Topic: Panasonic LX2/FZ50 Firmware Petition (Read 15106 times)

odklizec · « **on:** September 03, 2006, 03:20:50 pm »

Guys, I've just started a petition for a Panasonic firmware update. The Venus III engine is simply too aggressive and kills a lot of details. We discussed this problem at dpreview forums and then I though about petition for simple firmware update (applicable on LX2 and FZ50), which will allow us to to turn the in-camera picture adjustments completely OFF, especially the Noise Reduction. Adjusting Noise Reduction to LOW is simply not enough.

If you check these full resolution FZ50 images..
http://www.pbase.com/fz3pics/fz50_low_light_test_pics

..or these full res. crops I made from the above full res. images..

ISO 100:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO100_crops.png
ISO 200:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO200_crops.png
ISO 400:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO400_crops.png
ISO 800:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO800_crops.png
ISO 1600:
http://filexoom.com/files/15340/ISO1600_crops.png

Also this is very good example of the problem, this time taken with LX2:
http://filexoom.com/files/23998/lx2_more_high_iso_crops.jpg

Please, ignore the ISO 200 RAW shot. It's blurred by an accidental camera shake.

You will clearly realize how strong is the Venus III noise reduction, even at lowest possible level. It would really be great if Panasonic would release (finally) a user installable firmware, which will allow us to set the JPEG noise reduction to OFF.

So if you are interested, read and sign the petition, which is available here..

http://www.gopetition.com/online/9523.html

Maybe if we collect enough petitioners, we will change something?

Some time ago, many Casio z850 buyers cried about bad quality of video taken with this camera in high-quality mode. The official Casio statement was "there will be no firmware update nor we are working on it". But now, few months after Z850 release, there is a firmware fix (better said workaround) for this problem!

So why not with Panasonic? I'm sure, we can be successful if we will act together..why not give it a try? We can't lose anything. So please, read and sign the petition and tell about it to as many Panasonic photographers as you know.

odklizec · « **Reply #1 on:** September 17, 2006, 03:07:05 pm »

Quick update! Up to now, we collected 900+ petitioners. It seems, we will soon (tomorrow or so) turn over the 1000 signed people! Not bad for 15 days of running this small petition, what you think?

Leica now released their rebadged versions of LX2/FZ50 so we will see if the noise reduction and other image processing is less or more the same as in the original Panasonic cameras and if the same, I'm ready to extend this petition also to Leica equivalents of LX2/FZ50.

odklizec · « **Reply #2 on:** September 29, 2006, 03:07:38 pm »

Hello folks,

1350 and counting! We will soon celebrate one month of running this petition! Of course, 1350 signed people is still nothing in comparison to all sold LX2/FZ50 cameras. But in my humble opinion, it's still a very solid number, especially if you get that not all customers surfing net, reading digital camera forums and with relative low public knowledge about this petition?

I'm sure, Panasonic could get many new loyal customers and undying respect from existing users, giving this little petition a go and do something really positive! Well, I have no doubt they will consider this feature addition to LX3/FZ60-70. But why waiting one year if it's sooo easy to do with just released cameras? What they can lost?..Nothing! They can only earn by listening their customers!

Pete JF · « **Reply #3 on:** September 29, 2006, 03:38:28 pm »

I'd buy this camera if the noise stories weren't so prevalent. Does Adobe Camera Raw support this camera ? How do the raw files clean up using noise ninja?

odklizec · « **Reply #4 on:** September 29, 2006, 04:02:26 pm »

As far as I know, the latest version of ACR already supports LX2/FZ50. But from what I've read "Bibble" is much better choice for Panasonic raw conversion. It also includes support (its PRO version) for Noise Ninja denoising solution. So you can professionally denoise the RAW files right from Bibble. If you check the above sample crops, you can see how good can Noise Ninja clean the FZ50 images. Of course, the cleaning can be even better, but in these samples is Noise Ninja set to preserve more details and leave the images a bit noisier.

marto · « **Reply #5 on:** October 04, 2006, 07:37:01 am »

Hi all,
I read a lot about the LX2 but no one seems to be using the RAW option. I am thinking of buying an LX2, but I am mainly interested in shooting in RAW. Does anyone know how slow/fast RAW files are written to the SD card?
And how bad is the noise problem in RAW?

odklizec · « **Reply #6 on:** October 04, 2006, 07:54:23 am »

We discussed it on dpreview forum. The RAW writing speed is about (or under) 4secs with fast card. It's not excellent, but not bad at all. As for the image quality from RAW, it's noisier, but it also contains a lot of more details. Check for example the petition sample shots. Or this one is also perfect example of how bad is the LX2 noise reduction..

Please, ignore the ISO 200 RAW shot. It's accidentally blurred by a camera shake.

odklizec · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2006, 05:26:24 pm »

Just a quick update..

After first month of running this little petition we collected over 1500 signatures (exactly 1570 for now) and the numbers still increasing. Sure, it's small number in comparison to all sold Lumix cameras. But it's solid proof of something wrong with default in-camera noise reduction, or at least a proof that some "pro" users simply need better control over in-camera NR. Check the people's comments in their signatures.

Unfortunately, we don't have any reaction from Panasonic yet. But it can have two reasons.. Panasonic simply playing dead horse, or most probably, the petition is running too short for an official reaction from Panasonic's side. Who knows? Maybe if we collect few more thousand of signatures, Panasonic will finally take us seriously? Or maybe not.. But at least we tried something. Wise marketing would easily turn this petition into their favor.

Rhett Thanas · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2007, 11:24:07 am »

I don't suppose there's been any update? The Petition teeters on the edge of three thousand signatures (2796 at time of post).

I've been on the edge about buying this camera, as a aspiring photographer looking for a camera to learn more advanced techniques on. But the noise issue is really trouble-some and worrying, and thanks to this thread I found out noise reduction can't even be turned off! Ew.

EDIT: Typoed the total of signatures.

odklizec · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2007, 11:39:00 am »

You mean 2976 signatures? Anyway..there is no reply from Panasonic, not even a single reply from their tech. support regarding the smudging details in RAW. So I'm afraid, they simply ignoring their customers. You just have to buy their c...p and shut your mouth if you find some problem

I give it up and bought Olympus E400, which is reasonable small/lightweight for my needs and I'm very happy with it! No more problems with overprocessed JPEGs

Author Topic: Panasonic LX2/FZ50 Firmware Petition (Read 15106 times)