Since its introduction last year, Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 has remained unchallenged as the only bridge-style zoom camera with a 1-inch sensor. Its sensor and fixed f/2.8 24-200mm lens have earned it accolades, but its $1,300 asking price has limited its audience. Panasonic aims to challenge it with the new Lumix DMC-FZ1000. Like the RX10, it uses a 1-inch 20-megapixel image sensor, but its 16x lens zooms twice as far, and it has one trick up its sleeve that will please videographers: 4K video recording at 30fps.
Like other cameras in this class, the FZ1000 is by no means small. It feels a lot like a small D-SLR or a Micro Four Thirds camera like the GH3 in terms of size and handling, but its big lens doesn't detach. There's a vari-angle rear display that's sharp at 920k-dots, but it lacks the touch input that Panasonic includes in many of its models. The OLED EVF is identical to the one used by the GH4; it packs a 2,359k-dot resolution and its lag time is rated at just 0.01 seconds. I didn't have the opportunity to use it in dim conditions, but in rather bright interior lighting it presents a smooth, sharp, lifelike image to the eye. There is a hot shoe, so you can use an external flash if the integrated pop-up flash isn't sufficient.
The lens is a 25-400mm f/2.8-4 design with Leica branding. It contains 5 aspheric elements to control distortion, and 4 ED elements; Panasonic claims that its molding process eliminates the "onion ring bokeh" that aspheric lenses often produce. Its variable aperture design captures twice the light at its wide end as it does when zoomed all the way in, but don't expect it to be a steady progression. At 60mm it's already dropped to f/2.5, and at 100mm it's rated at f/3.8; it hits f/4 at 170mm and stays there through 400mm. The lens is stabilized via a 5-axis system, and its focus seems quite snappy; Panasonic has used the same contrast-based DFD AF system as the GF4, and claims that it can lock focus in 0.17 seconds at 400mm. We'll wait to get it into the lab for testing to confirm that. Its focus system is rated to work in very dim light, as low as -4 EV.
The ISO can be cranked as high as 12800 in native mode, and 25600 in extended mode. The shutter fires at speeds as short as 1/4,000-second, but unlike the RX10 there's no integrated neutral density filter. You'll have to screw a filter into the front of the lens to utilize longer shutter speeds on very bright days. That's not the only corner that Panasonic cut to bring costs down; the FZ1000 features a plastic body and doesn't include any sort of weather sealing, where the RX10 is constructed from magnesium and is sealed against dust and moisture. There is integrated Wi-Fi, so you can copy images to your smartphone or use your iOS or Android device as a remote control.
The ability to capture video in 4k resolution at a standard 30fps rate is certainly an attention-grabbing feature. The AVCHD codec is utilized, and it's possible to pull 8-megapixel stills out of any video frame. If 4K is beyond the editing capabilities of your workstation, or simply an overkill, you can opt to record in 1080p at up to 60fps. There's also a 1080p120 mode, but that is played back at 30fps—so footage captured will have a slow motion effect. Some additional video functions that will make pros happy are a cinelike gamma setting, hue adjustment, zebra patterns, focus peaking, and a center marker.
Availability has not yet been set, but the FZ1000 does have a price; Panasonic expects it to sell for around $899.
If you're in the market for a digital camera, take some time to peruse our product guide, or our list of the 10 Best Digital Cameras.