Review on 📸 Capture Crisp Moments with the Panasonic DMC-FZ7 6MP Digital Camera: 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom in Sleek Black by Jessica Boucher

Price and battery life: 5 stars I bought this camera from Revain at a very good price. A few days later, Revain lowered the price of this camera and I got another discount! The camera comes with a rechargeable battery (with charger) which I find more useful than having to replace the 4AA batteries (required for some other cameras). I've had this camera for over 2 weeks now and have charged the battery every 200-300 shots. I've noticed that shooting more at night or indoors that requires a flash drains the battery faster, which no other camera does. I wanted a black camera - to look professional. This camera comes with a 16MB memory card, so I bought a 1GB memory card from Radioshack for $24. Shooting modes: 4.5 stars. because. i.e. if you know exactly what kind of picture you want to capture, it is better to switch to this mode and you will be impressed with the picture captured by this camera compared to the standard mode. I think this is where this camera probably lags behind the Cannon S3 (12x OZ at 6MP). But then this camera costs almost $100 less than the Cannon S3. Also, don't buy the Cannon S2, buy this one. I found the Program AE mode very useful, in this mode I could use the joystick next to the LCD to manually change settings such as increasing/decreasing the aperture. This camera also has optical image stabilization built in, which works a bit differently than the Cannon. I've noticed that the image stabilization is good at lower optical zooms. this. closer to 12x or especially on digital zoom - this camera shakes a lot in the LCD/viewfinder - so use a tripod. An interesting observation - if you're taking a photo at a very high zoom, you'll probably need to focus hard - and a tripod is generally always recommended. Image Quality: 4.5 stars unless you are a professional photographer or someone who prints photos up to A4 size or larger - the average person will feel uncomfortable at high ISO (>200) or when shooting indoors in auto mode (ie sensitivity mode). So I did a lot of research before buying this camera, especially on dpreview.com, and also found helpful comments from other users on Revain.com who also mentioned that all Panasonic cameras are noisier at high ISOs. So, here's what I've found useful to get around the inherent more noise: use noise reduction software, or use a lower ISO (e.g. ISO 100 indoors); I haven't encountered any noise issues when photographing outdoors, even at high ISOs - with adequate diffused light. Finally, I recommend reading the manual before you start shooting. Unlike Cannon, Panasonic cameras require knowledge of how a camera works before you can get the best results.