Accurate, natural colours, and outstanding details once again. (1/160s, f/3.5, ISO 100, 42mm equivalent) At first glance, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 appears to retain many of the core components found inside the FZ200. For example, it employs the same 1/2.3in, 12.1-million pixel Live MOS sensor, and the same 24x Leica DC Vario-Elmarit optical zoom that provides the 35mm equivalent of 25-600mm along with a constant maximum aperture of f/2.8. The FZ330 does, however, benefit from an improved version of Panasonic’s Venus Engine image processor. You can get a good idea of what it is capable of from the shots here: https://tkansanaho.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Sony+RX10+IV+kuvia/

When the 330 was released in 2015, the inclusion of 4k video was a relatively big thing (arguably it still is.) Other manufacturers at the time where playing catch-up, just as they have been doing in relation to many Panasonic products over many years. Ultimately, Panasonic embraced 4K video recording more eagerly and enthusiastically than any other competitor. In 4K Burst Shooting mode the camera records for as long as the shutter release is pressed, while in 4K Burst (Start/Stop) mode recording is started and stopped with a press of the shutter release; in 4K Pre-burst mode the camera records 30 images immediately before and after the shutter button is pressed (it starts scanning from the moment the mode is selected), giving 60 shots from a two-second burst. f = 4.5 - 108mm/(25 - 600mm in 35mm equiv. in 4:3)/(26 - 624mm in 35mm equiv. in 3:2)/(27 - 648mm in 35mm equiv. in 16:9)/(30 - 720mm in 35mm equiv. in 1:1)/(28 - 672mm in 35mm equiv. in 4:3 4K Photo recording)/(27 - 648mm in 35mm equiv. in 3:2 4K Photo recording)/(27 - 648mm in 35mm equiv. in 16:9 4K Photo recording)/(30 - 720mm in 35mm equiv. in 1:1 4K Photo recording)/(27 - 648mm in 35mm equiv. in 16:9 video recording / O.I.S. Off / Level Shot function Off)/(30 - 720mm in 35mm equiv. in 16:9 video recording / O.I.S. On / Level Shot function Off)/(30 - 720mm in 35mm equiv. in 16:9 video recording / O.I.S. On / Level Shot function On)/(27 - 648mm in 35mm equiv. in 4K video recording)As I have already said, for the money, the FZ330’s top of all in its class. If you want the very best camera of all, then you’ll be shelling out thousands rather than hundreds and are sure to be changing lenses for all manner of things that the FZ330 can muster minus such inconveniences. As ever, the choice is yours. From close-up wildlife through portrait to landscape photography, ‘Bridges’ cater for the whole bundle completely absent of any requirement to change a lens. And as far as these fixed lens Bridge options go, no other manufacturer than Panasonic offers 25mm to 600mm with F2.8 aperture available all the way through from minimum to maximum focal length. Standard, Vivid, Natural, Monochrome, Scenery, Portrait, Custom, Cinelike D*, Cinelike V* * When Creative Video mode is selected. The FZ330 uses the same sensor as the FZ200, but now features a new Venus engine giving ISO6400 as the highest ISO setting available. Various shooting modes are included, along with P/A/S/M manual controls, custom, intelligent Auto, numerous scene modes and creative effects as well as raw shooting. Built in raw image development is available in camera and there are highlight / shadow control options. The camera also features multi-exposure and wide panoramic shooting. Auto / Daylight / Cloudy / Shade / Incandescent / Flash / White Set1 / White Set2 / White Set3 / White Set4 / Color Temperature/(2-axis Adjustable)

The FZ330 adds a few upgrades over the FZ200, including 4K Photo burst shooting modes, an improved EVF and faster autofocus.

Main Rivals

The DMC-FZ330 offers both AVCHD video capture and MP4, with the latter offering 4K recording at in 3840x2160 at 25p (50Hz) or 24p in MP4 with full-time auto-focusing. Interestingly, if you want to shoot the maximum 4K video – i.e twice as high quality as Full HD – then a switch to MP4 mode is required before you can implement that setting on the Panasonic, with the choice of 25 or 24 frames per second capture speed. In other words 4K shooting is not available with AVCHD compression. You can also extract a still image from a 4K sequence, ending up with the equivalent of an 8 megapixel photo at 30fps. Two high speed options are also available - 100fps in 720p or 200fps in VGA quality. Macro performance is amazing, allowing you to focus as close as 1cm away from the subject (although it's difficult to get the lighting correct at such a close distance). The images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting if you don't like the default results. The Intelligent Resolution feature either makes a standard image look sharper, albeit with some unwanted artefacts appearing, or it digitally increases the 24x optical zoom to 48x, again with a slight loss in quality. Intelligent Dynamic Range and HDR both successfully adjusts the exposure to record more detail in both the highlights and shadows. Still Image:/Approx. 60 - 1/4,000 sec (Mechanical Shutter)/Approx. 1 - 1/16,000 sec (Electronic Shutter)/Bulb (Approx. 60 sec)/Motion Picture:/Approx. 1/25 - 1/16,000 sec (in 24p recording)/Approx. 1/2 - 1/16,000 sec (Creative Video M Mode / MF Mode) The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 produced images of very good quality during the review period. Noise is well-controlled until ISO 1600, which exhibits some artifacts, blurring of detail and slight colour desaturation. The noise and loss of detail get progressively worse as you go from ISO 1600 to the fastest 6400 setting, which isn't really very usable at all. I tend to have it set to 400 ISO to get the best compromise between exposure and detail. It has an idiot mode that will push zoom up into the digital of around 100x but I don’t use and prefer to use Program mode which limits the zoom to its optical limit. Burst shooting is around 5fps, annoyingly it stores each burst in its own folder on the SD card which makes for fiddly reviewing and collation.