Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 Review
Review Date: June 19th 2006
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using
the 6M Fine mode, which gives an average image size of around
2.5Mb - 3Mb.
Noise
There are 4 ISO settings available on the Panasonic Lumix
DMC-FZ7 which you can select at any time if the camera is
in the normal shooting mode. Here are some 100% crops which
show the noise levels for each ISO setting:
There is virtually no discernible noise at the slowest settings
of ISO 80 and 100. There's some noise at ISO 200 and some
loss of detail, but it's still a usable speed. At ISO 400
image quality has deterioated a lot as the camera blurs detail
to try and hide the noise.
High Sensitivity Mode
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 has a new High Sensitivity scene
mode which promises to reduce blurry images, particularly
of moving subjects indoors, by raising the ISO speed to a
maximum of 1600 and therefore allowing for a faster shutter
speed. This mode allows you to handhold the camera without
using the flash and get more natural results, whilst at the
same time freezing subject movement more successfully. There
are some obvious drawbacks with this special scene mode, notably
a significant reduction in resolution - Panasonic state that
"The picture quality is good enough for printing at the
ordinary 4" x 6" (10 x 15 cm) size". You also
need to select the scene mode and therefore have some idea
about when it is applicable to your subject. Here are some
100% crops which show the noise levels:
Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality
50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening
applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are quite
soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some
further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Unfortunately
you can't change the in-camera sharpening level.
File Quality
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 has 3 different image quality
settings available, with TIFF being the highest quality option
(but also by far the largest file size). Here are some 100%
crops which show the quality of the various options, with
the file size shown in brackets.
Chromatic Aberrations
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 dealt extremely well with chromatic
aberrations during the review, with only very limited purple
fringing present around the edges of objects in certain high-contrast
situations.
Macro
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 offers a Macro setting that allows
you to focus on a subject that is 5cms away from the camera
when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows
how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact
flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.
Flash
The flash settings on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 are Auto,
Auto/Red-eye Reduction, Slow Sync./Red-eye Reduction and Forced
On/Off. These shots of a magnolia coloured wall were taken
at a distance of 1.5m.
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Auto Flash - Telephoto (432mm) |
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And here are some shots of yours truly. As you can see, neither
the Flash On or the Red-Eye Reduction options caused any amount
of red-eye.
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Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100%
Crop) |
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Night Shot
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 maximum shutter speed is 60 seconds
in the Starry Sky Mode scene mode (there are also 15 and 30
second options) and 8 seconds in the Night Scenery mode or
Shutter-Priority mode, which is good news if you're seriously
interested in night photography. Also, in the Manual exposure
mode there is a full range of shutter speeds available up
to 60 seconds. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed
of 20 seconds at f/8 at ISO 80. I've included a 100% crop
of the image to show what the quality is like. The camera
takes the same amount of time again to apply noise reduction,
so for example at the 15 second setting the actual exposure
takes 30 seconds.
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100% Crop |
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Anti Shake
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 has an anti-shake mechanism,
which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds
than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld
shots of the same subject with the ISO speed set to 100. The
first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second
with it turned on. Here is a 100% crop of the image to show
the results.
As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are
much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature
really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing
a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.
Overall Image Quality
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 produced images of above average
quality during the review period. The 6 megapixel images were
quite soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening
setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an
application like Adobe Photoshop, as you can't change the
in-camera setting. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 dealt very
well with chromatic aberrations, with limited purple fringing
effects appearing only in high contrast situations. Macro
performance is above average for an ultra-zoom camera, allowing
you to focus as close as 5 cms away from the subject. The
built-in flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and slight
under-exposure. The night photograph was good, with the maximum
shutter speed of 60 seconds allowing you to capture plenty
of light. Anti-shake is a feature that sets this camera apart
from its competitors and one that works very well when hand-holding
the camera in low-light conditions or when using the telephoto
end of the zoom range. Noise at higher ISO speeds is the DMC-FZ7's
main weakpoint. The 1/2.5 inch, 6 megapixel sensor produces
noise-free images at ISO 80 and ISO 100, but ISO 200 shows
some noise and loss of detail and ISO 400 exhibits obvious
noise and blurred detail. The new High Sensitivity mode extends
the ISO range and allows you to freeze subject movement effectively,
but does so by reducing the effective image resolution.
 PhotographyBLOG
is a member of the DIWA
organisation. Our test results for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
have been submitted to DIWA
for comparison with test results for different samples of
the same camera model supplied by other DIWA
member sites.
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