Panasonic DMC-FS7

Viewfinder

Alas, the FS7 has no optical viewfinder. Read on to find out more about the LCD that will function as your sole photo composition tool.
 

LCD

The FS7 has a good-sized LCD, measuring 2.7 inches diagonally, with 230,000-dot resolution. It does have a neat feature that we haven't seen very often - a high-angle setting. Putting the display in this setting makes it almost unusable for normal use where you're holding the camera at about eye level, but if you're in a situation where you need to hold the camera over your head, the display becomes completely legible in this mode. Vertically-challenged people, rejoice!
 

The FS7's LCD display/viewfinder

Flash

The FS7 has a built-in flash that's a little too close to the lens for our comfort, since this arrangement often causes red-eye problems. The flash has 4 modes - Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, and Forced Off. According to Panasonic, it's effective out to over 20 feet with the lens at its widest angle and to just under 10 feet at full zoom.
 

The FS7's flash snuggled up next to the lens

Lens

The 4x zoom lens has a focal length of 5.5-22.0mm, which is equivalent to 33-132mm in 35mm photography.
 

The FS7's lens

Jacks, Ports & Plugs

The FS7 has a single proprietary port that doubles as a USB connector to hook it up to your computer, as well as acting as the AV-out port. Both cable types will be included in the box.
 

The FS7's lone port

Battery

The FS7 comes with a lithium-ion battery and charger. According to Panasonic, the battery is good for up to 360 pictures.
 

The battery compartment

Memory

Thankfully, the FS7 comes with at least a little bit of internal memory so you can capture a few shots even if you don't have an expansion card handy. Approximately 50MB is on board, and the camera has a slot that will accommodate SD/SDHC and MMC cards, though MMC cards cannot save video, only still images.
 

The FS7's expansion card slot