(40 views/week)
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Review Date
July 27, 2008
Overall Rating
 4 of 5
Value Rating
 4 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2 votes
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Reviewed by
A.M.D.A.
, Intermediate
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, Outdoor
Summary
This is an excellent camera. I decided on it after considering several models from other manufacturers. After trying it out for a few weeks, I knew that I had made a good choice in picking the FZ7.
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The Lumix DMC-FZ7 is my first camera so far, and to this day I don't regret I chose it. The pictures I take are mostly nature, especially birds and close-ups.
The DMC-FZ7 is not targeted, or intended for casual point-and-shooters.
I would recommend this camera, or the newer, improved FZ8, FZ18 or FZ28 for people who want the most possible features and versatility without resorting to a larger, heavier, more expensive D-SLR.
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Tip: Super-zoom digital cameras tend to suck dust INTO their lenses, so a clear filter to encase the entire lens barrel is essential.
Strengths
Image quality is very good below ISO 200, it has even surpassed that of some companions with D-SLRS.
This camera is also very easy to use, well-placed controls, great hand grip.
There is also a well-placed joystick for rapidly accessing frequently used functions such as White Balance, ISO sensitivity, image resolution and compression level.
The optical zoom provides a long reach for wildlife photography. There is no distortion at the telephoto end that I have noticed. At the wide end, there is a little distortion if the subject is close by. Images are also sharp and clear.
Auto focus is usually fast and silent, excellent for action pictures. Burst mode is also great.
There is also the option of fully manual controls and selecting different light metering modes and auto-focus modes.
Contrast, saturation, sharpness and noise reduction each can be adjusted three different levels.
Another very useful feature is macro mode, it allows shooting close-ups up to 5 cm from the subject.
Weaknesses
The few things that I complain about this Lumix are:
High picture noise upwards of ISO 400. With noise reduction on at full power, pictures turn out very soft-looking. I usually shoot at low ISO levels.
Accurate manual focus is very hard with this camera due to the low resolution screens, especially the viewfinder. When taking pictures with auto-focus, this low resolution usually isn't a problem.
The camera feels and is sturdy, but I wouldn't be rough with it because the camera body can be very easily scratched, especially on the flash cover.
No hot-shoe for external flash.
Similar Products Used
This is my only camera.
Customer Service
I have had no problems with my FZ7 since I bought it in late 2006, but I did contact Panasonic Canada about 4 months ago with some questions about my equipment. They responded promptly and gave a good answer.
I am currently waiting for a response from another question.
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Review Date
March 13, 2008
Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
4 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
2.50 of 5, 2 votes
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Reviewed by
aces1202
, Expert
Price Paid
$325.00
at Costco
Photography Experience
21+ years
, People
Summary
If all you want is a point and shoot, you can't beat this. It's 2008 now, and I'm sure there are newer models and maybe better options out there, but I have been very happy with this camera for several years now. The 12x zoom is pretty awesome, and the 6MP is adequate for most purposes. Some of the buttons on the back are a little too easy to hit by mistake, but that's no big deal.
If you want a no nonsense, easy to use camera that can take some great shots in most conditions, then this will take care of your needs.
If you are into sports photography, especially indoors, I wouldn't get this camera.
Strengths
12X zoom
easy menu options
feels good in hands
lightweight
6MP
JPG and TIFF
Weaknesses
Lens cap not attached by string
Too easy to hit buttons on back of camera
Flash is a a little too strong (reduce flash exposure in menu options)
Not very good at 200 or 400 ISO
Optical quality falls off at high zoom settings, but better than nothing
Customer Service
Never had to use customer service. No problems.
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Review Date
January 14, 2007
Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Value Rating
 5 of 5
Used product for
Less than 1 month
Visitors rate this review
3.60 of 5, 5 votes
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Reviewed by
panthera
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$0.00
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, Outdoor
Summary
Coming from a pro dslr (which I sold because it was too heavy carying around) I am amazed by the quality pics coming from this 'baby' slr camera. Never would have thought there would be a mini-camera that would satisfy me after being used to pro tools. Pics are very sharp at ISO 80 (not tested higher ISO yet) and OIS does a very good job. The ability of manual focus is a strength on this cam and I use it especially to focus on macro photos. Mostly I shoot Aperture priority but for macro pics I use the 'Macro scene' which gives me a focusing distance of 1 meter at maximum zoom level, bringing insects very close when you can not come close to them. Noise is an issue but as I don't like the noise reduction I put the camera on low noise reduction, so I can do the noise reduction myself using Photoshop. That way I have much more control over the details in my pics. Al settings you need most (which are quite a lot) are only a button away so you don't need to scroll through the hole menu system. The camera comes with a hood and there is the ability to screw filters on it like UV or pol-filter. That all said this camera gives you all the freedom of a dslr in a compact, lightweight and mostly affordable format. No more need to spend lots of money on lenses, no more need to switch lenses and save your back not carrying much weight
Strengths
* very sharp pictures
* fully manual control if you want to, or totally automatic as pleases you
* very lightweight compared to dslr
* very satisfying zoom range
* manual focusing is possible
* lens hood comes with
* can use filters
Weaknesses
* noise maybe but not actually disturbing
* extra conversion lenses to extend the zoom range (which is maybe needed at the wide end) are very expensive (costing half a camera each) and hard to find on the market.
Similar Products Used
* canon eos 20d (much bigger and much more expensive)
Customer Service
no experience with this
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Review Date
October 27, 2006
Overall Rating
4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 6 votes
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Reviewed by
Micheal Light
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$500.00
at www.camera-warehouse
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, Outdoor
Summary
I completely switched from film to digital six months ago when I purchased this digicam, with a 2GB SD card (the maximum it takes). Since then I took several hundred pictures.
I was completely amazed to see the quality of the pictures easily beat the 35mm film equipment I had (though I didn't have any high-end lenses), especially sharpness. Though there are limits to this better look, courtesy of the small, 1/2.5, sensor: blue sky comes slightly noisy (the deeper blue it is, the more noisy it gets) and if the picture is more contrasty, the deep shadows appear as black blotches; depending on the light conditions, even lighter shadows can appear noisy (for example, I was taking pictures of sunrises - the orange clouds came up great, but the gray clouds were noisy). All this is at the lowest ISO 80. At ISO 200 more noise appears in shadows, and at ISO 400 it gets very noticeable. Noise at ISO 80 in deeper shadows and blue sky, and ISO 200 in shadows is not a big deal in normal day-to-day size prints - one would have to strain to see it, though it shows up quite noticeably when displayed on the screen at higher magnifications (or cropping). It all depends on the light. I took some pictures at ISO 400 when the lighting wasn't too contrasty and couldn't see any noise at all at normal viewing sizes. Another time I took a test picture of a picknick table in a forest. It was heavy overcast, so the light wasn't great. I could hand-hold it, thanks to the great optical image stabilizer. At ISO 200 the deeper shadows were noticeably noisy and at ISO 400 the pic would be unusable for showing it to other people.
Again, all this is due to the small sensor. I also took several pictures with long exposures, up to 25 seconds. The results were good - on normal, 4x6 print one would have to look very closely to see the slight noise.
The lens is simply amazing, there is nothing else to say about it.
I set my FZ7 to saturated colour, so I get velvian look (or maybe velvia on stereoids?). At normal, default colour settings I find the colours accurate,
pleasing, though I like the extra zing of saturation, though some detail may be
lost. If you would like to see a few sample pics, please visit:
www.photo.net/photos/alight
There is no CA (purple fringing) in lower zooms that I can see, even when zooming in on my LCD (computer) screen. Higher zooms show some CA.
Controlling this digicam is a breeze. The command dial spins easily, and everything has a great, good-build quality feel (it's also made in Japan). The menu system is very easy to navigate (for most functions without even looking at the manual) and graphically it looks great.
I mostly shoot in aperture priority, so after setting the dial to "A" I then can use the small joystick on the back to nudge the aperture values up or down. Very easy and I can do it without looking at the camera. So it is with exposure compensation - I can do it blindfolded. Even though ISO and picture quality are adjusted through the menu system (rather than having dedicated buttons), it's easy to do with just a few clicks. No big deal.
The large LCD screen (2.5 in) is OK, though it could use more pixels. In bright daylight I usually switch to the electronic viewfinder. It displays all the info as the big LCD and is OK to use for landscapes and other big objects. However, due to its small size, it's basically unusable for smaller things like animals (unless it's a black dog on snow) and forget about seeing birds through it. One day I was trying to take a picture of a hawk sitting on a branch not too far away. Even with the 12x zoom I had a hard time aiming the camera when using the EVF.
As I take pictures of nature (and trees don't run around too much), I find the responsiveness of the digicam more than sufficient. It turns on pretty fast. If you forget to take the lens cap off when turning it on, it will display on the LCD that you should do so, and doesn't make a big deal out of it (menaing no screetching sounds, no grinding of gears).
The flash pops up with the press of a button and then it takes a couple of secs to charge. It's not very powerful (obviously), but it seems to do a good job. I just tested it a few times. I think my vacuum cleaner liked its portrait very much (it was wagging the hose with pleasure).
Oh, and there is the lens adaptor. It's probably made of aluminum, and it seem like one could chop wood with it. As it has a weird size (I think 55mm), I had to get a step-up ring to 58mm to use my C-P filter on it.
I have my FZ7 set to the highest quality jpeg setting and can take about 650 pics on the 2GB SD card. The camera writes to it quickly. I never tried timing it (for that are measurebator websites), but it never hindered my picture taking. Long exposure pictures take longer to write: 1 second of writing per 1 second of exposure.
For an amateur shooter like I the lithium-ion battery lasts plenty long - the most pictures I took in a day was very close to 100 and the battery gauge went down by a third. The battery fully charges in under two hours in the included charger.
I'm very grateful this digicam has li-ion battery. My previous digicam used Ni-Cd, and I never knew when the juice would run out and the digicam "die".
With this one the battery gauge works well - no surprises.
Both, the battery and the SD card, share the same spring loaded cover on the bottom of the camera. The cover slides sideways, pops up and stays up. The battery has a small, well-designed, latch so it doesn't fall out when you open the cover. The SD card slot is also spring-loaded, so it's easy to take the card out.
Perhaps the last thing to mention is the look of the digicam. Without any doubt this is the most elegant design of all digicams. It has nice, flowing, clean lines, and uncluttered design. It looks like a baby dSLR (really sexy baby dSLR).
I do have one criticism, though it maybe local to my FZ7. At zooms over 6x the contrast goes weird - a gray cast settles over the picture and the colours go wacky. This is most noticeable with distant objects. When zooming in on something closer, it's not visible. I posted a question on a forum regarding this, one photographer replied with posting his super-zoomed picture, that also had some contrast issue, though it was still very usable. Mine are not useable at all.
Panasonic offers one year warranty on FZ7, but after three month the owner has to cover the labour costs. I don't feel like spending perhaps a hundred bucks on a 500 dollar digicam. Fortunately, I take mainly landscape pics, so I stay mostly within 3x zoom and the results are excellent.
I haven't tested the movie feature, yet, but can take up to 22 minutes of good quality (so other reviews elsewhere say) video on the 2GB SD card.
To wrap it up, this digicam is an excellent choice for an amateur that doesn't chase birds and other wildlife too much. Except for the noted limitations due to
the small sensor, this camera does a great job and the quality of the pics is excellent under normal outdoor light.
If you buy this digicam, also get (well, I recommend) the Panasonic tailor-made cover for it. It's well designed and works well protecting the camera even in light rain, and is guess what...yes, also sexy.
Strengths
The best looking digicam on the market, even with mud on it it looks sexy.
Very easy to operate
Good, friendly, design
Excellent lens
Great results at ISO 80, 100 (unless there are deep shadows or deep blue sky).
Light - hardly notice it taking it on a day-hike
The big zoom
Effective optical image stabilization
No purple fringing at lower zooms, some CA at high zooms.
Great price for what one gets.
Weaknesses
limitations of the small sensor (noise in deeper shadows and deeper blue sky)
err...err...trying to think of at least one more
(well, I could say the small EVF, but as this camera is not really, IMHO, meant
for wildlife photography - though it could be used in a pitch - then I can't really
take it as a weakness)
Similar Products Used
Olympus Camedia C3040z (made in 2001)
Customer Service
Sent an email question to Panasonic regarding my camera's contrast issue (at high zooms), they replied quickly recommending the closes service provider (the camera is under one-year warranty, but after three months the owner pays for the labour).
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Review Date
September 30, 2006
Overall Rating
5 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
Used product for
Less than 1 month
Visitors rate this review
2.83 of 5, 6 votes
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Reviewed by
Isaac47
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$0.00
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, People
Summary
My friend owns this camera, and I've used it several times. The zoom is amazing, and for the price it takes excellent pictures. It is a little bulky, but I would still give it a 5 out of 5.
Strengths
The zoom is amazing, I'm a zoom freak, I like to stand far away from a subject and bring it close to me. The price is out of this world, you could spend twice as much on a camera, and it wouldn't have the quality of this gem. I try to take a bad picture, and its difficult.
Weaknesses
I've had trouble using this camera at night at sporting events, at a baseball or football game, the lights at the stadium ruin the pictures I try to take of the players. I'm not an expert user, so this could be my fault and not the camera's. The camera is also a tad bulky. But the zoom makes up for it, and you get used to the size after awhile.
Similar Products Used
I haven't used any cameras that compare to this one.
Customer Service
My friend owns this camera, and he never contacted Customer Service, because he never had a problem.
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