Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Silver)

I bought this camera to take with me to Europe. I have a bigger Canon but wanted something smaller that would fit in my pocket or purse and still take good quality pictures. At first I was going to buy another Canon brand camera because I was familiar with the interface, but read the reviews on the Lumix DMC-ZS7 and decided to go with it. I also liked the zoom feature on the Lumix. I have not been disappointed in the quality of the pictures and the features. And the interface has been easy enough to learn. Some people might think this camera is a bit large or heavy compared to a pocket point and shoot, but I wanted something sturdy enough to hold onto. The grip area makes it easy to hold onto. For me, it is a perfect combination of size and function. Fits in my purse and takes great pictures with just the Intelligent Auto setting, but if you want to get more technical and customize settings, the Lumix gives you the ability to do that. The one downside is no printed manual. I had to print off all 180 pages on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. My Canon has a little instruction manual which I find handy to carry with me for reference. But in all fairness, this is not a drawback unique to the Lumix. Many cameras are coming sans instruction/user manual as a cost savings. Also, the PhotoFun software could be better. But, all in all, I am very happy with this camera and think it could become my main travel camera. I would recommend it to anyone who wants good quality pictures without going to an SLR.

Purchased camera about 1 month ago. I carry it in my pocket most places I go. Love that part. I inadvertently dropped the camera on a cement curb. Oh oh I thought now I have done it. I picked the camera up and couldn't see any damage to the case. The camera didn't like it and it malfunctioned for a bit. After 5 minutes of rest, the camera was as good as new...whew! I don't recommend this but my experience is great testimonial to the durability of the camera. The quality of the photos are superb. It has one of the most accurate automatic focus and picture characteristic selection functions I have ever seen.. It is much better than a Canon point and shoot camera that I own. As I expected the picture quality decreases in low lighting situations but is not bad. The 16x optical zoom is a masterpiece. It zooms both slowly and rapidly and makes only a soft click on playback. It does a great job zooming during movie making however, it does take a moment to refocus as you zoom in low light situations. It was one of the major reasons I purchased the camera and I am very pleased with the way it work. I own a Mac and the AVCHD lite movies don't load into iPhoto. However, they do load into iMovie and can be viewed directly from camera to an HDTV. The mpeg movies do load into iPhoto. The quality of the HD movies in both setting is excellent and surprisingly good in low light situations. I do hope Apple will create a fix that will allow HVCHD lite movies to load directly into iPhoto. I leave the camera set on auto and the movies on jpeg settings and am as happy as a clam. I would give it a 7 star rating if I could.

When I saw the reviews and the list of features I was really looking forward to this camera, the problem is that it isn't all that. Problems: GPS - Slow to acquire, If you carry the camera in your pocket it has no idea were it is and most pictures end up with an incorrect GPS tag. GPS software - On the pictures that do end up with a gps tag there is no way to display them on a map through the included software. Only through a tree structure. Battery Life - Not Good, I am not sure if it is the GPS or not but you have to charge every few hours, a real pain. Picture Quality - Pictures look good but colors are very washed out, most of my pictures to the mountains didn't show the reds hardly at all. Camera Size - To thick to pocket, to small for most cases. Still haven't found a case I like for it. Things I like, Zoom - Very good Start up - Fast, no issues here Movie Button - Dedicated movie record button, do not have to go though menu. I still haven't decided if I am going to keep it or not.......My old cannon is just as good on everything but the zoom.

I researched this camera on the internet. I originally wanted the Samsung HZ35W camera. It has 15x zoom and GPS tagging. But in reviews of camera, you have to download the maps and store them on a SD card. Also some professional reviewers of the Samsung said it has noisy photos at higher ISOs. The Panasonic DMC-ZS7 is the same camera as the Leica V-LUX 20, but at a substantially lower price. It has up to 16x in optical zoom and higher if you turn on digital zoom. It has built in GPS and the maps are preloaded. The GPS can only be turned on and off through the menu screen. In the Samsung it has a separate switch which would be handy on the Panasonic. The Panasonic GPS continues to draw power even when the camera is shut off. So you have to think about it when you put it away. I wish Panasonic had put a switch to turn on and off the GPS. The Panasonic has the Leica lens so the pictures are wonderful in clarity. One feature I really like is the manual record/play switch. Where you can stay in playback or in record as long as you want. It also has a instant video red button that allows you to start recording video at a moment's notice, without changing and selector knobs on top of the camera. There is a separate button for sending unwanted photos to the trash can with on screen confirmation. I have taken several photos and found the camera easy to handle. I have used the GPS feature but the camera doesn't give me confirmation until playback that shows the city, state, and country on the photo record, but won't record it on a print unless you tell it to. It has manuel capabilities in case you want to tinker with the exposure settings like shutter priority, and aperture priority, and of course full manuel. If you want to have the camera fix red eye you have to change the menu in Program mode and the camera does a nice job. It flashes once to allow the subject's pupil to close down before the main flash to take the picture. Many other cameras use multiple flashes before the main flash. Red eye is caused by the flash being too close to the lens, and reflects the blood in the eyes. If you are looking for a great camera with a very good lens the Panasonic DMC-ZS7 is hard to beat for a higher end pocket camera.

I bought the ZS7 at the end of 2010 to replace an older Panasonic camera that I really liked. Deciding between the ZS7 and the cheaper ZS5 model was a challenge. In the end, I choose the ZS7 because it has the AVCHDLite video (in addition to the MotionJPEG video). It has stereo (vs. mono on the ZS5). And supposedly has a better screen resolution. The good: It takes excellent, sharp photos. Simple to use. The Intelligent Auto function is great. It's sturdy and has a weight to it that I like. The screen resolution is indeed really nice. It powers on quickly. It doesn't seem to have a noticeable shutter lag at all. The not-so-good: The GPS feature. Period. I live in Indianapolis (which is a fairly major city) and the GPS can never seem to locate where I am. It takes upward of 5 minutes for the GPS function to "locate" anything. And, in my experience, it never does. While it is searching, you cannot use the camera. Once done searching, it always tells me it can't find anything. I've only once (in six months) had the GPS successfully find a location. I didn't need or want this feature in the first place, but wanted the other features the ZS7 offered, so I really had no choice. Out of curiosity, I tried the function several times. And, in my opinion, the GPS is completely useless. Overall: I would recommend this camera for all the reasons I listed, but don't count on the GPS feature to work. The GPS is the only reason I gave this camera 4 stars instead of 5.

Prior to buying this camera, I only owned 1 other digital camera in my time and it was a very old Kodak.. it was Kodak EasyShare DX4530. I wanted to make quick notes of the major differences between my old camera and this new toy for people who like me either never had a digital camera before or has a very old one. Some things that are different that I love: The lense cap is built in so you don't have to take it off when you take a picture or risk loosing it. There is a small on and off switch so you don't have to turn the top to the setting you want and wait while it goes through them all, you can keep it on what setting you want and just switch it on. The battery and memory card are together on the bottom out of sight instead of one on each side. It shows how much battery life you have left, not just when it gets low and you have to guess. It's obviously skinner. The place where you tie on the arm string or neck string is on the side smooth with the camera not sticking out which is nice when trying to put it in a case. It's hard to hold it still when you have it zoomed all the way or close to all the way in and it's not recommended to zoom all the way in when it's dark, it's not the best in dark light but in comparision to old camera's, it's tons better. You have to switch between "record" and "play" mode on the back to view pictures or vid's you have taken, which in the end can be faster than hitting "review" on the old Kodak and hitting it again to go back to taking pictures.. it might be annoying in the beginning, but I like it better now that I am used to it. A problem I had in the beginning, on my old Kodak you could hold it halfway in and then take the picture for a better shot, you still can on this, but you have to push down harder on the button to take a picture, which messed me up a bit in the beginning, some pictures I were taking weren't really taking. I took 162 pictures and 4 video's equal to 11:35 minutes total and I only lost 2/3 (exactly, I watched it go down to 1/3) of the battery life. I ended up being able to take 650 pictures and the video's before it started blinking. I'm not exactly fond of how it "adds" the pictures to my computer in one big folder with a weird name, but that's easily fixed by moving them and I'm sure I can fix it to start doing it differently.. but that's how it's auto set to do. I do notice pictures don't turn out really AT ALL in the dark, it's better to make a video and take a picture off of that to even bother trying to take a picture. In the day time though, the picture quality is amazing, it's taken the best pictures I have ever taken. The sound is amazing to, the concert I recorded sound like they are happening all over! Great keepsake! So overall I give this camera 5 stars, but if you need a low light camera, this camera isn't for you, I knew going in it wouldn't do well, so I was prepared and don't think it needs docked stars for that, because the sound quality more than makes up for it.

I spent a lot of time researching cameras before making this purchase. I have many friends who are independent photographers who swear by their digital SLRs, but I needed a camera that was more compact to be my primary travel camera - meant primarily to capture memories and events. However, I did love the quality of the SLR photos and hoped to find a camera that could approximate that. This camera is absolutely phenomenal and consistently surprises me with the photos it takes. In situations such as high speed or low light this point and shoot out performs the Canon I previously had by a long shot. For more controlled settings, the images are crisp, and well focused. The color it can capture is rich and more true to life than any other point and shoot I've ever used or seen - sunsets on this camera actually show up with the rich oranges, pinks and purples. The video also works quite well - I went to a concert and was able to zoom all the way to the stage which was quite a ways away and get a really decent video of the performance - even with the strange lighting and noticeable distance. There are a few button layouts that aren't immediately intuitive, but can be figured out with a bit of tinkering and experimenting. The special scene settings, again, work WAY better than any I've used in the past. The general intelligent auto setting is actually quite intelligent - from macro to portrait to landscape it usually identifies the scene correctly, and within a couple attempts I've been able to get the exact shot I was trying for. I had been certain I would purchase a Nikon or a Canon, but I was impressed by the photos others shared, taken by this camera and can pleasantly report that it requires no skill or special knowledge to take similar photos. 3 October 2011 - I STILL love this camera. It is a great size, has excellent battery life, takes great snapshots, usable video. It is by no means professional photography quality, but for a small, affordable point and shoot, it has exceeded my expectations.

Been researching cameras for a couple of weeks.Did alot of comparing and reviews of over a hundred camreas. Very impressed with the performance so far..Not much internal memory but on a 0.3m setting of 640x480 could get 66 pics..I have had it less than a week so far.Amazing zoom and pics so far.Got a 16gb sdhc card in now and can get 3074 pics @ 12megapixal setting.At lowest setting can get 69,416 pics. It`s very easy to navigate.Many cool features like all the scene selections to choose from, plus all kinds of both custom and manual settings for the more advanced users. Quick start up times for those spur of the moment shots. Buttons tho are a bit smaller than i care for but dosen`t affect performance, that`s the only con i have so far. Do recommend extra batteries and car charger,plus screen protector.Built very well.Nothing cheap feeling about it.Has really good reviews and a great camera for the money.I like going camping and hiking and wanted something easy to carry but with a higher zoom,12 megapixal and really good pic quality and this hits the nail on the head.Took some good sunset photos already and some nice outdoor pics. IA setting does really well both indoors and out.Has a great manual online you can download with the software that has both manual and photofunstudio 5.1 on it..Have had issues with photofun studio 5.1 software sent with it so I`m just using Adobe photo shop which works just fine.There`s plenty of free software online that can do same do just as good or better so don`t let that hinder any decision.Cnet and PCworld are just a few sites to check on for product tests and reviews. Would def. recommend to anyone this camera.