The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 (aka FZ300) is a 12 megapixel bridge camera, which updates the FZ200, and features a bright f/2.8 aperture 24x optical zoom lens equivalent to 25-600mm in 35mm terms, 4K photo and video recording, a high resolution electronic viewfinder (EVF), a vari-angle touch screen and a weather-sealed body.
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 (FZ300) Features
The 24x optical zoom Leica lens features a constant f/2.8 aperture, equivalent to 25-600mm in 35mm terms, and also features 5-axis Hybrid Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), plus a nano surface coating to minimise ghosting and flare, as well as providing a deep lens hood in the box with the camera. The lens can focus on subjects just 1cm away from the front of the lens for impressive macro photographs.
The Panasonic Lumix FZ330 records 4K video (3840x2160, 25p), as well as 4K photo at 30fps producing 8-megapixel images. The three options when shooting 4K photo are:
- 4K burst (30fps), records while the shutter is pressed
- 4K burst Start/Stop, records after you've pressed the shutter release button and stops when you press it again
- 4K Pre-burst shooting, the camera records images before and after you've pressed the shutter release
The camera also records Full HD video with Dolby Stereo sound, as well as high-speed 200fps / 100fps video at a reduced VGA and HD resolution respectively.
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.
The camera is splash and dust proof, with a high-resolution vari-angle touchscreen, along with a high-resolution OLED electronic viewfinder with a 1440K dot resolution. DFD (Depth from defocus) Technology gives Light Speed AF performance, and is a technology that was introduced with the Panasonic Lumix GH4.
Wi-Fi connectivity lets you shoot remotely, transfer and share images, as well as add geotag location information to your photos from your smartphone. The Panasonic Image App is available for iOS and Android devices.
Key Features
- 24x optical zoom Leica lens, 25-600mm (equivalent), f/2.8 constant aperture
- 12.1mp high sensitivity MOS, 1/2.33inch sensor
- 0.7x 1440k dot EVF with eye sensor
- 3inch 1040k touch LCD screen
- 5-axis hybrid OIS+
- ISO100 to ISO6400
- 12fps continuous shooting, 6fps with AFC
- 4K photo / video, stereo sound recording
- 1cm macro mode
- Wi-Fi / QR code connection
- 3.5mm microphone socket
- Splash / dustproof with weather-sealed body
- 380 shot battery life
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 (FZ300) Handling
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 (known as the FZ300 elsewhere) matches the design style of the FZ1000, GH4, and G7 with additional zoom and focus controls on the lens barrel. There is a mic socket on the side, plus a vari-angle touchscreen on the rear. The battery and memory compartment are both under the weather-sealed camera, and you can see the foam weather sealing when this is open.
Build quality is very good with the camera feeling very sturdy, despite being made from plastic. There is a large rubber hand-grip surrounding the right-hand side of the camera, and this extends to the rear of the camera to give your thumb a good area to hold on to. The control wheel is neatly placed so that your thumb can easily reach this and adjust it.
The camera has a logical layout of controls with most of them accessible using your right hand. When holding the camera with two hands, which is recommended for a stable grip, then the controls on the left of the camera are easy to reach.
The electronic viewfinder (EVF), or Live View Finder (LVF) as Panasonic like to call it, has a large rubber surround as well as an eye detection sensor so that the camera will automatically switch to the EVF when held up to your eye. Another feature of this is Eye-sensor AF - meaning that the camera automatically starts focusing, when the camera is held up to your eye. The view through the EVF matches the screen in colour, and both the EVF and screen are very quick to refresh making them enjoyable to use. The screen also has very good viewing angles.
Menus – The Panasonic menus are neatly arranged, over several screens, and the options each have built in guides to let you know what you are doing. You can also use the Quick (Q) menu button to bring up on screen a number of the more commonly changed options available.
|
Image App Menu |
Remote Operation |
Playback |
Wi-Fi features - Built-in Wi-Fi means you can connect the FZ330 to your smartphone for remote shooting and playback, using the Panasonic Image App, which is available for iOS and Android devices. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't have built-in NFC, which can make it easier to setup the connection with smartphones that have NFC. You can also setup playback on a compatible TV, send images while shooting, and send images stored in the camera. Jump mode uses your smartphone's motion sensor to detect when you have jumped and is designed to get a photo of you in mid-air. You can also use the app to add GPS data to your photos.
Battery life - Battery life is rated at 380 shots according to Panasonic / CIPA test results, which is good for this class of camera, although extended use of Wi-Fi is likely to reduce battery life further.
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 (FZ300) Performance
The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
Speed - We took a number of shots to test the camera's responsiveness, from switch on to first photo, shot to shot, focusing speed etc. We take a number of shots and then use the average to ensure accurate and consistent tests, making it easy to compare with other cameras.
| Shutter Response | < 0.05secs |
| Wide - Focus / Shutter Response | 0.1secs |
| Full zoom - Focus / Shutter Response | 0.1secs |
| Switch on Time to Taking a Photo | 0.9secs |
| Shot to Shot without Flash | 0.4secs |
| Shot to Shot with Flash | 0.8secs |
| Continuous Shooting - JPEG (shots before slow down) |
10.3fps (94 shots) |
| Continuous Shooting - Flash | N/A |
| Continuous Shooting - RAW | 10fps (20 shots) |
Focus and shutter response are both extremely quick, and the camera is very quick in operation, with a fast continuous shooting speed.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 Sample Photos
Sample Photos - Images have good colour as well as high levels of detail, with images coming out sharp. Photos taken with flash show no signs of red-eye, and adjusting the flash levels can help balance natural and artificial light for a pleasing effect. Exposure is reliable, and the camera has a number of options to expand dynamic range, including an HDR mode.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 Lens test images
Lens Performance - Detail is good when using the lens at the wide-angle end of the lens, and image quality continues to remain good when zooming in with the lens, with the camera is capable of delivering good results even at the telephoto end of the lens. The lens is resistant to flare, and the provided lens hood helps here as well. Purple fringing and chromatic aberrations are well controlled, and distortion is automatically corrected in camera on the JPEG images. The macro focus mode lets you focus on subjects just 1cm away from the front of the lens at the wide-angle setting, the subject has to be further away as you use the optical zoom, and the minimum focus distance is helpfully displayed on screen when using the camera's zoom. The image stabilisation system does a good job keeping the image sharp, and the bright f/2.8 aperture helps in low light and when using optical zoom so that a quicker shutter speed can be used.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 ISO test images
ISO Noise Performance - For the lowest noise and best detail possible we would recommend using ISO100 to ISO400, as images have low levels of noise and good levels of detail. For lower light situations ISO800 and ISO1600 still provides good results, although noise increases and detail is reduced. At ISO3200 noise levels become strong and we would recommend avoiding this setting if possible, although results may still be useful if resized and used on the web. ISO6400 is best avoided as noise is extremely high, and detail is very low.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 White-balance test images
White Balance Performance - Auto White Balance (AWB) performs very well under tungsten lighting, with the tungsten preset giving warmer results, which will be useful if you want to capture the ambience of a scene. AWB performs very well under fluorescent lights, and there is no fluorescent preset available on the camera.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ330 Digital filters
Digital Filters - There are numerous creative effects available, and the camera will record a raw version of the image so that you can go back to the original if you don't like the effect. There are 24 scene modes available, and you can also adjust the contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, and saturation settings.
Panorama mode - The camera features an automatic panoramic mode that will shoot standard or extra wide panoramics. You simply press the shutter release button and pan the camera from one side to the other. Results are very good, and well stitched together, with a fairly high resolution image produced.
Panoramic | 1/320 sec | f/4.0 | 4.5 mm | ISO 100
Video - There are six pages of video options, including recording format (AVCHD / MP4), photo style, filter settings, snap movie, P/A/S/M, AFS / AFC, Continuous AF, Metering, Highlight/Shadow, iDynamic, iResolution, Diffraction compensation, iZoom, Digital Zoom, Conversion, Flicker Decrease, Silent operation (Screen control), Mic Level Display / Adjust (18 levels), Mic Level Limiter, Wind Noise cancellation, and Zoom Mic. Recording quality options include:
- MP4: 4K: , 3840x2160, AAC, 25p and 24p, 100Mbps
- MP4: FullHD: 1920x1080, AAC, 50p (28Mbps) and 25p (20Mbps):
- MP4: HD: 1280x720, AAC, 25p, 10Mbps
- MP4: VGA: 640x480, AAC, 25p, 4Mbps
- AVCHD: FullHD 1920x1080, Dolby Digital, 50p, 28Mbps
- AVCHD: FullHD 1920x1080, Dolby Digital, 50i, 17Mbps
- AVCHD: FullHD 1920x1080, Dolby Digital, 25p / 24p, 24Mbps
There are also options to record 100fps HD video and 200fps VGA video. Other options available on the camera that may be of particular interest to those recording video include: zebra pattern, monochrome live view, focus peaking, as well as the microphone port on the side of the camera. Video quality is very good, and the camera's 5-axis image stabilisation system does a good job of keeping video steady when using the camera handheld or when using the full optical zoom. An additional video can be found on the ePHOTOzine YouTube Channel.
Value For Money
The Panasonic Lumix FZ330 is available for £499 which makes it great value for money, with an f/2.8 constant aperture lens and 4K video recording. Alternatives to look at include the following cameras:
Larger sensor cameras:
Canon Powershot G3 X, 24x optical zoom, f/2.8-5.6, no EVF, weather-sealed, £779
Panasonic Lumix FZ1000, 16x optical zoom, f/2.8-4.0 (at 400mm), 12fps, 4K video, EVF, £620
Sony Cyber-shot RX10, 8.3x optical zoom, f/2.8, 8fps, FullHD video, EVF, weather-sealed, £599
Sony Cyber-shot RX10 II, 8.3x optical zoom, f/2.8, 14fps, 4K video, EVF, weather-sealed, £1200 (RRP)
Compact sensor alternatives:
Fujifilm FinePix S-1, 50x optical zoom lens, f/2.8-5.6, weather-sealed, £265
Olympus Stylus SH-2, 24x optical zoom lens, f/3.0-6.9, not constant aperture, no EVF, £219
Olympus Stylus 1, 10.7x optical zoom lens, f/2.8 constant aperture, with EVF, £379
Have a look at more ultra-zoom / bridge cameras in our Top 10 Best Ultra Zoom Bridge Cameras 2015.
You'll also need to buy a memory card and a case or bag to keep your camera safe and protected - have a look at our complete guide to camera bags.
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 (FZ300) Verdict
The Panasonic Lumix FZ300 offers a high quality f/2.8 constant aperture 24x optical zoom lens, and this, combined with a 12 megapixel 1/2.3inch sensor results in images that are detailed and crisp, with none of the over processing, and noise associated with higher resolution (16/18/20mp 1/2.3inch) sensors. Lens quality does not suffer as much as other cameras at the full optical zoom, and the camera is one of the most affordable compact cameras available that is capable of recording 4K video. High speed continuous shooting is on offer, and the camera is extremely quick in use with fast shutter response, as well as extremely fast focus speeds.
The design and handling of the camera is very good, with a weather sealed body making it suitable for use, even in British weather. The camera features a high resolution vari-angle touch screen with good viewing angles, and the high resolution electronic viewfinder looks great, with a generous rubber eye-surround. There is an abundance of options and settings that will keep both the advanced photographer, as well as the keen videographer happy. The Panasonic Lumix FZ330 offers an appealing package, that delivers both high quality images and video, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better camera, or even one that could offer the same features and specifications, for the price.
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 FZ300 Review - Verdict: The Panasonic Lumix FZ330 offers a desirable package, that delivers both high quality images and video, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better camera for the price.