Recommended Posts

It's my fiancee's birthday soon, and she has expressed an interest in moving beyond the "point and shoot" compacts we have all had, and moving to something a little better but not full-on just yet.

I have looked around and found that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 is within the budget I have set. It seems to be getting great reviews for what it is.

I cannot find, however, any info on how I could apply filters to it - such as a polarising lens or such. I have seen them on eBay for this cam, but it doesn't seem to have any screw thread!?

Also, I am looking at a Panasonic Refurb for ?128 - but dubious about the "refurb" bit...

Can anyone help?

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/644994-new-camera-for-fiancee/
Share on other sites

The panasonic FZ-8 is a great camera for what it is, its between point and shoot and DSLR (can manually set stuff but not change lenses).

The panasonic FZ-8 comes with a "Lens adapter" which screws onto the camera body and then you can screw on any 52mm filter

Factory refurbs are basically new machines, the camera has probably had a fault which was replaced with new component whatever failed at factory, its probably in as new condition.

Either that or the original owner returned it saying "there is something wrong with it" just because he didn't like it, wanted to be a pain, etc... and when the techs at the warranty center got it they didn't find anything wrong with it and sent it back out. Not really "open box" but not really "refurbished" either.

I think the barometer here would be "Would you buy it in my situation?"

I am going to buy - but having emailed the seller last night and not hearing - will wait and see how long their response takes.

See, I CAN afford to buy it at full price, but at ?130 I will be able to get her a filter, spare battery, mem card, etc.

Yeah, that's a nice compact camera. I think my Fee want's something more like I posted. However, thanks :)

Keeping in mind I know nothing about the camera, strictly from a perspective of "new" vs "refurbished" ... yes.

Well, you're a respected voice around here, and respect carries a lot of weight even in unknown situations. Thank you :)

Heard back and got the usual "Refurbished can mean many things..." line.

So looked - only had a 3 month warranty. Is this something to be wary of?

Just use the holy living crap out of it during that 3 months and hope that anything that will go wrong with it happens in that time :)

I'm sure she will :) Also got her:

Leather re-inforced case (she is clumsy)

Polarising filter (been told this is almost a necessity in bright sunlight)

LCD hood (we often go to very bright places)

Hand grip strap (she is clumsy)

Wide-angle lens (seemed worthwhile)

Extra battery + foreign charger (we are always travelling)

Should keep her happy for a while :)

Thanks for all the help here!

  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry for being so late in updating this. Well, she got it and was very happy. Her first play was in her mother's garden last weekend - I was away and she's got a book on how to use a camera properly. She's taking random pics looking at settings, and notices a bee on a plant. Snap - upload. Bugger me if it's not damned good. And she wasn't even using any macro settings/lens...

Cheers for all the help, I will be setting her up on Flickr or something soon.

Also thinking of a fish-eye lens just fo some fun shots.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Microsoft brings Planner Agent to all Microsoft 365 Copilot users by Ivan Jenic Image: Microsoft Microsoft has announced that Planner Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now generally available to all users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Planner Agent is the latest addition in the string of AI features that Microsoft is implementing across virtually all of its products. The agent lets you manage tasks through natural language prompts directly inside Microsoft 365 Copilot. You can create and update tasks, check priorities, and get insights about current entries without leaving the chat interface. The general availability release comes with a handful of new additions on top of what was available during the initial rollout. A new plan picker lets you search and filter your plans by name, then update task names, statuses, due dates, or priorities through the agent. There's also a goals bucket now, which lets you group tasks under specific goals. This builds on the Goals view, a feature that was introduced as part of the broader Planner refresh that rolled out earlier. Image: Microsoft | Planner Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot All AI-generated plans and tasks are created in draft mode by default, so you can review and approve changes before anything goes through. This is actually a thoughtful safety feature, because trusting AI to handle all your tasks without a human in the loop is usually a recipe for disaster. Having tasks initially saved as drafts is the best possible middle ground. Microsoft also says that not all tasks are executed equally. Simple tasks get processed quickly, while more complex ones, like building a plan from a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, are handed to a more capable model. Microsoft says this approach delivers the best performance, but it could also help with usage management, as you won't have to waste tokens on performing simple tasks. Planner Agent is available now across Teams, Loop, SharePoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps for anyone on a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription.
    • To be clear I'm anti trump, the bigger point is why review this game at all?
    • Trillion dollar Microsoft has to reduce spending by hurting more people. Good job Microsoft. Good Job Asha.
    • That's a shame. The big Xbox reset when Phil and Sarah left and then Asha came on and brought a new team of executives, and all the layoffs last year and saying that the ABK merger wouldn't result in redundancies I am surprised they are calling for yet another reset and yet more layoffs.
    • Arkane, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine might be on the chopping block too.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      ThatGuyOnline earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      499
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      194
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      125
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      87
    5. 5
      neufuse
      73
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!