jimmol

The effective photo length value in the EXIF data is intended to show what focal length on a 35 mm film camera, or a digital camera with a full frame sensor, would have provided the same magnification. Normally it's equal to the actual focal length (also shown in EXIF) times the crop factor. However, both Panasonic and Sony provide the equivalent of a focal length up to twice as great (up to 1200 mm equivalent) by manipulating the JPEG generation. At maximum zoom, both the FZ300 and the Rx10 IV produce the same magnification; Panasonic correctly indicates 1200 mm, while Sony indicates 600 mm for anything over 600.

I find this a show stopper because I use the EXIF values a lot in reviewing my photos. It would be very frustrating for me to have no idea within a factor of two what the equivalent focal length actually was.

RustyM

Thank you for the explanation. It’s interesting to know, but fortunately for me, it’s not an issue. I mostly base my review on how the photos look.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I’d love to see your BIF shots with FZ300. In me experience, (and many others), Panasonic cameras are great in many ways but lack the AF speed for BIF. That’s why I switched from Panasonic to Olympus. Also, the FZ300 does NOT shoot full size JPEG’s or raw at 30fps. The max is 12 for JPEG and 10 for raw. What you can do is extract still shots from 4K video shot at 30fps, so you’re losing a third of your resolution. As for your “fatal flaw”, the info is correct in the EXIF. It is giving the effective focal length of the lens. If you look you also have a field called “Digital Zoom Ratio”. If you multiply this times the lens focal length it’ll give you the focal length with digital zoom.

jimmol

Thank you for pointing out the Digital Zoom Ratio field. I had never noticed it before, because it's found in the miscellaneous section of EXIF, rather than camera info. Sony does set it in correspondence to their enhanced zoom feature; Panasonic doesn't use it because the issue is covered by the way they use the effective focal length in EXIF. I have never found that my FZ300 focuses too slowly for birds in flight. It shortens the focusing time by estimating the amount it has to move the focusing element based on the amount of blurring at the current setting.