While digital cameras nowadays are not as popular as they used to be, losing to DSLR and mirrorless, they are still worth buying due to some of their capabilities. If you don’t have much to spend, low to middle items like Panasonic FZ80 vs Nikon B700 are a great options to check on. With their affordable price and capabilities, we can take a better pictures without spending much. If you are also eyeing these two, go read our article below to see their capabilities.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– Is Digital Camera still worth buying
– What are Panasonic FZ80 and Nikon B700
– What Panasonic FZ80 and Nikon B700 Look Like
– What Panasonic FZ80 and Nikon B700 can offer to you
– Panasonic FZ80 vs Nikon B700
Digital Camera
Since the era or online communities start to affect our daily life, it seems that people take more pictures everyday then how we used to for example a decade ago. Today, we take pictures almost everyday and post them or share them on our preferred social medias like Instagram or Twitter. However the more we took pictured doesn’t mean that we also interest on camera in general since most of us us our smartphone’s built-in cameras to capture those moments because they are more convenient.
Except for hobbyist or professional, it seems that there are less and less people owning a dedicated cameras today because even with just smartphone, we can already took quality images depend on your device’s capabilities, some of them even better than low or entry levels digital cameras. However, it doesn’t mean that smartphone cameras are already perfect for everyone because there still many we can ask from them mainly on the manual adjustment and taking images under low lighting condition.
Additionally, some of us may want to take an object from far away or just can be accessed from afar. In this case, regular smartphone’s camera won’t be able to provide the amount of zoom we need unlike in Bridge cameras like Panasonic FZ80 and FZ82 because smartphones tend to reduce overall image quality, thus they are not a good option if you need to take picture from afar. However, it is still great to invest a little bit more since low-end won’t be a good option.
This is because low entry cameras typically those point-and-shoot digital types are only capable of taking low quality images as well, similar to those from regular smartphone’s, thus if you need an improvement, it is recommended to look for an item on the higher price point or at least on the middle-end to get that quality images we are looking for. For those with more budget, a DSLR or mirrorless can be a good option but for those with less to spend, there are also great digital cameras out there to pick.
About Panasonic FZ80
Since the amount of options in the market are numerous, it is understandable that sometime we can get confused about which to choose. But, if you need to find them quickly, try looking from a well-known name first since they are the most likely to offer a dependable products as well and may have a huge collection to pick matching our need and preference. But, if what you need is a camera with a long range or zoom capability or bridge camera, then you should check Panasonic FZ80.
The first thing what makes Panasonic FZ80 interesting is their price point since a bridge camera can be expensive enough to be compared with mirrorless today yet this model is not and very suitable for those with limited budget to spend but still want to get a dependable unit. In addition, they are already featured with some useful capabilities including Wi-Fi, a good EVF, a touch LCD and the always wanted 4K capturing quality. However, due to low price, we shouldn’t ask much either for the rest are pretty standard.
Panasonic FZ80 Design
While included in digital camera type, this model is coming in a typical SLR design which is good to ease the handling for those who are already used with higher-end models. Its overall design is small enough to be carried around in your pocket bag with a zoom capability more than what you get in your smartphone or even in SLR. The body is weighing around 1.4 pounds with 3.7 height, 5.1 width and 4.7 inches in diameter. This small size will affect the sensor planted inside since it only use 1/2.3-inch variant.
Panasonic FZ80 Features
Since Panasonic FZ80 is a bridge or super zoom camera, the first thing we should check is their zoom capability. For this model, we are amazed by the 60x optical zoom we can do which will provide a very broad focal ranger of 20-1200mm, thus they are perfect for squeezing loads into your frame or zooming into your subject. However, due to the small sensor available, the resolution will be kept below 20MP to reduce noise levels especially when shooting at higher ISO.
To prevent the image taken from having too much noise, the ISO range itself is kept within a narrow but usable range from ISO 80 to 3200, so when you are taking pictures in low light environment, we will still need to use the built-in optical image stabilization or if you need to do slower speed, it is best to mount them on a tripod. Beside the amazing zoom capability, Panasonic FZ80 is also capable of taking 4K quality images like in higher-end models.
In this side, there are 3 settings available. The first is 4K burst to capture fast moving subjects and to do it, we need to press and hold the shutter to capture a sequence of images but, there will be 0.5 second delay after pressing the shutter button. The second is 4K Burst (S/S) to capture more predictable subjects and to do it, we need to press the shutter button to begin and then press it again to stop. What’s good here is we can place markers within the burst to quickly find the best frames.
The last is called 4K Pre-Burst and in this mode, the camera will capture roughly one second before and one second after the shutter has been released to give the users the best chance of capturing the perfect image.
About Nikon B700
Since the amount of option in the market can be a lot more than we expect, it is good to look around first and check other promising product to compare them and see which can be the better item. If you like what Panasonic FZ80 can offer to you but are willing to spend more to get a better qualities then, you need to check Nikon B700 as well since this model is a higher version with similar capabilities yet also offers some better qualities.
Nikon B700 Design
As you can see from the sample picture above, Nikon B700 is an SLR-styled super zoom camera or bridge camera that look just like many other similar items out there. However, unlike many other items that usually only available in black fashion, this model is also available in bright, shiny red color for those who pay attention to look. This model is also not very big in size and can be placed in your shoulder bag without really weighing you down while travelling.
Nikon B700 Features
The first thing we will love to talk about this camera is the zoom ability since they are offering 60x optical zoom just like FZ80 we have talked above. This model is also featured with 1/2.3 inch CMOS sensor that we can use to do digital zoom twice the number of optical. Nikon B700’s lens provides us 35mm with an equivalent reach of 24mm to 1440 mm along with available aperture from f.3.3 to f/6.5. Additionally, they also offer 20.3 megapixel resolution and of course 4K quality.
On the ISO range, Nikon B700 can be used with ISO 100 to 1600 in full auto mode or up to 3200 if you are choosing any of the P, A, S, M options. To provide a better capability in taking images, Nikon featured Vibration Reduction system here with an equivalent of 5 stops. What we love from this model is how we can adjust the zoom option since it is accessible with two methods either via lever that encircles the shutter release button above the grip or via a switch on the lens itself.
Of course we can use based on our preference, but the latter is very useful to minimize the movement happening when shooting a subject for they can be operated with you thumb or left hand when handling the camera with two hands, so the camera can be more stable.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Panasonic FZ80 with Nikon B700. As you may already know, the prominent difference between these bridge or super zoom cameras is on their focal length since FZ80 comes with 20-1200 mm while the other is from 24 to 1440mm. The difference is not that much and mostly can take a very similar result but with a slightly higher chip at 20MP compared to FZ80 with its 18.1MP, it won’t perform as good under low light condition as the first option.
Panasonic FZ80 vs Nikon B700
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make. In our opinion, while both of them do have some differences and Nikon B700 seem to offer a slightly better specifications, in real life their difference won’t be very prominent and due to the wide price gap, we will still recommend you to spend less with Panasonic FZ80 with its good set of features and affordable price point.
