Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70

Viewfinder (0.0)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70 isn't equipped with a viewfinder and users will have to rely solely upon the 2-inch LCD screen for all shooting situations.

LCD Screen (2.0)
With the frame included, the Lumix DMC-LS70's LCD consumes over two-thirds of the back of the camera. It maintains the 2-inch LCD screen from last year's model, the LS2. It has a meager 86,400-pixel resolution. Many higher-end models now have 230,000 pixels of resolution. The higher the resolution the screen, the easier it is to check for things like focus and blinking eyes.

The LCD screen brightness can be adjusted in +/- 3 steps of brightness in the setup menu. The ability to adjust LCD brightness will help when shooting in bright light.

The amount of onscreen information shown on the screen can be adjusted by pressing the display button on the back of the camera. Features include the surprising and helpful inclusion of a live view histogram display in the lower right corner of the LCD screen.

Flash (6.75)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70 has a small sliver of an in-camera flash located in the camera’s upper right corner above the lens ring. The flash will likely be covered by fingers when holding the camera with both hands, which will oftentimes be necessary as the camera wasn't designed for one-handed shooting.

The flash is controlled with the right arrow of the four-way navigational control. Once engaged, an onscreen display appears over a live view of the screen and the user can scroll through the options with the up and down arrows on the four-way controller. The flash settings are auto, auto/red-eye, slow sync/red-eye, forced flash on, and flash off. The list appears in a drop-down menu, which is actually quite helpful, and should save users from having to continually depress the button to navigate through the various settings.

The flash range is 0.98 to 15.42 feet when shooting in wide-angle and with auto ISO set to on. Despite its petite size, this flash unit certainly packs a punch. Overly bright portraits can certainly be expected if taken in close range - if possible the subject should be moved further from the camera or to better lighting.

Zoom Lens (7.0)
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70 is equipped with a Lumix DC Vario 3x optical zoom lens that telescopes when the camera is turned on. This lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 in wide-angle and shrinks down to a slow f/5.0 in telephoto. The lens' focal length is 5.8 to 17.4mm, equivalent to 35mm to 105mm in the 35mm format. The optics are supported by Panasonic's MEGA Optical Image Stabilization system, which should offer at least two additional stops of flexibility in low light situations.  

Focal length is adjusted using the zoom ring that surrounds the shutter button, located on top of the camera body. Making slight adjustments with the zoom control can prove to be challenging, but with a bit of patience, users will be able to hit 17 distinct steps within the zoom range. There is, however, some delay between moving the zoom control and the time the adjustment is registered by the camera. This also proved to be a bit frustrating.

Overall, the LS70's optical design is adequate; however, the camera's optical image stabilization system is excellent. Optical image stabilization is still fairly unique among budget offerings and should entice consumers to take a strong look at this Panasonic model.