Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7K 7.2MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom (Black) by Panasonic
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Digital camera reviews of Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7K 7.2MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
Digital camera Review: GREAT DEAL!
Summary: 5 Stars
We recently bought this camera, and we are very happy!!!
It takes great pictures, its very user friendly and has a Scene Mode wich alows to take pictures on candle light, to food, portraits, night portraits...the are more than 20 scene modes!
Buy it with de rechargable batteries Amazon recomend... you won't regret.
Digital camera Review: Good Back Up Camera/Macro Camera
Summary: 4 Stars
I was searching for a lighter camera than my Nikon 8700 to do macro photography with, but I wanted decent shots for my online art store. I went to a local store and ran upon a Sony Cyber-Shot T-20...it was so cool looking and it had this super macro mode that really seemed to get in there tight. Only problem is that it was very expensive and the shots were horribly noisy...my 2.3 mega pixel easy share Sony did better than this thing and their image stabalization was a joke...two days later back to the store it went!
I then started searching and found a link about a Lumix camera. That one is no longer made, but I ran into this model/review and was glad to see some consumer shots. I read about the OIS stabilization and did some research at the Panasonic home page. Very few people were disappointed in this camera and it wasn't too expensive. Being the type of person to want it now, I found it at another local store and have since then been shooting test pic after test pic. I took other shots with my Nikon and then this one and compared them. I even did a home printer test. So far it looks like this is a very good macro camera that gets rid of that shaky hand problem you can have and the prints will be at least as good as what I have been getting...still haven't ordered any real prints yet due to time constraints.
Some people say it is too "beefy", but I find it just right. It feels good in your hands, but it isn't as heavy as a pro-sumer and that really helps.
Cons: Zoom pictures don't look that good to me, but then again I'm not sure my Nikon does any better in this area. The instruction book lacks a lot of the stuff that is explained in my Nikon book and I'd like to see more information about the camera and modes in the book in more of a detail fashion. It has a hard time focusing on things at times, no matter what mode you put it in. ISO over 400 is really noisy. It doesn't have an ISO of 50. Forget the high ISO...it even looks bad on the viewfinder. It doesn't really do well without proper lighting. I haven't taken any night shots yet, but pretty much if the flash is off you need a light source on your subject..but this may be true of any camera. Sometimes pictures look a lot better on the viewfinder than they do on your computer. This may be more to do with the whole DPI vs Pixel thing. The camera "captures in 72 DPI" and sometimes in review in Windows it looks noisy, but hopefully this will not be in the print because it will be 300+ dpi and not as big. But really the Sony pictures looked like water colors in all my test shots of that camera! This one does way better.
Pros: Really nice macro pictures for the price of the camera and the OIS really seems to work well to help get you clear pictures...even with one hand...you don't know how many times I got home from a shoot and was disappointed by that camera shake problem from pushing the shutter and then having to stand still while it "takes" the picture...I don't like using a tripod. This camera definately helps in that area. Easy to transport and runs on all sorts of AA batteries.
Bottom line is that this is a great camera for the price and it is a good semi-professional level "back up" camera/vacation camera for close up shots. It seems to do what I need it to do and you can get really close to your subject, which is nice. I just wish the non-macro shots using zoom turned out as good for me. I'll have to do some more testing to see if maybe I just don't have anything good to take a picture of in normal mode...drought kind of killed all my nature shots and the shots inside the house have all been too dark or too full of flash at this point :/
Just be sure not to get over a 2GB SD card if you do get one..this is something that is only on the inside of the package..if you want more than 2GB you have to get the other kind of card it takes or it won't work. My 2GB card at the full high quality setting with little compression will take about 500 shots. I was able to take several days worth of pictures, at least 2-300 shots with the supplied batteries. This was with playing with the settings, turning it on, flash on sometimes, sometimes off, and walking around outside to get pictures with the camera on. Also the first day I used the internal memory only...only about 5 high quality pictures there....and then I'd have to transfer with the cable. So the batteries that I got with it really did last a good while.
If I run into more items to share, I will update the review...otherwise happy picture taking!
Update: I have finally gotten some test prints and the camera detail is amazing. I've gotten better with the zoom feature, but again I still lack a lot of things to do with the zoom. The macro shots are great and very detailed. I printed the picture of the flower I submitted and you could see every hair and pore on the hand. That was just at the Kodak picture machine too. I'm sure when I go through my professional lab the prints will be even better. I purchased rayovack hybrid NiMh batteries for this because I could not find the recommended panasonic. I've been packing it around and using it for about three weeks on the first set of charged batteries...these kinds come charged ready to use and then you can charge them again...so if you need a camera for some weekly shots to pack around with you, this is a real winner. I'm very impressed with the camera for the money. Using the view finder is still kind of hard...I often still put the camera up to my eye before I figure out what is going on...but I still say this is a really good pocket camera and well worth the money. I also seem to sometimes get too close to a subject because I'm used to using the eye viewfinder/flip finder on my Nikon, but the camera stabalization has almost eliminated the out of focus problem from pressing the shutter button. I only had about 5 or 6 out of 100 close up shots of some flowers that were too blurry and part of that was because I got the subject too close to the lens! I'm so glad I found this camera. I haven't been this impressed since I got my Nikon.
Digital camera Review: Good Camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been using the camera for a month now and have taken more than 200 pictures. Here is what I think about the camera:
Pros:
- Fast auto focus
- The camera, with easy-to-read user manual, is easy to use
- High/nice picture quality. I own a Nikkon and Canon cameras and honestly, I think the picture quality of Panasonic is comparable to those two brands.
- You probably won't get another camera that has as many features as this one at a price this low! The 6X zoom is wonderful! Digital zoom can go as great as 24X.
- Good video quality
- Can take black-and-white and sepia pictures
- The camera is not bulky at all. In fact, it's not-too-slim feature makes it easy to handle and more suitable for frequent user. This camera is definitely made for use, not for watch.
Cons:
- The flash is too bright. For better picture quality, I would suggest to take your pictures in daylight. I tried to take pictures in both a well lit and a dark room at night. T he object looked way too pale in the picture because of the bright flash.
- Batteries didn't last as long as I expected. The Panasonic Oxyride batteries that came with the camera died after one hour of inconsecutive uses. I then used alkaline batteries. They lasted a bit longer, typically two hours of inconsecutive uses with about 100 to 130 shots. Rechargable batteries might work longer but I haven't tried yet.
- The camera doesn't play back videos. To me, this is not a problem.
Overall, I am quite satisfied with the camera except for the flash. If you use the camera at night, try to take picture from a distance instead of close up as this may help to reduce the light flashes on your objects.
Digital camera Review: Good Camera under $200
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not a fan of Panasonic, but one day that changed my mind.
I bought this camera for myself to replace my Fuji S5000 which is a great camera but only 3.2 MP.
I was first a little concerned it write speed and between shots. My Fuji is very fast and responsive. But I was amazed how LUMIX can do. I set the resolution to its max 7.2 MP, HQ, change image preview off so as to test this feature. I put a 1 GB 60x SD card in it. The lag time between each shot is under a second! The image quality is very good, almost comparable to those pros.
Pros:
Fast start, Fast focus, supper fast write images.
Very easy to use if you use Simple mode and still get very decent pictures.
Stabilizer is amazing as I have compared with Canon optical stabilizer, Olympus digital stabilizer, Samsung anti shaking mechanism. This is the best.
EZ (Easy Zoom) works great, it is actually 9x optical zoom if you shoot 5MP and below.
Easy menu to set up. Func key is a good companion.
The on-off switch is really good thing, you know the status of your camera right away. It is off or it is in sleep.
Video works well. It has sound. I took a 2 minute on the highway recording cars passed by and the noice. Very vivid.
I see people commented its bulky size, but I think it is really a Pro because it holds 2 AA batteries plus 6X optical zoom in its little pocket-able body.
Cons.
No direct adjust shuttle speed, even it claims to range from 60 to 1/2000, but you have to be in different screen modes in order to get lower speed. Any low-speed under 1 second is almost impossible to set by yourself. You have take whatever the screen mode gives you.
The I-mode is really unnecessary feature, which stays for intelligent, but if you use it, it usually set to higher ISO sensitivity and faster speed. I understand doing so would reduce shaky pictures, but the picture notice is really increased as compare to standard or normal mode. Not worth it!
ISO above 400 has noticable noice. Above 800 unbearable.
Digital camera Review: Good Camera, Excellent Buy
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my first digital camera. Had an expert go over it before showing me the ropes. Her verdict: good camera, excellent buy. I'm delighted with it. This camera has many capabilities (explained in the manual). They are easy to learn and apply to all sorts of situations.
AIS