Great mid-range digital camera

Category: Review on Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 Digital Camera

Posted by: 15-Oct-2006

Strengths: Great big 12x zoom, compact body, fast shutter response.

Weaknesses: No flip-out LCD, not very good in low-light conditions.

The biggest and best feature of this camera is its huge 12x image-stabilized zoom, which offers you a wide range of shooting options, from ultra wide landscapes to close-in wildlife photos. The image stabilizer is really important here because the zoom is so huge, and the Mega OIS does a great job. The 6.0 megapixel sensor does a fine job shooting for big prints as well as smaller images, and the optimized image processor makes the camera really fast and responsive. Shutter times are lightning quick and focus response is immediate in all but the lowest of light situations.

As far as handling goes, the grip is very comfortable, with the shutter release button located in a perfectly intuitive spot – you can really use this camera without thinking too hard about where the controls are located. It’s a rather bulky camera, almost sized like a full-blooded SLR, but it’s light and easy to tote around.

The only real drawbacks to the DMC-FZ7 are its lack of a flip-out LCD monitor, a feature on other cameras in this price range that allows users to take photos from awkward vantage points. There’s also a lot of visual noise when shooting at high ISO settings – Panasonic pushes the DMC-FZ7 as a great camera for working in low-light conditions, but the results are disappointingly grainy. There’s also a new-to-this-model “ high-sensitivity mode,” which adds ISO 800 and ISO 1,600 to the camera's range. But there’s already issues with noise on this model shooting as low as ISO 80, and it gets worse at higher sensitivities – so this feature’s pretty useless.

Other than those three small issues, though, this is a terrific camera for the price, easy to carry and to use. A good camera for a photographer looking for a mid-range point-and-shoot with a wider range of options.