Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DMCLZ2EBK Digital Camera - Black [5MP, 6 x Optical Zoom]

Small and light, but not so small that it is awkward to use (like the Nikon 5600). Quick on the draw so that you don't miss that special moment. I was walking through the lake district when the RAF decided to fly through the valley below me. I was able to pull out the camera, switch it on and take a few (reasonable quality) shots before the jet passed by. The zoom is excellent and the image stabilisation is brilliant. Battrey life is at least two to three times better than on my Nikon coolpix 990 with four batteries!! The image quality is good (indoors and outdoors) in good lighting. The outdoor low light images are poor, but since I use this camera on holiday for point and shoot situations in daylight and set situations indoors this is not a problem (becasue the flash is very good).

The main drawbacks of this camera are:
1) Image stabilisation works less well with increasing zoom. It works so well and you get so used to the effectiveness of this feature that you assume it will work at any level of zoom, with the ground moving (e.g. on a boat) and your hand shaking about in the wind. Well it doesn't. Normal physics applies!!
2) The jpeg file compression options are poor. There are only two settings which means that at maximum quality, the files sizes are huge and you cannot store many pictures on the SD card. It would help if there were more options here to compress the files further especially at the 5.0 megapixel end. The Nikon 990 does better here.
3) The inability to zoom in and out while using the movie option is irritating but should not stop you from buying this camera. However, it would be nice to be able to turn the sound recording off since this would probably reduce the file size further and stop it from gobbling up memory.

If you do decide to get this camera then I advise getting the largest SD card you can afford. I use a 1Gb card and can get 1200 images onto this with the camera at the 4 megapixel setting and maximum jpeg compression. Even this is probably not enough if I am off on holiday for two weeks!!

All in all - a very good camera and well worth the money.

If you want a camera that is small but does almost everything then the LZ2 is a great choice.

It's not as small as many of the new super compacts, but they do not have a 6X lens (usually only 3X) which allows you to get much closer. It is well built and still small enough to get into your pocket and has a great image stabilizer a feature that is rare on this class of camera. It work very well allowing lower light picture taking at slower shutter speeds than normal. Some people think these stabilizer systems are either limited or just not worth it. They are worth it, you just need to remember that they 'assist' you rather than perform magic!!

There is no viewfinder which may concern some, but it seems to be the way things are going now, you see more and more people taking pictures without holding the camera to their face. The screen is large, clear and all of the graphic indicators are intuitive.

One must also mention the value: there is a lot of camera here for the money, especially if you try to match the above spec to a fifferent camera. There are plenty of features, the scene modes do work well and save you set-up time when taking a night shot or something moving fast (sport mode) etc.

On a slight down side is the battery life; it takes two AAs which don't last too long so buy good batteries and take you charger on holiday!

PS. This camera fits nice and snug in the brilliant LowePro D-Res8 pouch.

Having done some homework on the web and read various photo mags I decided on this camera mainly for the 6x optical zoom, and the price on Amazon. I wasn't too bothered by size or functions. All I wanted was a good point and shoot camera that was easy and quick to use. I've had the camera only for a day but it perfectly suits my needs. It's not too small and fiddly. The menu is easy to use. It takes good pics. The optical zoom is larger than most at this level. It even looks good in a retro kind of way. The only negatives are very small internal memory (I purchased a 1gb high speed SD card when I purchased) and lack of a basic case. I have even become used to not having an optical viewfinder. Definately recommended for discerning snappers.

This was a fantastic little point and click camera I bought for my parents. Easy to use, lightweight, runs on AA batteries and relatively cheap.