Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8

Front (8.0)
The front of the camera is branded “Panasonic DMC-FZ8” between the hand grip on the left and the zoom lens on the right. The hand grip has a rubber surface that wraps from the side to the edge of the lens barrel. The surface is textured to look like leather. To make handling even more comfortable there is a divot in the grip about the width of a finger: this is just below the shutter release button that crowns the top of the grip. The right half of the FZ8’s front has a lens barrel with an extending lens in it. Around the rim of the lens are its specs: “Leica DC Vario-Elmarit 1:2.8-3.3/6-72 Asph.” Directly above the lens is the flash unit with the Lumix logo emblazoned on the front and the unit itself popping up behind it. The flash is a large and wide rectangle positioned at the top of a sturdy housing that snaps in and out of the body. To the upper right of the lens are two tiny holes – one is the microphone and the other is a small LED that doubles as the auto focus assist lamp and self-timer indicator. In the lower right corner of the Panasonic FZ8’s front is the gold “L” that designates the Lumix brand of Panasonic's line.

Back (8.0)
The back of the camera looks like a typical ultra-zoom model; it combines design elements from SLR and compact digital cameras. The left side has a 2.5-inch LCD screen that is slightly raised on a platform. Just above it is the electronic viewfinder that is fairly large and surrounded by a plastic eyecup. It looks comfy because of the puffy rounded edges, but the plastic is hard, so it’s not very comfortable at all. To the left of the viewfinder is a button that opens the flash unit and a diopter control that can barely be seen. To the right of the viewfinder is a series of holes that make up the speaker and an oval-shaped button that switches the view from the finder to the LCD screen. To the right of this is the power switch. To the right of the LCD screen is almost an inch and a half of space occupied by various buttons and controls.

A chrome joystick sits near the upper right corner of the LCD screen; this is used to make manual adjustments to controls like shutter speed and aperture. Below the joystick is a circular black button that accesses display features like information, histograms, and grid lines. When the button is continuously held down, the LCD mode can be changed to High Angle or Power LCD. To the lower right of this button is a series of five controls arranged in a circular pattern. The central button has a “set” label on it with a “menu” label just above it. There are four buttons surrounding it that are shaped like elbow macaroni noodles. Each has an arrow next to it pointing in the direction it scrolls and each has an icon directly on the button showing its double function. The top button has an exposure compensation icon, the right has a flash icon, the bottom is labeled “REV” (review) to quickly show the last image taken without entering the playback mode, and the left button has a self-timer icon. A button to the lower left of this series deletes images and activates the burst mode. In the upper right corner of the camera’s back are a few dimples in the plastic body that is curled outward on the edge. This is supposed to make thumb placement more comfortable.

Left Side (7.0)
The protruding viewfinder and lens can be seen from the left side of the Panasonic FZ8. The viewfinder sticks out about a half inch and has a circular diopter control about the size of a dime. The ridges on the diopter make it easier to adjust. In front of the viewfinder is the flash unit. When the unit pops up it looks like it’s leaning forward. When it’s tucked in the housing, it’s hardly noticeable. The lens barrel on the front is wide enough to provide a good base for the left hand to hang onto. The left side of the barrel is labeled, “12x Optical Zoom 35mm Equiv. 36-432, Mega O.I.S.” On the main portion of the camera body, there is a strap eyelet at the top and a black door near the bottom that is flush with the camera body except for a tiny lip near the back that serves as a finger grip to open it. The door springs open to reveal the USB/AV and DC-in jacks.

Right Side (7.5)
The right side serves as the hand grip and is covered with a textured rubber material that makes it easier to handle. There is a slight divot in the front of this side: it is the width of a finger and meant to cradle the middle finger. Near the back side and close to the top is another strap eyelet. The viewfinder and lens protrusions are visible from the right side.

Top (7.5)
This SLR-shaped ultra-zoom digital camera has a larger left side because of the fat lens. The flash unit sits on top of it, and can be neatly tucked away when not in use. Behind it is the electronic viewfinder. The right side of the FZ8’s top is much more exciting. Directly right of the viewfinder/flash/lens placement is an enormous mode dial that is almost the size of a quarter. It has large icons, most of which are labeled in black but there are also red and green labels. On the far right is the curled hand grip, which has a large shutter release button surrounded by a zoom ring. There are two buttons behind this control that access the image stabilization feature and the focus modes. This top setup looks similar to SLR layouts, although it isn’t nearly as sophisticated.

Bottom (7.0)
The bottom of the hand grip slides left to reveal the battery and memory card compartment. To the left of the compartment’s hinge is the metal tripod socket that is slightly left of the center of the camera.

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