Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7 First Impressions Review

by Tom Warhol
Published on March 09, 2007

Navigation
Intro	Testing/Performance Expectations
Physical Tour	Components
Design/Layout	Modes
Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity/Extras	Overall Impressions
Conclusion	Specs

There is no viewfinder. The LZ7 relies solely on the LCD for composing and image review, as with most point and shoots.

 

While bright and clear, the LZ7’s 2.5” LCD displays only 115,000 pixels. The angle of view was not very good; it easily became obscured when tilted more than about 100 degrees. Panasonic should really do better. That said, when viewed head on the display was very bright and contrast and color reproduction were very good. The High Angle button brightens the display for holding the camera above your head or down low is a helpful option for catching those concert photos or taking pictures of your dog swiping food under the dinner table.

 

Despite the position of the Lumix LZ7’s small, narrow flash on the far right of the camera front, no sideways shadows were evident. The flash provided pretty even coverage, even on the open and varied show floor. The published flash range for wide angle is 1.6 to 17.7 feet (0.5 to 5.4 m) and 1.6 to 10.8 feet (0.5 to 3.3 m) for telephoto, which seemed fairly accurate in the on-floor tests.

 

The 6x optical zoom, equivalent to 37-222mm in 35mm format, can be augmented by the E Zoom button, which pushes the optical zoom to 9x, but it reduces the image size to 3 megapixels. As a result, the user will have to be willing to sacrifice image quality to get that extra boost. The digital zoom boosts this range to a maximum of 36x, for those users inclined to reduce image quality even further. Panasonic’s Optical Image Stabilization technology can be turned on (Mode 1 or 2) or off in the menu. Mode 1, always on, is the default, but Mode 2 saves power by turning on only when the shutter is depressed.