Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8

Model Design / Appearance (7.75)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 has a plastic housing that comes in silver and black. There are hardly any chrome highlights at all – only a thin chrome ring around the lens barrel. The rest of the camera body is plainly styled. The FZ8 isn’t a very attractive digital camera, but isn’t ugly either. Consumers won’t buy it for its looks though: the FZ8 is all about function.

Size / Portability (6.5)
The Panasonic FZ8 measures 4.43 x 2.84 x 3.11 inches and is relatively light because of the plastic housing. It weighs 12.6 ounces fully loaded and comes with a neck strap. The neck strap is nothing special, but is comfortable all the same. The FZ8 comes with a lens cap, but it will require its own carrying case to really protect it. It isn’t SLR-sized, but its SLR-like shape necessitates a cushioned case.

Handling Ability (7.25)
The Panasonic FZ8 has an SLR-like shape that features a chunky rubber-coated grip for the right hand and a wide lens barrel for the left hand to support. The mode dial and shutter release button are atop the camera and are within reach of the thumb and index fingers. The buttons on the back are also easily reachable. In that spot, there are several dimples in the plastic to interrupt the smooth surface for a better grip and the right edge is curled to hold the thumb in place. All of the components are properly placed so that hands won’t get in the way. Overall, the light FZ8 is easy and comfortable to handle.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.5)
The controls on the Panasonic FZ8 are fairly typical with the exception of the joystick. The joystick exists specifically to change manual exposure settings when in the manual modes, but can also function as a multi-selector to scroll through menus or pictures in the playback mode. There is also a traditional multi-selector control on the FZ8: it consists of five buttons and functions similar to competitors’ multi-selectors. Using the multi-selector, a user can move through menus and activate features like the flash and self-timer.

The quarter-sized mode dial atop the camera has large icons on it. It is easy to see and rotate. The shutter release button is adjacent to the mode dial and is well-placed. It is rounded and smooth with a chrome finish, and is framed by the sensitive zoom ring discussed in detail in the zoom lens section.

Overall, the FZ8’s controls are all nicely labeled and placed. Some of the buttons are small, but they are spaced far enough from each other to be comfortably and accurately activated.

Menu (7.5)
Many of the camera’s features are stashed in menus that can be accessed via the Menu/Set button in the center of the multi-selector. The recording menu leads to many key features and will likely be the most visited menu. It has a red bar across the top left side that says "REC" and pagination on the right. Blue bars appear to the left and bottom edges of the menu. There are directions on where to scroll at the bottom and menu tabs on the left side. There are two tabs: the top has a camera icon and the bottom has a wrench icon. The recording menu is as follows.

The menus are displayed mostly in text with only a few icons. The text is in all capital letters and in a large font. There isn’t a constant live preview in the background, but a temporary preview is displayed when adjusting the white balance, white balance adjust, and color effect items. The setup menu is accessed by the tab below the recording menu with the wrench icon.

Clock Set	Set date, time, and MDY layout
World Time	Locate home time zone from world map, designate travel time too
Monitor	+/- 3
Guide Line	Recording Info (On, Off), Histogram (On, Off), Pattern (Rule of Thirds, Pie-like pattern with frame divided into eighths and all lines crossing in center)
Travel Date	Off, Set
Play On LCD	On, Off
Auto Review	Off, 1 sec., 3 sec., Zoom
Power Save	Off, 1 min, 2 min, 5 min, 10 min
Zoom Resume	On, Off
MF Assist	Off, MF 1, MF 2
Beep	Off, Soft, Loud
AF Beep	Off, Soft, Loud
Shutter	Off, Soft, Loud
Volume	1-6
No. Reset	Yes, No
Reset	Yes, No
Video Out	NTSC, PAL
TV Aspect	4:3, 16:9
MF m/ft	M, ft
Scene Menu	Auto, Off
Dial Display	On, Off
Language	English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese

Interestingly, the Clock Set option is found in both the recording and setup menus. Why? No one knows. This menu is also displayed in large capital text with a light gray background. Navigating through menus can be done with the multi-selector or the joystick: either way is easy.

Ease of Use (7.25)
The Panasonic Lumix FZ8’s dumbed-down Simple mode, vast list of scene modes, and intuitive interface make it easy to use. The labels on the buttons are easy to identify and the menus are displayed in large text, which is easy to understand. Handling the camera isn’t complicated either. All in all, the FZ8 is no more difficult to use than any other compact point-and-shoots: the FZ8 just adds a few manual modes and a long lens.