24 Jan
2006
The Lumix DMC-FZ7 is the new 6 Megapixel camera from Panasonic. 12x zoom lens, optical image stabilization system, decent manual control functions, increased light sensitivity for those low light moments you want to capture, a few more modes, a large LCD.
The Panasonic FZ7 has the same image processor as its predecessor, but it somehow increased the burst rate to 3 fps at full resolution. The camera also has minimal shutter lag. While the older FZ5 had 9 scene modes, the new Lumix DMC-FZ7 offers 16. The old model had an ISO range of 80-400 and the new camera tops out at ISO 1600. The FZ5 could only produce movies with 320 x 240 pixels, but the FZ7 greatly improves upon this with a full 640 x 480 pixel mode and a widescreen 848 x 480 pixel mode. The Panasonic FZ7 also comes with a new battery that purportedly supplies a longer lifetime than the one included with its predecessor.
Nice looking piece of kit.
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Zotina
1 Feb 2006
Panasonic must have been reading my mind. They’ve corrected almost all the (mostly niggling) complaints I had against the FZ5 – low-res movie, flash weaker and LCD smaller than some competitors like the Sony H1, EVF offset from the lens, too-angular shape. And with a bonus 1MP boost.
There are only two things left to make it just about perfect for me : Making it run on two AA cells like the Sony H1, and upgrading the USB interface to v2.0.