Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMC-FZ7 6MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)

After nearly 3 months of research, I convinced myself that this camera was the best choice out of all the options I had considered. I had been a digital camera user for about 3 years, just using point and shoot cameras. This camera (along with other super zooms) is a good way to graduate between traditional point-and-shoot cameras and dSLR cameras. Ironically, this model camera happens to be the cheapest along with the one with the best reviews and most features. The Canon S3 seems to be the typical consumer choice, yet this camera has a very odd form factor, and once I picked it up I knew it wasn't right for me. The interface on the software side was confusing and far too "dumbed-down" for me. Some test images at the store came out with a fair amount of noise, which is ironic due to the fact that all the camera gurus complain about the extreme noise on this camera. The noise on this camera is there, but not as noticeable as some reviewers make it sound. To put it into perspective, the noise levels are basically viewable in anything above a 11x14 print. Picture quality is strong in nearly all modes, and when you don't know what to use, there is usually a scene mode that will take care of it. Of course, you can always enter Simple Mode, something I personally have never tried, but how bad could it be. In respect to the features of this camera, the form factor, to start out, is amazing. Although it may not look like much, the camera can easily be held with one hand by someone with small hands like myself or large ones like those of my father. On the backside, there is the huge 2.5 inch LCD screen (once again complained about by pro reviewers as not sharp enough, wrong again). Also, a simple set of navigational arrows, a trash button, the EVF, power switch, flash pop button, and a unique joystick that gives you access to all manual controls while in manual modes. The joystick is really great, allowing access to all the manual features whenever I need them. The 12x Optical Zoom is truly amazing, I can sit in my room and zoom so far with such great clarity that my camera can read things that I can't, and I have vision that is far above average. The Leica lens is obviously crafted beautifully, like that of the $4000 cameras that Leica makes. This camera allows a great deal of diversity for experienced users, while also offering options for those who are not as experienced. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who might want to get closer to the shot with the huge zoom or wants to graduate from point and shoot cameras.

I resisted providing a review of this camera for about 2 months now in order to make sure everything was as I would like it. I can now say that this camera is a great choice for those that are looking for a trade-off between ultra-compact, and long-zoom SLR. I recently took it to a Black Eyed Peas concert that was in the evening. The pictures I took at 12x zoom were really good. The large screen is perfect for sharing with friends immediately. The simple mode is good for taking most pictures, and if you like to fiddle, it's got just enough of the manual features to give you those options. It's considerably lighter than a digi-SLR, with a better form-factor (I think) than either the Canon S3 or Sony H2. I would definitely recommend.

After extensive research, this camera was the best buy for the feature set by far. The closest competitor in my research was the Canon S3 IS for over $150 more.

12x zoom is unbeatable, many manual settings, image stabilization, great flash, burst mode, solid construction, nice "gimmicks" like child age and day of vacation recording are cool. Big 2.5 in screen and fast fast focus/writing to mem card are highly valued.

The only negatives I can think of are low-ish LCD screen resolution and no built-in lens cover, but this really has the feel of a camera one slight step below a professional SLR.

This is my second camera upgrading from a Fuji basic digital camera, and there's a world of difference.

I am not a techno geek. I lean towards electronically challanged. What I can tell you is that this camera is extremely user friendly. It has a multitude of modes to shoot in, such as starry night; fireworks; snow; portrait; and baby. All with subtle little adjustments that will enchance the scene you are trying to capture. It takes spectacular photos and the prints are rich and clean and clear and brilliant. This is my first upgrade from a 2mp. I considered the Sony's and the Cannon's, seriously. When I saw the size of this one, I was sold. It is "almost" a compact and can be taken any where any time. Do your techno research, then, try it. You won't be disappointed.

I've had this camera for a little under a month. It was an upgrade from a 4 year old 4MP camera that I still love. However, I've already put this camera through its paces. I've taken almost 1k pictures and outside of a few that were out of focus (because of me) they all have turned out great. I've shot everything from close up flowers, my son playing, my car after a wax to an entire wedding and reception. First impressions aside, this camera is easy to fall in love with.

Nutz and Boltz
I wont kid you, the learning curve is two fold and a little steep. There's an "easy" mode with included button(just like those Staples commercials) which out of the box makes the camera almost fool proof. Using the other settings takes a while to get used to, and even after a month of shooting, there is still stuff I don't know how to access on the fly.

Picture
In bright sun light the picture quality is simply amazing. Spot on colr and exposure. The images I've captured outdoors have been some of the best, crips and vivid. Indoors with a flash you get good pictures but nothing spectacular, It is though more then what a good point and shoot would produce.

Cons:
At high ISO settings picture quality starts to get a little grainy, but when you resize the image to something smaller, alot of the picture noise is removed. Also as I've read on other sites a good noise reduction tool (software) is probably a must with any camera over 4MP.

Can be slow to auto focus at times, so you may miss a shot. However, it has continuous AF which can really help.

Pros:
Great picture quality, high ISO settings which can be noisy do capture pictures you wouldn't normally have gotten any other way.

Small joystick that gives you quick access to manual focus, exposure settings and other cool features.

Captures quicktime video at 640x480 @30f and is pretty good at it. (About 11m for 1gig of SD media)

Overall score 9.5 stars I love it!