The Malaysia Air Festival at Subang Airport presented a chance to test the new Panasonic bridge camera. The FZ 150 is a 24X supersoom with a range of 25mm to 600mm! It even takes the wide angle lens attachment from my LX-5 for an ultra-wide angle of 17.5mm (but zoom-through is not useble with it).
I am contemplating whether to take just this camera to LIMA 2011 Air Show in Langkawi and the Rainforest Challenge in Terengganu in the weeks ahead. Would be nice to go on this long journey without a battery of system bodies and lenses. So far, the quality of the Panasonic FZ 150 looks promising. Auto focus is fast and its burst mode is awesome.
Using the latest Panasonic Class 10 SDHC card, I was able to shoot at a continous 5 frames per second (fps) without it ever stopping to buffer. At 12 frames (fps) per second it does pause for writing to card after a short burst. I didn’t try the scorching 40 fps (reduced resolution) mode though. Surprisingly for a camera at this price level, it also does Full HD video in 1080p.

I like how the UV haze turned the distant hills bluish. The AF tracked the off-center sky diver very well
The Malaysia Air Festival, initiated by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), is held in conjunction with the centennial celebration of aviation in Malaysia. The first of which is taking place at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport, hosted by Subang Skypark. It runs till Sunday, so there’s still time to head there.
Getting There: MyCen Map & Directions to Subang SkyPark Terminal
All pictures photographed with the Panasonic FZ150 by & © TV Smith
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