Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 vs Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2000 / FZ2500 — Which Is Better?

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2000 / FZ2500 are fixed-lens bridge cameras, so one body covers a whole shoot. The FZ2000 launched in 2016, two years after the FZ1000's 2014 release. Its body is slightly larger at 138 x 102 x 135 mm, against the FZ1000's 137 x 99 x 131 mm.

The FZ2000 is heavier at 915 g, an 84 g increase over the FZ1000's 831 g, or 10.1 percent more to carry on a long walk.

Heavy cropping gives identical room on either camera, because both pair a 20-megapixel 1-inch CMOS sensor with the Venus Engine processor. A distant bird or stage performer cropped tight keeps the same pixel count from both. Action shooting matches too, with 12 fps burst rates and 49 autofocus points on each body.

Both offer in-body stabilisation, a 1/4000-second fastest shutter, and native ISO from 125 to 12800, expanding to 80 to 25600. Their electronic viewfinders are effectively equal, separated by 1,000 dots on panels of about 2.36 million.

The FZ1000 is the easier camera for day-to-night timelapse sequences, because it offers a built-in timelapse mode that the FZ2000 lacks. You can leave it framing a sunset or a building site without an intervalometer.

Recording capability otherwise matches. Both record 4K video, and each camera's maximum frame rate is 60 fps, writing MPEG-4 or AVCHD files. Either camera gives holiday clips and wildlife footage the same maximum quality.

Touch control is the FZ2000's practical edge: its 3-inch screen responds to taps, so you can place the focus point directly on a flower or a moving pet and swipe through images in playback. The FZ1000 has no touchscreen, relying on buttons and the d-pad alone.

The FZ1000's rear panel shows finer detail for judging focus, with 2,359,000 dots against the FZ2000's 1,040,000, a 55.9 percent difference in dot count. Both share a flip-out display for high and low angles, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for transfer and remote control, and built-in and external flash support. Neither has GPS or weather sealing.

Storage is identical on both, with a single SD, SDHC or SDXC slot and no second slot for backup or overflow. The rated battery figures differ only slightly, 360 shots for the FZ1000 against 350 for the FZ2000.

Charging convenience favours the FZ2000, which supports USB charging, so you can top it up from a laptop or power bank between locations. The FZ1000 charges through its dedicated charger instead. They also take different battery models, the DMW-BLC12PP and the DMW-BLC12, so spare batteries are not one shared pool.