Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10S Digital Camera - Silver

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10S

Lumix DMC-FZ10S Digital Camera - Silver Review, by Paul Jasper May 27, 2004

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• Reviewed by: N2706071

  Strengths: LENSE, OIS, MANUAL FOCUS, MACRO MODE....

  Weaknesses: NO RAW MODE, FOCUS IN LOW LIGHT

  Overall: DESPITE ALL THE FLAWS, NOBODY WOULD GET SUCH A DIGITAL CAMERA WITHIN THIS PRICE.IN FACT IT COMBINES SO MANY UNIQUE AND ADVANCED FEATURES THAT EVEN BY PAYING MORE PRICE, NO COMPANY CAN DELIVER THOSE IN A SINGLE MODEL.EXTREMELY HAPPY.(COULD SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY MOST OF DIGITAL CAMERAS COULD NOT BE CHARGED WHILE BATTRY IS INSIDE? )

• Reviewed by: tveditor

  Strengths: nice lens, slr features

  Weaknesses: inadequate flash, bulky

  Overall: PLEASE HELP....anyone know if this camera has a "fully auto" feature? i cant find it, and limits its use for me. i need it for "candid" shots on the fly, no time to fiddle with knobs...thanks

• Reviewed by: DavidC8

  Strengths: Takes outstanding pictures in daylight; 12x optical zoom really comes in handy to focus on the subject and to get rid of miscellaneous background; silver finish looks smart

  Weaknesses: pictures taken in low light conditions are grainy even with the flash; delay between pushing the button and actual scene capture make it difficult to shoot moving objects

  Overall: I took it on a trip to Asia and captured lots of excellet pictures. I know that the weakness which I listed are problems with digital cameras in general but I wish the instruction manual provided some tips to get around the problems. I suspect if I work with the aperature settings and not use the automatic mode I can probably get better pictures in low light conditions but I did not have time to experiment before I went on vacation. The ability to review the picture instantly is fantastic. This is probably old news to people who have had a digital camera before. The LCD screen is not bright enough to see in sun light so one has to use the eye piece. Zoom is easy to use and picture stabilization is great. No blurred pictures because your hand moved. Shooting movie is easy - but the size of the film clip is small. I would still use my video camera. Not able to zoom while shooting movie is not a problem becasue you can only get a short clip anyway. Just change the zoom when you re-start. I did not give it a 5 star rating because of the half second delay between when you push the button and when the image is captured. It caused me to miss several great shots when I tried to shoot flying birds. I thought I had them right in the middle of the shot I ended up with nothing. I can not say enough about the great quality of the pictures. The colors are vivid and auto-focus works well so that pictures are sharp. The battery works a long time. You can shoot lots of pictures in a day without worrying about the battery. With a 256mb SD card I got ~ 170 pictures with the hightest available picture size and the least compression. All in all it was a good purchase.

• Reviewed by: soft_answer_1096298129

  Strengths: Leica 12x optical zoom. Optical Image Stabilizer. External flash. Good battery life. Manual mode, aperture and shutter priority. Price.

  Weaknesses: Memory card is too small. Recommend replace 16mb with minimum 512mb 32x. Interanl Flash inadequate for any picture passed 10 feet.

  Overall: My first digital camera was a fujifilm finepix 3800, just about automatic everything. Prior to that for 30 years I used a Minolta SRT101 with a 55mm and a 70-210mm Vivitar Series 1 Tele/Zoom/Macro. After using the fuji for 3 months, I started looking for a camera with more zoom, external flash and more user/manual modes. All searches I did lead back to the Panasonic FZ10. So far, I'm extremely pleased with it.

• Reviewed by: jhcolo

  Strengths: FAST Leica 12x lens, great photo quality, multiple size and quality photo settings, HDTV (wide-screen) setting, manual controls, long battery life, burst mode, auto bracketing, quality materials.

  Weaknesses: Large for a digital camera - not a pocket shooter, focus requires careful attention especially at full zoom, lens hood (included) requires 72mm filters (somewhat hard to find), can't zoom movie mode.

  Overall: I have had the pleasure of shooting with this camera for much of the last year and have found it to be a very capable advanced digicam. I continue to explore and discover capabilities by reading the manual (keep it with you as you use the camera - there are so many features...) and reading user sites and by shooting lots of pictures with the camera. I have shot many types of photos from landscapes to wildlife to weddings. The camera shines with them all. The built-in hot-shoe has allowed me to utilize an accessory flash very successfully to increase its flash power and versatility and to eliminate red-eye.I use the HDTV setting to take photos consistent with my widescreen notebook display and with my HDTV, which includes a built-in SD card reader and slideshow capability - a great way to review new shots or to display completed shows for family and friends. Burst mode is great for action and for wildlife shots - get a couple of BIG SD cards! Auto-bracket feature is very useful in difficult light conditions.Balancing the negative of its size and bulk is the ability to travel with just the camera without hauling the big bag of lenses as one often must with a non-digital camera - the LONG Leica zoom lens makes this camera an amazingly versatile all-in-one device. It consistently both supports and challenges me as a photographer. Most importantly, I have never been disappointed with the quality of the results I get using the DSC FZ-10. A pleasure to use and highly recommended!Wishes: Include a compact travel charger, better software, larger SD card, carrying case/bag, reasonable prices and availability of the (planned) Panasonic wide angle and telephoto adapters - current projected MSRP = $499 - each - OUCH!!!!