Lumix DMC-FX7
Saturday 27 Jan 2007
Get yours here
In the name of being a professional shutterbug, I broke down and bought a point and shoot camera to keep in my pocket at all times. I’ve already got a Nikon D70s along with a full compliment of lenses and other accessories that I use for all my product and event photography, but it’s not always convenient to lug around thousands of dollars of heavy camera equipment in order to fire off a few quick shots.
Not only that, chances are even if I did have all my equipment with me, whatever I was wanting a picture of would have probably already passed by the time I was able to set everything up for the shot.
Enter the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7.
True, it’s not the latest and greatest of the Lumix offerings, but for my purposes it’s fitting the bill perfectly. It’s a 5 megapixel camera sligtly larger than a credit card and just under an inch thick at its girthiest point. It shoots in an ISO range of 80-400 with a shutter speed varying from to 1/2000 to 8 seconds, which is perfect for freezing action and sports and long enough for night photography (most compacts won’t allow the shutter to stay open nearly that long for night shooting). What’s amazing about this line of point and shoot cameras is that they are one of the few that offer in camera image stabilization. Many lines don’t offer this feature until you reach their digicam or prosumer level cameras. SLRs only have this option available in certain lines of lenses.
In addition to image stabilization, the Lumix line also comes equipped with Leica optics. For those not in the know about Leica, they make some of the most expensive, sharpest and well color-balanced lenses on the market, their cameras are world-class as well. This combination of image stabilization and lens quality make the DMC-FX7 a heavyweight contender in the world of compact cameras. I was floored when I saw the quality of the images coming from it.
The lens is a 3x optical zoom, and has some digital zoom reach as well, however the image quality degrades noticably when the digital zoom is used. I avoid using it at all costs. The lens is rated at 5-17.4mm f/2.8-5.0 aspherical, which would be a 35-105mm lens in 35mm film format. The somewhat fast f/2.8 rating allows for good low-light use at the wide angle setting.
The smallish looking flash proves to be absolutely bright enough to work well with the lens even at the widest zoom setting. I’ve noticed no indication of light fall off to date. It is important to note, however, it works best with subjects that are no more than about 13-15′ away. The flash is a little too close to the lens for my tastes, I realize it’s hard to move it much farther away in such a compact design, but it’s close proximity does tend to increase the dreaded red-eye that’s common in compacts. There is a red-eye reduction option for the flash, but as many photographers will tell you, red-eye reduction is a double-edged sword. Yes, it reduces the red flares, but it does so by pre-flashing, constricting the pupils, which is undesirable as eyes look more attractive when dialated.
The 2.5″ LCD display takes up about 2/3 of the back of the camera, and so far proves to be nice and bright (without being too bright in low-light conditions) as well as fairly color accurate. There is an option to gain up the LCDs brightness to aid in visibility for bright outdoor conditions. The large LCD screen eliminates any extra space for a traditional veiwfinder, which is a slight bummer, but livable nonetheless.
This camera has more than it’s fair share of built in features including 11 preset scene shooting modes as well as a macro mode and an option to take videos. The length of video you can take depends on the size of your memory card.
Buttons and controls are simple and straight forward on the camera. I have fairly long and slender fingers, so moving around the keypad layout is easy for me. Those with larger fingers may have problems as the buttons are spaced somewhat close together.
The in-camera menus are well thought out, easy to navigate and not too confusing. When initially setting up my camera the only question I had about any of the options was regarding image compression, which was not clearly defined in the menu but a quick read through the well put together manual set the record straight.
The DMC-FX7 records to SD cards, which was a bit of another downer for me. I have tons of compact flash cards laying around becuase that’s what my D70s takes. It would have been great if I could have used them in this camera as well, but it seems that the SD format is becoming the norm for this size camera so I guess I can’t complain too much. It merely means I’ve got to invest into some SD cards (which is the same format my wife’s Canon SD550 takes, so for now I can just steal her card’s when she’s not looking).
Startup is quick at just under one second. You’ll have little to no excuse for not capturing that precious moment. Battery life is more than adequate. I’ve yet to miss any shots due to the battery dying, that’s even with using flash the entire shoot.
My biggest complaint for this camera is a lack of more manual options. I’m used to having complete control over all settings of my D70s; shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. The Lumix is made to be a little more automated, which is great for the casual user and makes the camera a bit more transparent in the photography process, just not what I’m used to…
All in all this camera packs a huge punch. The combination of the 5.0 megapixel image sensor, image stabilization and Leica optics allows me to make acceptable quality prints at up to 12×18″ and high quality prints at 8×10″. The Lumix has more than enough features and options for the average user. It would be the perfect point and shoot camera to me if it had an optional viewfinder in addition to the LCD and stored to compact flash cards.
Nice Camera! Thats much nicer than my old Canon ( which only is a 2 mp) I like that yours can hold the shutter open longer, Night photography is some of the best.