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

Having outgrown my 3mp Olympus point-and-shoot-and-pray camera, I did a bunch of research and settled on the FZ7. It promised the best bang for the buck in high-midrange cameras--and boy does it deliver.

Outdoors, in pretty much any light, it takes beautiful, crips shots. The aperature- or shutter-priority modes allow you a lot of control over photographic effects, and are a great lesson in photography for those of us raised on fully-auto cameras. I took it to a Memorial Day party this weekend and shot a bunch of shots that all turned out beautifully, without really needing to think about the settings at all.

Indoors, prepare for the flash, or invest in a tripod. While there may be occasionaly indoor shots with sufficient ambient light to shoot by, longer shutter speeds strain the image stabilization to the limits. Fortunately, you can manually set the flash temperature. I've been able to produce several nicely moody interior photos with a cool flash and a hand-tweaked exposure level.

It's true--you'll read it here and other places as you research this camera--that grain and noise can be an issue under low-light conditions. I've overcome that by hand-setting the ISO to a lower sensitivity and correcting the exposure to match. If you don't want to use my flash level adjustment trick I mentioned above, but are bound and determined to shoot under live light, you can get a decently noise-free shot, but it will take some manual fiddling.

One feature that I didn't see mentioned anywhere is the battery life on this thing. I've owned the camera for just over a week, and according to the on-screen battery meter, I'm still 2/3 charged on my first charge. I bought a second battery, because I hate downtime, but I almost can't imagine needing it.

Also, the video quality is great--and the sound this thing captures with its videos is remarkable.

All in all, a very nice camera.

My first digital camera was a 3.2 mb 3x optical HP...Simple, fit the bill, happy. Two months later...outgrown it. Used rechargeble AA's, which required constant recharging. When using viewfinder, view didn't change as I zoomed, so margins were off. Action pix...forget about it!

Next, moved up to a 4 mb 4x optical Kodak. Again, simple fit the bill, but overall, outgrown in cpl of weeks.

Didn't want (or need) all the features of a bulky Digi SLR, but instead something lightweight w/good optical zoom and features. Basically good balance, ya know? Something easy enough to understand for electronic novices, but with USEFUL features.

Just before a trip to NYC (4/20/06), stopped in Circuit City.
With a "sea" of "open box" cameras, I asked the sales rep to recommend the best value for the dollar. I purchased this camera (on reps strong recommendation) at $249 (with FULL INTENT to return it w/n 2 weeks...as I have w/other Circuit City buys).

Some features were intuitive, other's required a "quick trip" to the owners' manual. Digital zoom and anti-shake...AWESOME!!
Surprisingly lightweight!! Battery lasted entire 5 day trip and some!

The more features I read about (and used), I discovered this is the ONE!! Has room to grow with many "near future" features. Action pics are unbelievable! Used the digital camcorder feature for "short snippets"....nice!!...and still strong battery strength.

This open box buy was NOT returned!

After a lot of research, I bought the DMC FZ7. It has a lot going for it.

Virtually every review, including the one in the June 2006 Popular Photography, comments on the amount of noise the camera produces. In fact, the Popular Photography review test found the noise level to be "high/unacceptable" at every ISO except for 100. Other reviews found that it would produce acceptable prints up to 5x7 at higher ISOs (while finding the "high sensitivity modes" with ISO up to 1600 to be unusable).

Notwithstanding the noise problem, the camera is said to have good color and a fabulous optically stabilized zoom lense. So, it can capture good images. What to do about the noise?

Many people post process their digital photos. The programs Neat Image and Noise Ninja are widely cited, and many reviewers indicated that Neat Image does a good job of cleaning up the FZ7's noisy images. Noise Ninja appears to be faster but more expensive.

Thus, if you are going to post process your images anyway (Photoshop Elements 4.0 is one good way to do that), you can invest another $50-$75 or so to get one of these de-noise programs or plug-ins. Photoshop Elements 4.0 itself has a de-noising function built in, although it appears not to be as sophisticated as that of the plug-ins. If you're willing to take the time, it appears that the FZ7 with noise removal processing can produce really good images, even large ones. I have yet to see, but am optimistic. Amazon's generous return policy will let me return the camera within 30 days if it doesn't work out.

If you're using your images for the web, email or small prints, the noise problem isn't such a big deal.

***The price dropped at Amazon $18 about a week after I bought it. Amazon promptly credited me with the difference. Another reason to buy from Amazon (and to check prices after your purchase).

I've had 2 SLR cameras and a zoom lens -all Nikons-starting 30 years ago. Since I purchased my second camera about 5 years ago, I was resisting the switch to digital. I can't express more enthusiastically how happy I am with this camera!

Amazon made it easier with their excellent price (it was much lower than other stores at the time of my purchase) and their liberal return policy.

I've shot hundreds of pix and have been blown away with the results!

Macro has yielded incredible butterfly and bee shots. Flowers and fall leaves are spectacular. Interiors are true to life and I've gotten excellent sports shots insde rather dimly lit areas using high sensitivity. I'm very satisfied with the zoom, too.

It's so much fun to experiment without the guilt associated with paying for developing many rolls of film to get a great shot.

Are my results professional quality? Probably not. Are they applauded by friends and family? Definitely!

Am I dreaming of a DSLR? Not yet!

After testing this camera out on some landscape shots, I decided to try it out on something difficult -- a Def Leppard concert. My seats were about 20 rows back, so I needed the zoom at or near maximum and had to shoot in low (and constantly changing) light with no flash. And of course I had no tripod and had to work around the arms and other appendages of the fans in front of me. Despite these less-than-optimal conditions, I got great results, including a few near professional quality pics.

The zoom performed very well, and the shutter priority setting allowed me to shoot everything at 1/60 sec (the slowest I dared use without a tripod). The built-in antishake feature helped a lot. While some pics were blurry, plenty of them turned out crisp, clear, and well-lit. Some other reviewers have complained about noise at ISO higher than 100, but I shot at ISO 400 and got good results (though I haven't printed enlargements yet).

Any camera that can handle constantly-moving targets under constantly changing stage lights with the zoom fully extended is a keeper!