Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 - UK Digital Camera Review

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Review

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 fulfills a variety of photographic needs with is many features including 7.2 megapixel CCD and LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens giving an impressive 12x optical zoom. This zoom can be extended to 18x by using the Extra Optical Zoom function in the 3 megapixel resolution mode and can be brought up to an amazing 72x zoom when combined with the 4x digital zoom.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 offers a level close to an SLR but without the inconvenience of interchangeable lenses.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Front
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Back

The MEGA Optical Image Stabiliser compensates for shaky hands, Intelligent ISO control detects when a subject is moving and raises the ISO setting and shutter speed in order to deal with motion blur and, in addition to these major features, the Panasonic DMC-FZ8 also includes Venus Engine III that can record at an ISO sensitivity of 1250 for advanced image processing.

The Panasonic DMC-FZ8 has various scene modes where settings have been pre-selected to suit various situations and these include; portrait, sports, sunset, fireworks, beach, snow and night scenes. Colour effects are cool, black & white, warm and sepia. ISO sensitivity ranges from auto/100/200/400/800/1250 to 3200 (high sensitivity), White Balance offers auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, flash, halogen, white set and white balance adjustment. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 has a built in flash with choices of auto, auto/red-eye reduction, forced on, forced on/red-eye reduction, forced off/flash output adjustment.

A Li-ion battery pack powers the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 giving a battery life of approximately 380 pictures, there is a built-in memory and the Panasonic DMC-FZ8 can take SD/SDHC/MultiMedia memory cards.

The Lumix DMC-FZ8 has a viewfinder with a field of view of approximately 100% together with a 2.5" TFT LCD monitor also giving approximately 100% field of view. Playback modes include 9/25 thumbnail, calendar display, slide show and image rotation. Images are stored as JPEG (Exif 2.21), DPOF and QuickTimeMotion JPEG.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 is PictBridge compatible.

For the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Specifications & Features

  • 7.2 Megapixels
  • 12 x Optical Zoom
  • 4 x Digital Zoom
  • 48 x Combined Zoom
  • 5cm Focusing Distance
  • Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Flash and White Set White Balance settings
  • 2.5" TFT, 207,000 pixels
  • Auto, Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Forced On, Forced On/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction and Forced Off flash modes
  • Maximum Image Size 3072 x 2304 Pixels
  • 848 x 480, 30fps Movies
  • PictBridge Compatible
  • SD Memory Card or MultiMediaCard
  • Li-ion Battery
  • Approximate Weight 310g

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 User Reviews

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Reviewer: Jean-Christophe Lalonde - Canada
I have never seen before an bad image quality of these kind of camera.

Buy this with no test before..
I'm an idiot.

Features
Rating 9/10
Image Quality
Rating 4/10
Usability
Rating 8/10
Reviewer: Ian Cook - UK
Actually this review is for the enhanced Lumix DMC-FZ18....

Having recently admitted defeat with my previous 'bridge' camera a Fuji S3000 ( shutter lag, poor XD card performance)I was in the market for a new 'bridge' camera that gave me most of the advantages of a DSLR with out the cons of a bag full of lens's.

The FZ18 has a focal length of upto 504mm (35mm equivalent) with the AI auto mode is pretty much fool proof, with the Facial Detection (upto 15 in one shot)

loads of manual modes and easy(ish) adjustment of exposure and bracketing.

upto 400 (ish) shots from one charge of the Li-ion battery, and good standars flash range.

Pros : weight, performance across the spectrum, negligible shutter lag, fast falsh recharge, zoom & OIS Stability engine.

Cons : only one battery supplied & 2 hour change mode, no flash shoe.

all in all 10/10

Features
Rating 10/10
Image Quality
Rating 10/10
Usability
Rating 9/10
Reviewer: Jeff - UK
Having had the Panasonic FZ8 for a week, first Impressions are that it is a very capable camera.

On the plus side: - Optical zoom, features, ease of use, picture quality, clear LCD display, fast focus

On the minus side: - haven't found anything yet.

Highly recommended.

Features
Rating 9/10
Image Quality
Rating 8/10
Usability
Rating 8/10
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Review & Features - © UK Digital Camera Reviews 2008
For the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8
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