Pansaonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S: Bulky but Feature Rich Compact Camera

If you're looking for a basic, entry-level digital camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is the best that you can find that costs under $200. With the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S, you don't have to fumble for manual controls, just point and shoot and you can get great image quality that is comparable to DSLR cameras.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S has 7.2 mega pixels resolution, a CCD optical sensor that is 1/2.5 inch in size, 6x image stabilized optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, up to ISO 3000 sensitivity, 27MB internal memory, 2.5 inch LCD display, and SD memory card expansion slot.

First thing you will notice about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is that despite it being in the "compact camera" category, it's not exactly compact as it is rather bulky and would probably show when slipped inside your jeans pocket. However, this might be a good thing for those with larger hands who are not really comfortable with the smaller and slimmer ones from Canon and Sony.

But bulkiness aside, the Panasonic DMC-LZ7S is actually lighter than it looks. Besides, it takes GREAT pictures. Also, the added size is to accommodate the 6x zoom and an Easy Zoom feature which can actually extend it to 9x. This would be quite useful for soccer moms who wants to take close-up photos of their kids in action. Going back to image quality, like I said, the Panasonic DMC-LZ7S takes great pictures and you would rarely need Photoshop on the images that this baby churns out. Color saturation is so great that you can print pictures straight from the camera. The Panasonic DMC-LZ7S also takes great pictures in low light conditions if the ISO is set to around 400 but any higher than that, expect to see some image noise. But if noise is not of importance to you and you just really want to take that picture in the dark, the Panasonic DMC-LZ7S can do the job. If you have shaky hands, the image stabilizer on the Panasonic DMC-LZ7S is a feature that you would be most thankful for. No more blurry pictures even when you're using the zoom button.

One disadvantage of the Panasonic DMC-LZ7S is that it has no viewfinder so it would be a pain to use when you're a budding landscape photographer or using it outdoors. It also saves video in Quicktime format, I'm writing that as a disadvantage since I don't use Quicktime that often and I had to install one just to watch the captured videos. The Panasonic DMC-LZ7S also runs on 2 AA batteries, some would find this as an advantage since they can always buy backup AA batteries which is cheap, however, I think AA batteries are a thing of the past and just adds bulk on the Lumix DMC-LZ7S.

All in all, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S is a great digital camera for everyday use if you don't mind the added bulk.