Panasonic FZ7

[nbs2]

Maybe it's because it's a P/S in a forum full of dSLRs, but searching for "FZ7" brought up two threads, both of which only made mention in passing.

I've been looking at the Canon S2/3 and the Sony H2/5 on dpreview, and this Panasonic keeps popping up in the reviews. I passed a Ritz yesterday while getting some ice cream at the mall DQ, and took a few minutes to futz around with it. Incredibly light, fairly fast. But, I was wondering if anybody has real world experience with it, and can comment on either the brand or the camera in particular...

 

[jared_kipe]

No real world experience with them, but the Lumix line used to be my recommended P&S. I think they are a bit noisier now than the competition, but still lovely cameras. I'd buy one without hesitation.

 

[Lincoln]

I've been looking for a capable Point n Shoot too to complement my Digital SLR's and started a new thread asking for opinions on the Canon S3 IS.

The response has been favourable so I will probably go for that.

I also consired the Panasonic FZ7, I even visited the local Panasonic shop too, but they were too busy have a chat with each other to bother to help me out.

However, the reviews all point to the noisy chip in the Panasonic cameras in general. Maybe this is an issue, maybe not it all depends on what you are going to do with the pictures you take. Computer/web only or 6x4, 5x8 no problem, any bigger noise might be evident without some post processing with noise Ninja or other software. You also might not mind the noise, some people think this gives a more film like quality.

I hope that this helps and that an owner of this camera gives some feedback too.

 

[Shedding Skin]

I work at Ritz in Chicago, so I get to play with all of the cameras pretty regularly.

The FZ7 is a pretty damn good camera. It doesnt have all the bells and whistles that the S3 IS or the H5 have, but the thing I really like about it is that it has a rechargable lithium ion battery, rather than AAs. That in itself will save you from a lot of headaches. Picture quality wise, the Canon probably has the least amount of noise, but the Lumix wont disappoint at all.

 

[nbs2]

I've been looking for a capable Point n Shoot too to complement my Digital SLR's and started a new thread asking for opinions on the Canon S3 IS.

The response has been favourable so I will probably go for that.

I also consired the Panasonic FZ7, I even visited the local Panasonic shop too, but they were too busy have a chat with each other to bother to help me out.

However, the reviews all point to the noisy chip in the Panasonic cameras in general. Maybe this is an issue, maybe not it all depends on what you are going to do with the pictures you take. Computer/web only or 6x4, 5x8 no problem, any bigger noise might be evident without some post processing with noise Ninja or other software. You also might not mind the noise, some people think this gives a more film like quality.

I've been following that thread. The H seems to have the same lower level of noise (but I would like to see how much noise the F has in an 8x10), but a better LCD and speed (but not as good a video and that evil Memory Stick) than the S.

One thing I keep coming back to is that the FZ7 is as must as the S2 and H2, and but for the noise, is as nice as the S3 and H5...It would be nice if I could get a sample print from the photo store to see how much noise there is...

 

[millar876]

I Have an FZ-7 and i love it. I took it to egypt on holiday and got some brilliant shots. some on simple mode (point and shoot) and some on the more advanced settings, the 12X optical zoom is fantastic and i love the ability to take upto 60 second exposures. ill post a few pics once ive put them on flikr.

 

[millar876]

taken from plane over sinai mountains, (simple)


Sunset over sinai from hotel (SCN - scenery)


more to come but image shack not doing so good for some reason

 

[millar876]

hotel pool at night (SCN - Starry night - 30s exp)


The Moon (M - F8.0 1/400s exp 12xoptical + 4x digital efective zoom 48x)


Bedouin man making bedouin bread (simple wint flash)


Just a selection. i think its a great camera if you want somthing a bit more than an average p&s but are dounted by the prospect of a DSLR and lenses

 

[jared_kipe]

taken from plane over sinai mountains, (simple)


Sunset over sinai from hotel (SCN - scenery)


more to come but image shack not doing so good for some reason

Dude, that first shot is cool, but add some contrast and take out the mid/shadow blues and cyans and get it even better.

 

[nbs2]

The Moon (M - F8.0 1/400s exp 12xoptical + 4x digital efective zoom 48x)

Your pictures are really impressive - have you printed any of them? I would love to know how large a print you can turn out. Also, Pana has the smart digi-zoom, right? How effective do you find it - I don't plan on using it a whole lot, but I can see where it would be helpful.

An example of what has me concerned is the moon shot. Look at the left side of the moon. It may be because of the digi-zoom, from compression, or it may be the noise from the camera, but I am worried that it is the camera. Also, if it appears on the computer, but not in prints, that is much more doable...

 

[x704]

when I was looking at digital cameras I came closer then a horses hair to buying a lumix FZ20, I think it's a bit more then the FZ15 or 7. But I was looking at it before the S2(3) IS came out. I decided I would not be using that much worth of camera so I got a point and shoot PowerShot A95 and am quite happy with it ( http://www.wneary.com/pictures/page1.html to see some of my pictures). If I thought I would be using it more then I would have bought a lumix.

 

[millar876]

The Largest I've printed is A4 borderless (slightly wider than US letter in portrait) i think the distortion on the left is partly due to the crap tripod i got from a 99p (49c) shop and partly due to perhaps not the best settings for the photo, perhaps exposure was a hair to long, im not sure, its not to obvious in prints, at the time this photo was taken i'd only had the camera about a week, still not sure how to use it properly. it may also be due to the high amount of atmospheric dust, also its not a full moon, almost, but the full moon was not till the tuesday night (taken on sunday) so may also be part shadow. i took one on simple mode with no digital zoom and that edge was still a bit iffy (imperfect or somehow thrown out by the shaddow) but its more camera than ill ever fully use, and you can get filters and things for it (telephoto, wide angle ect.)

 

[nbs2]

The Largest I've printed is A4 borderless (slightly wider than US letter in portrait) i think the distortion on the left is partly due to the crap tripod i got from a 99p (49c) shop and partly due to perhaps not the best settings for the photo, perhaps exposure was a hair to long, im not sure, its not to obvious in prints, at the time this photo was taken i'd only had the camera about a week, still not sure how to use it properly. it may also be due to the high amount of atmospheric dust, also its not a full moon, almost, but the full moon was not till the tuesday night (taken on sunday) so may also be part shadow. i took one on simple mode with no digital zoom and that edge was still a bit iffy (imperfect or somehow thrown out by the shaddow) but its more camera than ill ever fully use, and you can get filters and things for it (telephoto, wide angle ect.)

That makes me feel a lot better about the picture - I know I won't use the camera for even half of what it is capable of (even though I intend to...human nature, right?).

The A4 sounds like the biggest I would be printing (I really just need the the spare MP for cropping ). I'm feeling more and more comfortable with this plan...

 

[Clix Pix]

The thing to find out with the Panny is how well it does in low light conditions..... Sure, that 12x zoom sounds great but what about taking photos of a child in action indoors when you don't want to use flash?

Read reviews at http://www.dpreview.com.....look at the Panny forum there, see what actual Panny users have to say about the camera, any issues they've experienced.