Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2

Auto Mode (7.0)
The most automatic mode on this digital camera is the Simple mode, which is symbolized with a sympathetic red heart. This mode shuts down all outside adjustments and displays an extremely simplified and colorful menu that looks like it was designed for users accustomed to picture books. The menu that appears is basically an abridged variation of the setup menu that has been dumbed-down. If users don’t want to feel like their intelligence has been insulted, the Economy and Normal Picture modes both have automatic default settings. This camera is built for the automatically inclined user, but goes a bit overboard when it comes to its Simple mode.

Movie Mode (7.0)
This digital camera only records in QVGA-quality resolution with its 320 x 240 pixels. The motion rate can be set to 10 or 30 frames per second; the smaller frame rate is optimized for email – but looks choppy. The faster frame rate looks much smoother; not only is this because of the increased frames, but an image stabilization feature can be utilized in the movie mode to smooth out bumps caused by hand-shake. Within the LZ2’s movie mode menu, users can change the White Balance, AF Mode, Digital Zoom, and Color Effect. This Panasonic can record audio with the movie; however, it cannot be played back within the camera. If users want to hear their movies, they must upload it to a computer or connect the LZ2 to a television. This is a disappointing and illogical setup: a digital camera with a microphone and no speaker? It seems a bit ridiculous. Digital camera users have grown accustomed to viewing images and clips instantaneously to check and see if they turned out with the correct exposure and such. Users have become hooked on the immediacy of the digital medium and the inability to utilize it requires that leap of faith that film users have (Did the picture turn out? Guess I’ll have to wait until the prints come back…).

Drive / Burst Mode (7.5)
Panasonic advertises a 3 frame-per-second "high speed" burst mode. This held true in our testing, as the camera took a shot every 0.31 seconds. However, the camera didn’t live up to its marketing in its other two burst modes: low speed and unlimited. Both were advertised to shoot at 2 frames a second, but the low speed was slightly slower at a shot every 0.62 seconds and the unlimited mode was even slower at a shot every 0.72 seconds. Despite their shortcomings, I don’t really see the need for any slow burst modes anyway – kind of a contradiction of sorts (low speed burst). The high speed burst mode works well, so I would stick to that.

Playback Mode (7.25)
Like most digital cameras, the LZ2 displays pictures in single frames or index frames of 9 images if you turn the zoom toggle toward the "W". The zoom lever can also be used to magnify pictures up to 16x. Once magnified, users can scroll to different parts of the picture with the navigational dial. When the Display button is pushed in Playback mode, the following features and information are shown: Histogram, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Date, ISO, Flash Mode, White Balance, Picture Number, Size, Quality, and Remaining Battery Power. Slide shows can be played back with durations for each picture lasting from a selectable 1-5 seconds. Users can record audio in movie mode and record short sound clips with images; however, that sound cannot be played back. Audio is trapped within the camera until downloaded to a computer or output to a television. This is unfortunate because users cannot immediately listen to check if the camera picked up the desired sounds.

Custom Image Presets (6.5)
All of the camera’s eight scene modes can be accessed from the Scene 1 and Scene 2 settings on the mode dial, so it is unclear why a distinction is made. The scene menu is very colorful, simple, and easy to navigate. The following 8 scene modes are available: Portrait, Sports, Scenery, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Fireworks, Party, and Snow. These selections cover the basics, but there’s nothing too original or exciting in here.