Viewfinder (7.25)
The Panasonic FZ18’s electronic viewfinder is positioned directly above the LCD screen and protrudes about a half-inch from the camera body. Because most noses are more than a half-inch long, the screen is likely to get marked up by facial oil.
The viewfinder is the same one that is on the older FZ8. It is decently sized at 0.44 inches but has sub-par resolution of 188,000 pixels. The FZ18’s viewfinder is larger than many of its competitors, such as the Sony H9’s 0.2-inch electronic viewfinder. The H9, however, has a higher 201,000-pixel resolution that makes for a smoother view. The viewfinder’s disappointing resolution makes it especially difficult to manually focus close to subjects because it’s tough to see fine details.
The display can be switched from the LCD to the viewfinder and vice versa with the designated button directly right of the viewfinder component. What is displayed on the viewfinder can be changed with the LCD mode/display button to the right of the LCD. This button cycles through these displays: no info, file info, file info with histogram, file info organized onto black bars (so it doesn’t block the image), and composition guide lines. The composition line pattern can be chosen in the Setup menu: it can look like a tic-tac-toe board or tic-tac-toe with a diagonal cross through it.
The viewfinder has a diopter adjustment dial on its left side with a nice range of -4 to +4 to correct for near and far-sightedness.
The electronic viewfinder’s resolution isn’t great, but the size is adequate and it has other positive aspects. The viewfinder is 100 percent accurate and has great color and contrast. It also helps that it is nicely shaded and is ideal for use on a sunny day, as the bright sun may make the LCD monitor difficult to see.
LCD Screen (7.0)
At 2.5 inches, the LCD screen is decently sized, but has only 207,000 pixels of resolution when most manufacturers are offering 230,000 pixels on this size of screen. The FZ18’s polycrystalline TFT LCD has a 100 percent view, but the resolution makes it tough to judge the focus.
Like the FZ8, the Panasonic FZ18’s LCD has two interesting modes: Power LCD and High Angle LCD. These are accessible by pushing the display/LCD mode button down for a full second. The Power LCD mode brightens the screen and increases the contrast and makes it easier to view outdoors on a sunny day – although the shaded viewfinder is still a better choice in bright sun light. The High Angle LCD mode increases the viewing angle. In this mode, the screen can be seen when the camera is held above the head, though the view from straight-on is blown out when this setting is engaged. It also increases the width of the viewing angle, which is quite narrow when the LCD modes are turned off.
The High Angle mode is interesting, but it doesn’t work as well as some other digital cameras’ standard LCDs. Many digital cameras’ LCDs have wide and high viewing angles without the user having to access a special mode. For instance, the Canon G9’s 3-inch LCD screen can be seen from side to side, above, and below at extremely wide angles.
Pushing the display/LCD mode button down for only a moment will display combinations of file information, histogram, and composition patterns, just the same as the viewfinder.
When most other manufacturers are improving their LCD screens with every successive model, the FZ18’s is at a standstill. It is the same LCD that is included on the older FZ8. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 has stiff competition from other manufacturers. The Canon PowerShot S5 IS has a similar 2.5-inch LCD screen with 207,000 pixels, which is still below the standard for resolution but it folds out and rotates on a hinge. It also has much wider viewing angles – better even than when the High Angle LCD mode is activated on the Panasonic FZ18. The Sony H9 has a larger 3-inch LCD with 230,000 pixels; its LCD also folds out and tilts and has better viewing angles.
Flash (7.5)
The flash component is another element frozen in time; it is the same as the one included on the Panasonic FZ8. It is located directly above the lens and pops up only when its designated button is pushed. This could be a problem for point-and-shooters who are used to the flash automatically functioning. Many cameras also have flashes that automatically pop up when necessary.
When the flash unit is opened with the button to its left, it hops up about an inch and a half directly above the lens. With this stance, the flash can reach 0.98 to 19.7 feet (set to ISO auto). When the lens is zoomed in, the flash’s effectiveness shortens to a 3.28 to 13.1-foot range. The flash output can also be adjusted when the top of the multi-selector is pushed. The flash exposure can be adjusted on the same +/- 2 scale.
Once the flash is popped up, the Flash mode can be changed by pressing the right side of the multi-selector. The following modes are available: Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync/Red-eye Reduction, and Forced Off.
The flash produces some red eyes in images despite the red-eye reduction preflash that almost always fires. Unfortunately, there isn’t any in-camera red-eye fix, which many other manufacturers include.
The Panasonic FZ18’s pop-up flash has good range, an adequate set of modes, even flash coverage, and handy flash exposure control. It causes a few red eyes to appear occasionally and without an in-camera system to fix them, users will have to invest in good software to fix them.
Zoom Lens (9.5)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 has an 18x optical zoom lens that puts it at the top of the ultra-zoom market. The FZ18 isn’t the only one on top though; it shares the privilege with the Olympus SP-560UZ and Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd, which also have 18x optical zoom lenses. Nearby are the Canon S5 with a 12x optical zoom lens and the Sony H9 with a 15x optical zoom lens.
Panasonic makes a big deal of the lens’s wide angle. The FZ18’s Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens measures 4.6-82.8mm, equivalent to 28-504mm in the 35mm format. It is built from 11 elements in eight groups that include three aspherical lenses and four aspherical surfaces. The older Panasonic FZ8 has a 12x lens with a reach of 36-432mm. The Olympus SP-550UZ and FZ18 share the same zoom range. The newer version of the Olympus 550UZ, the Olympus SP-560UZ, has a 27-486mm optical zoom range. The same focal range is adopted by the Fujifilm FinePix S8000fd, which has 8 megapixels and an 18x lens. In terms of width, the new Olympus and Fujifilm ultra-zoom cameras win the battle. In terms of length, though, the older Olympus and the new Panasonic FZ18 are in the lead.
The long lens is nicely complemented by an optical image stabilization system. This has been a standard feature on Panasonic Lumix digital cameras for years but is especially necessary on ultra-zoom digital cameras that show more bumps and jitters.
The optical image stabilization has two modes. They are labeled ambiguously in the Recording menu as Mode 1 and Mode 2. Mode 1 runs continuously and Mode 2 runs only when the shutter release button is about to be pressed, which saves battery power.
The older FZ8 has an on-camera button for the image stabilization modes, but the new FZ18 moves this option into the Recording menu. This is a good idea. Most users will have a preference and likely won’t change the setting often enough to warrant a space-hogging button to access it. On all 2007 Lumix digital cameras, there is an “intelligent image stabilization system.” This combines the standard optical image stabilization with intelligent ISO control, which detects whether a subject is moving and increases the ISO, and thereby shutter speed, to freeze the movement.
The large Leica lens is controlled by a small zoom ring that surrounds the shutter release button. The ring is stiff and gives fingers a good workout when they are constantly zooming the camera in and out. It takes the lens about three seconds to move through the entire 18x range when the ring is pushed continuously. When tapped gingerly the lens stops at 71 focal lengths; this sensitivity makes it nice for users who are very particular about the framing of their images. Zooming in and out, there is no breathing or backfiring like the lens on the Olympus SP-560UZ. The FZ18’s lens gives a smooth ride.
There are a few ways to further extend the zoom. The Panasonic Lumix FZ18 accepts close-up and telephoto conversion lenses and even comes with an adapter ring to thread the lenses onto the camera. The camera also includes a lens hood and cap. Another way to extend the zoom is to reduce the image size. The following list shows how much zoom is available for each image size (there are many sizes because of the many aspect ratios available).
| 4:3 Aspect Ratio: 23x for 5 MP; 28.7x for 3 MP, 2 MP, 0.3 MP |
| 3:2 Aspect Ratio: 23x for 4.5 MP; 28.7x for 2.5 MP |
| 16:9 Aspect Ratio: 23x for 3.5 MP; 28.7x for 2 MP |
Using this extra optical zoom will not degrade the image quality; the picture will just be smaller than 8 megapixels. For those users who simply can’t resist degrading image quality, there is the standard 4x digital zoom available. The digital zoom can be turned on and off in the recording menu.
Of note in the Setup menu is a zoom resume feature, which powers up the camera in the same focal length it was set to when it was turned off. This can be handy or annoying depending on personal preference. The feature can be turned off and on.
Overall, the Leica 18x optical zoom lens is excellent. It is wide enough to take photos of large groups and long enough to get back-row seats to a concert and still get good shots. It has a lot of nice features, the most helpful being the effective optical image stabilization system.
