TZ7 Reviews
"Just purchased the TZ7 to replace my 18 month old Fuji F50fd camera, and
WOW... What a camera. I was slightly concerned as the TZ7 is only 10mp
compared to 12mp on my old Fuji but the image quality is so much better
on the Lumix. Crystal Clear images, fantastic night/indoor shots and
the 12x optical zoom is just amazing.
The DMC - TZ7 Camera is so easy to use, just switch to the iA setting and the
camera does all the work for you. There are also manual settings which
you can use for certain situations, but I prefer the simple iA feature
as it takes perfect shots each time in any situation.
Only slight dissapointment is the size of the Lumix TZ7, although not
huge it reminds me of the compact cameras from 4/5 years ago. Build
quality is solid though.
Battery life is good, and I'm comparing this against my old Fuji,
which needed charging every couple of days. I've taken around 300
photos with the Lumix and only had to charge the battery once.
The TZ7 video quality is also very good, recording in 720p/1080i and the
sound is also top notch for such a camera. You can purchase the hdmi
mini cable on Amazon for around £3.99.
If you're looking for a compact(ish) camera that takes excellent
photos without you fiddling around with manual settings, then this
camera is for you... The perfect Point and Shoot camera."
Review:
"After 5 or 6 years of having a superb pentax 5MP camera i decided to
upgrade to a TZ7 camera. The 2 main things that appealed to me about this camera were
the huge optical zoom (12x) in a compact camera and the HD video
recording.
Both are great, the zoom is superb and as smooth as you want it to
be, can be easily controlled to go as slowly or as fast as you like.
The HD video of the TZ7 is extrememly good, the purists out there will say its
not great but for a compact digital camera its more than you would hope
for, it records at 720p, so not true HD and comparing to some other
720p videos it isn't as good, but for those small clips when you're out
and about it more than does the job.
There are too many features of the TZ7 camera to mention here, but the Ia
(intellegant Auto) from what I have used of it so far, is a great mode,
no need to tell the camera you're taking pics of a landscape, or close
up etc, it does it for you.
There is also the option to manually set your modes, from
underwater (aquarium photography) to Panoramic settings to Snow scenes
to 16:9 wideangle mode, it covers almost all!
The TZ7 image quality is great and for an everyday/holiday snaps user it more than does the job.
The TZ7 camera itself, I think, looks great, easily fits into your
shirt or trouser pocket, albeit larger than a lot of others on the
market, but you are getting a lot of camera.
The price is possibly a tad steep but will no doubt come down, but
if you're looking for a camera which pretty much does it all, look no
further than the Panasonic Lumix DMC - TZ7"
Pros: Quality of pictures and videos is excellent; very easy to use; compact for a 12x optical zoom camera.
Cons: The dial that selects the shoot mode can easily move out of
position; no viewfinder so very bright sunlight can sometimes make it
difficult to frame the subject.
With this camera the pros most definitely outweigh the cons. I
would suggest a class 6 SDHC card to make the most of the HD video
function.
DMC-TZ7
"The DMC-TZ7; I have owned digital cameras for some years now, my other Panasonic
models are the LX2 and the TZ3. I also own traditional film SLR but
have not been swayed towards digital SLR yet, and this is a camera that
is not going to change that decision!
I have only 2 major criticisms of this Lumix DMC-TZ7 camera. firstly there is no
manual mode, for focus or aperture/shutter settings (but my lx2 gives
me that) and secondly the Lumix DMC-TZ7 has a dedicated (not AA/AAA etc.) battery.
That means you have to buy a couple of spares because if you are as
prolific as I am with pictures, you'll take about 120-150 before you've
flattened the battery from full charge.
This Panasonic DMC-TZ7 is a slim and lightweight camera, and squashing a 25mm to
300mm OPTICAL lens into that package is pretty amazing. at my preferred
3:2 ratio even at 300mm i have a 9.5MP picture, native should I choose.
At the widest angle there is a little distortion (curving inwards) and
this is most apparent if you are using a stitching program to glue
together several landscape pictures but providing the overlap gives
some room for manoeuvre. in single shots you may be able to see it in
the lines of buildings but also in a way its quite an 'arty' effect
used on TV very often to enhance the wide angle view, so some may even
think its another benefit!
At 300mm it is relatively hard to keep it steady when used hand
held, but the picture stabilization if very effective and even at
relatively slow shutter speeds i have had some remarkable results. the
digital zoom is quite effective too, it works far better in bight light
and low ISO (which you can override).
So the question has to be, why should i carry around with me an SLR
with a bag full of lenses, and when i find something i need a picture
of, faff about swapping lenses, to get what may only be a marginal
improvement what this can deliver in a single slim package?
I have to put up with autofocus, also mostly letting the camera
take control of the aperture and speed, you can adjust the +/- EV quite
effectively and using the slow shutter limit you can force a faster
shutter, using the ISO settings you can force more of an exposure.
having said that the automatic is pretty good, the face detection
is ok, not 100% (but you can train it!) autofocus gets it right even
though glass, white balance is very good, and the compromise between
the ISO and the exposure is actually pretty good with all things taken
into consideration. it is geared towards hand held use so while some of
the quality factors drop a little, it is the aim to produce a
relatively sharp image, and it does that very well.
I have used some of the picture modes to good effect, starry sky
works an up to 60 second exposure of a clear night sky works well,
night scenery also pushes the camera to do a good job with low light
dusk and night street scenes. useful here is the 10 second or 2 second
timed release which is instead of a cable release.
Hunt out reviews on this Panasonic DMC-TZ7 camera if you need any more convincing but
this is for me a landmark bit of camera kit that is such an all-rounder
i do not feel i need to carry anything else. as great as it is to get
good pictures, the more complex the attempts to capture that photo
means you spend less time looking at it with the naked eye, and more
time lugging equipment and setting things up when this camera can do
what i believe is more than an adequate job.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 is the point and shoot that will capture that moment in less
than the time it takes to decide which SLR setting is best for the
moment that just passed! "
Source - Amazon.co.uk