Panasonic DMC-FZ30

Massive zoom range

To illustrate the FZ30's coverage, we took the same photo from the same position on a tripod using it and Fujifilm's FinePix S9500/S9000 which offers a 10.7x optical range equivalent to 28-300mm. The photos below were taken moments apart.

Zoomed-out to wide-angle, the Fujifilm S9500 captures a visibly wider field than the 35mm equivalent focal length of the Panasonic DMC-FZ30, although not as wide as the 24mm equivalent of Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-R1.

Panasonic DMC-FZ30 - 7.4-88.8mm at 7.4mm, f8 (35mm equivalent)

Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom - 6.2-66.7mm at 6.2mm, f8 (28mm equivalent)

Below are examples of both cameras zoomed all the way in, again taken from exactly the same position and moments apart. Here the massive 300 and 420mm equivalent focal lengths of each camera demonstrate their impressive reach over both the Sony R1's 120mm equivalent, and the relatively paltry capabilities of a typical 3x lens bundled with a digital SLR.

The Panasonic unsurprisingly wins in this respect, although whether it's offers a greater benefit than the wider angle of the Fujifilm S9500 is entirely down to personal preference and your style of photography.

Panasonic DMC-FZ30 - 7.4-88.8mm at 88.8mm, f8 (420mm equivalent)

Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Zoom - 6.2-66.7mm at 66.7mm, f8 (300mm equivalent)