Product Description

With both a 32mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens and a 5x zoom, this is one camera that does it all. You can fit more in the photo than you can with a 35mm lens, so you can get more of a sweeping landscape in a single shot. The 5x zoom is great for capturing dramatic shots of small or distant subjects. There's also an Extra Optical Zoom function that boosts zoom power to 8.9x in 3-megapixel resolution mode. Simply set the Lz8 to iA mode and let the camera do the rest. Intelligent Scene Selector chooses the mode that best fits the situation; MEGA Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) helps prevent blurring from hand-shake; Intelligent ISO Control helps prevent motion blur; and Face Detection helps produce clear portraits by optimizing the focus and exposure settings. The brightness and contrast of the large 2.5" diagonal LCD adjust automatically in 10 steps as ambient light conditions change, so images are clear, bright and easy to see day or night, indoors or outdoors. f=5.2-26mm (35mm Equiv. - 32-160mm) Focal Length 2.5 Diagonal Polycrystalline TFT LCD Display (230K dots) Focusing Area Normal - Wide 50cm/ Tele 100cm - infinity, Macro / Intelligent AUTO - Wide 5cm / Tele 100cm - infinity 8 - 1/2,000 sec. Starry Sky Mode - 15, 30, 60sec. Shutter Speed Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 (High Sensitivity Mode - Auto(1600 - 6400) ) ISO 27MB Internal Memory (additional memory recommended to store more photos and video) Built-in Flash, Microphone and Speaker SD/SDHC, MultiMedia Card Slot DC Input, AV Output (NTSC/PAL), USB Connections PictBridge Compatible Approximate Battery Life - 260 Shots (Oxide Batteries) Approximate Unit Weight - 0.33 lbs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Black
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: DMC-LZ8K
• Released on: 2008-03-05
• Dimensions: 3.88" h x 1.31" w x 2.44" l, .70 pounds
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• 8.0-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for photo-quality 16x 22-inch prints
• 5x wide-angle optical zoom; Mega Optical Image Stabilized
• 2.5-inch Intelligent LCD screen; Face Detection
• Intelligent ISO; Intelligent Scene Selector
• Captures images to SD memory cards (not included)

Manufacturer Description

The 8-megapixel Panasonic LZ8 is perfect for anyone who expects a digital camera that blends power, performance and quality, helping to maximize the digital photography experience. The LZ-Series’ lenses were developed by Panasonic, passing Leica's stringent standards to deliver an exceptional optical performance for Panasonic Lumix consumers. And with the the LZ8’s 32mm wide-angle lens, you can capture larger group photos or more expansive scenic shots.

To provide digital photographers with added creative elements and performance, the LZ8 sports manual control over aperture and shutter speed, thanks to the camera’s newly-adopted iris. When shooting manually, you can choose from three modes: A-aperture priority, S-shutter speed priority and M-manual and enjoy added control and creativity normally reserved for higher end models. Also new to the LZ8 is Advanced Scene Mode -- a feature that gives you manual control using some of the frequently-used scene modes: Portrait, Sports, Landscape and Night portrait.

While in Advanced Scene Mode, when selecting the Portrait or Sports mode, the consumer is then presented with additional settings, with the option of choosing outdoor or indoor. When selecting Landscape mode, there are options to specify if the shot is nature or architecture. For budding photographers who desire even more artistic freedom, they can choose Creative mode, which adds more manual controls over an aperture or a shutter speed.

For those not quite ready for complete manual control, the LZ8 also features Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto Mode, which is comprised of five distinct technologies designed to provide users with intuitive and automatic camera adjustments, regardless of the shooting condition and without the user having to do anything manually. Intelligent Auto Mode consists of the following features:

Mega O.I.S. Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image.

Intelligent ISO Can determine if the photo subject is moving and change the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly, thus giving a blur-free photo.

Intelligent Scene Selector Senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and will automatically select the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode.

Face Detection Panasonic’s Face Detection detects up to 15 faces anywhere in the frame, even if they are moving, and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp.

Quick AF The Quick AF (auto focus) system starts focus on the subject by just pointing the camera to the subject, thus minimizing the AF time.

The LZ8 also features new 230,000-dot high-resolution LCD, complete with the new Intelligent LCD, meaning the 2.5-inch LCD screen detects the lighting condition and controls the brightness level to offer optimal clarity in any situation, whether dark or light; indoors or outdoors. It also includes the popular High Angle mode, which makes the LCD screen easy to view when held high, to shoot over a crowd or a tall object.

Additional highlights of the Panasonic Lumix LZ8 include:

• Newly-added speaker lets you enjoy a slide show with music, selecting from natural, slow, urban or swing tunes; or add voice to a motion video.
• Title Edit function which allows the consumer to input text to accompany a photo, for instance, the names of children or travel locations.
• Ability to record WVGA (848 x 480) motion images at 30 frames per second in a 16:9 aspect ratio, ideal for viewing on High Definition televisions, such as Panasonic Viera Plasmas and LCDs.
• The ability to shoot 1920x1080-pixel High-Definition ready photos, ideal for wide-screen viewing on a 16:9 Viera Plasma or LCD.
• The DMC-LZ8 shoots 180 images with the included Alkaline batteries and up to 470 images with optional Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (2600mAh).
• A record/playback mode switch, which lets the photographer switch between recording and playback modes, while always knowing the current mode.

Customer Reviews

what a great camera!
This is a terrific camera! It is so easy to use and the instructions are very easy to follow. I love it! The only negative comment I have is that the AA batteries wear down very quickly even with the camera turned off. It is best to get rechargable batteries or take them out of the camera when you aren't using it.

Nice feature set; mediocre picture quality
Major points:

1 In some cases (usually in dark or very dark conditions), the camera produces completely unacceptable results, with small white "bubbles" appearing throughout the shot. I have researched this and there are a couple of notes on the web that complain of how the lens may accentuate "dust dots". Understand I have verified this on 2 different cameras, sending the first one back the day that I got it, only to have the same thing happen with the second. [This is the only serious negative in the mind of this reviewer, and bubbles will not be an issue in most photos.]

2 The general sharpness of the images is noticably inferior to some other point and shoot cameras, such as the Canon SD1000, which I also have. This difference is completely inconsequential for printing 4x6 photos but can easily be seen for example, when displaying at large sizes on a PC. Still, to many people this is probably a non-issue.

3 The general layout of controls, menus, etc. is very well done. To me (and this is subjective), it is much better done and more intuitive than what you see on the point and shoot Canon cameras.

4 The software with the camera is okay, but I like the Canon software better.

5 Panasonic support has sucked in my attempt to get help. I registered my first camera (which I later sent back) online. Later, I filled out a form on the Panasonic site to request help with the bubble issue. It has been eight days since, and I have received no answer from Panasonic. Additionally, the nearest service center to me (Georgia) is Illinois. Luckily, Panasonic devices have good reliability and so you will probably never have to deal with their "support team".

6 The feature set (zoom, manual options, etc.) is clearly good compared to other cameras in this price range.

7 For whatever its worth, I have decided to keep the camera. Honestly I would be very enthusiastic about it if not for the bubble (i.e., dust?) issue.

Great Product
Camera works very well. Has a nice point and shoot feature for anyone not into all the details of photography. Extended zoom works very well. Has a lot of other options for someone more into photography. Easy to start using and easy to transfer pictures to a computer.