult to see in bright conditions.

The lack of quality of use features such as an eye sensor for the viewfinder and a tilting display are notable. With that said, in other more important ways, the FZ80 doesn’t feel like a $400 camera, but rather like a quite capable enthusiast-oriented superzoom. The amount of physical controls is excellent and the touchscreen functionality works well to make the camera more approachable for newer photographers while also speeding up the process of changing settings in the field for more advanced users.