Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
Power to the Zoom!

Over the last couple of years the market for all-in-one mega zoom digital cameras has literally exploded with just about every manufacturer jumping in to get a piece of the action. In a very short time consumers have seen one improvement after another making these cameras more and more of a viable option for sports photography, nature, and photojournalism.

Strangely enough, the most useful, and perhaps top of the line model in this class of camera doesn’t come from Nikon, Canon, or even Olympus – it’s made by Panasonic. The Lumix DMC-F27 is a surprising piece of equipment in just about every respect; a fact that this review found to be quite shocking.

Let’s start by talking about the lens. After all, that is really what these particular cameras are all about. The F27 sports a 12x optical zoom (36-432mm equiv. F2.8-3-3) designed by Leica. For many old-school photographers that’s reason enough to buy the camera right there. Even better the camera has a surprisingly effective image stabilization system that makes shooting on the long telephoto end without a tri-pod somewhat of a possibility in a pinch. Combine this with the lack of an SLR like mirror (thus less vibration when snapping the shutter) and you have a very useful long range zoom.

Looking at the front of the camera I am reminded a little of an old M series Leica rangefinder and not a point and shoot digital. The sleek curves that mold around the lens and the hand grip are downright sexy in my opinion and give the F27 the look of a precision machine you’re happy you spend your money on. Despite it’s nearly all plastic body the camera feels robust and weighty enough in your hands to inspire confidence.

After taking a few shots with the F27 I was a little disappointed with the cameras noise handling characteristics. At low ISO settings the images where clear and about what I expected but unfortunately became overly grainy at anything ISO 200 or above. Even by the standards I apply to a small CCD sensor this didn’t rank very high for me. With such an excellent lens mounted to the front of the camera one would think Panasonic could have spent a little more time tweaking their processor for better performance.

Still, I was impressed with the F27 and provided you stick with situations where you can keep your ISO low you should get more then acceptable results. Considering the camera was really designed for outdoor usage and is coupled with an excellent image stabilization system this shouldn’t be too difficult to do.