Customer Reviews

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5S 6MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Panasonic has reached perfection to put in your pocket with this DMC-LZ5 camera. This small, yet easy-to-hold 6 MP, 6X-optical zoom digital camera takes excellent quality photos of especially good color reproduction. The zoom is very powerful. The camera starts up in less than 5 seconds. It has the least amount of shutter-lag, about 1-2 seconds, that I've experienced. It takes sequential photos with such speed that you can keep on clicking and get moving objects with clarity. It has anti-shake technology.
It exhausts my rechargeable batteries within about 10-15 photos. It takes two AA batteries. So one needs to maintain a supply of charged batteries. It holds the settings when changing batteries and when turned off (when you select the no-reset option).
The camera does not have a viewfinder, but its 2.5-inch screen is quite satisfactory and shows the selected view clearly and accurately. Its size diagonally is 2 7/8 inches.
I am very impressed with the fine detail and the so-realistic reproduction of scenes that you may think you are looking at the real object, and the color reproduction. The blues and greens, as well as the reds and yellows, are stunning. It takes photos close-up to about 6 to 8 inches in focus and with wonderful clarity.
It has a superb fold-over lens cover to protect the lens while the camera is turned off. So you don't have to worry about lens damage or losing the lens cover.
I found the camera very easy to acquire a working knowledge of without the manual, which was not much help.
With a 128 MB secure digital memory card I can take about 600 photos at a 640X480 setting.
The only downfall(s) are:
The manual with it, like most electronics/camera manuals, fails to give complete instructions. The sections do not start at the beginning by telling you which settings or mode to be in when following the instructions. The manual I have seems to be geared to another model of camera. For instance, when I tried to find the 640 X 480 setting, the camera did not select pixels that way, but rather by 3M,2M,1M,.3M, and the chart did not convert to that means of measuring pixels.
The Panasonic "simple viewer" software is not simple. It apparently has a special driver necessary to view or upload photos, which did not transfer to my PC. However, there are three different software programs on the accompanying CD, one of which is an excellent ArcSoft program that I found easy to use and very complete. Also there is an Adobe software program on the CD.

All-in-all, I recommend this camera to the Amazon.com readers. The price is reasonable for all that it packs into it. You will be very happy with this camera whether you are a weekend birdviewing fan, a parent wanting to memorialize a baby or a child in play, or are using the camera for commercial or professional reasons. Just be prepared with a plentiful supply of charged batteries.

May 6, 2007, UPDATE: After over a year of use, this camera has become my favorite and most used camera. My comments above, first written last year, remain my opinion of this perfect camera.
I found that Radio Shack rechargeable AA batteries hold charges longest.
I discovered this camera's excellent "motion picture mode", which you use by turning a dial on top of the camera and then clicking the picture-takng button to activate and clicking again to stop.
It takes SD media cards. With a 1G or 2G card, you have plenty of SD storage for both stills and motion pictures. I like to take motion pictures of surfers, pelicans diving for dinner in Santa Monica Bay, and wrapearound views of my rose and blue-lavender bearded irises. The colors are vibrant.
My one difficulty is viewing images on the LCD screen in bright daylight.
At under $200 now, this camera is a great bargain with all its features.

Almost perfect camera.Small and light weight. Takes great pictures. Image stabilization worked wonders when taking fireworks even without a tripod. Clarity and contrast is beyond what was expected for a camera of this price. The scene modes making taking pictures easy even for the beginner. Being a camera fanatitic, I was impressed with the dual scene mode which when reading the reviews thought was just a one upmanship on the competitors. But when scenes change quickly I have my favorites pre-programed in and changing on the fly is a snap.
Its major disadvantage is the LCD sceen. Although easy to see during overcast and night, it fell short during bright sun, especially over your shoulder aiming at the screen. I still prefer a viewfinder. The trade off is the large LCD screen. Battery life was good using rechargable batteries and only requiring two (2) instaed of my Canons IS2 four(4)batteries.

The bottom line: Amazing image quality.

This is the best camera I have ever used for simple point and shoot image quality, and the image modes available as well, are excellent. Without an sort of manual adjustment, it takes incredibly good pictures, far better than Pentax or Canon cameras I have used. It was used to take pictures of my wedding, and the quality of the photos was flawless! It also takes excellent, in focus pictures in rapid fire mode.

I have not experienced the issues with auto-focus the other reviewer has mentioned, and at this point I have taken well over 1000 photos with the camera. The optical image stabilization feature is awesome, you can use the 6x optical zoom without fear because of the stabilization.

I will try to be breaf, leaving a short but useful feedback:

I purchased this item about 2 months ago and here are my PROS and CONS:

PROS:
* The quality of the pictures is amazing.
* Easy to use.
* Uses normal rechargeable AA batteries.
* Fast response
* Image stability control is AMAZING, even pictures taken from the car get perfect. I exauted tested this feature, and I am impressed.
* Battery lasts for a long time.
* Amazing video quality

CONS:
* It does not have an optical visor (only the LCD) - but I don't care.
* I have big hands, so the small buttons are not comfortable for me.
* There is no way to ADD the date/time on the image - you need to do that via software on the time you are printing. But the image stays without date. I like to put dates, so I can post the pictures on-line.
* The plastic seems to be fragil, you need to be careful (do not drop it).
* Not EDITING features on the camera, but that's fine - I think those kind of thing are supposed to be done on the PC anyway.
* When recording videos, sometimes I have problem with audio. not all the time.

I orginally bought a Canon A530 I heard alot of reviews of how Canon's have a good rep and they produce the brighest and clearest pics. With this Canon i was not at all happy with it the shutter button was hard to push down and the Macro mode for me did not produce clear shots. Needless, to say the Canon was sold only after 2 months of ownership it was NOT for me.

I did alot of research on camera's after that and tried to find one that was well rounded and one that could take good photo's in the dark. With the LZ5 i found that it does take very good photo's at night, the shutter button is easy to push down and to focus on your subject. The Camera hooks up directly to your computer with the USB cable and you can download your pics right away with no additional software needed like the Canon, i like that very much that way you can download to anyone's computer without having to drag the software disk with you! The pictures have been clear and precise and has made me very happy. The zoom is totally awesome - this is a great feature on the camera not to mention the anti-shake feature which is great for shaky hands. I took some close ups of my betta fish on the Macro mode which turned out great (just make sure you dont use flash). Ive only had this camera for almost a month and i have to say i have found my new camera for keeps! This is a great camera for the money and the features are very nice as well - :) Worth the money!!!

I really like this camera. I've had it a little over a month now, and have taken hundreds of pictures. Basically, the major negative in my mind is the lack of an optical viewfinder for use when it is really bright outside. However, the 6x zoom is wonderful, and the image stabilizer overcomes all other complaints. It is wonderful! I have had a couple of times where it struggled to auto-focus on a close-up (macro) subject, but not too bad. For the price I paid, I couldn't have done better.

My "other" camera is Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 with 12x optical. It's a full size camera and not always convenient to carry around. The quality of the photos, the 12x optical, and the feature rich menus are superb. So, when I went looking for that put-in-your-pocket or purse or hang-on-your-belt camera I looked at this newer and smaller version of the Lumix.

No major disappointments. I originally purchased the version one step down from this (the LZ3) and discovered that the video had no audio. That seems strange to me and I returned it and bought this one. While this isn't advertised as a video camera it does take some great video with sound. The video is in the Quicktime format and the file will be fairly large, depending on on long you "film." And to share the video on the Internet or in e-mail you'll need to convert the file to a smaller size and/or format. That's probably going to require another $30 or so to update your version of Quicktime to get the editing features, but I digress.

The photos this camera takes are superb. Excellent color and clarity and the 6x optical (ignore anything about "digital zoom" on any camera) is a vast improvement over the standard 3x found on many smaller cameras. If you love menus, here they are and you can manipulate your photo session in a number of ways. Play with the different settings for a variety of effects. If you like simple "point and shoot" and want to avoid menus, that's available as well. The lens quality of this camera contributes to the excellent quality of the photos. The lens cap snaps shut when the camera is turned off - a nice feature.

I was espcially impressed with the flash photography of this camera. Sufficient, well distributed light with a reasonably quick shutter speed for minimal or no blurring of your perhaps moving target. Still shots always turn out well with flash (nothing moving in the picture). I've had very good results up to 20 feet on the flash.

The Optical Image Stabilization, for those of us with the occasional badly timed hand movement, helps to ensure nearly all of your shots turn out well. Imagine a camera with "gyrosensors" that detect movement and then compensates. That's a nice feature for a camera at this price. There are also a few options for rapid fire photography so you can press the shutter button and fire away to catch an action sequence.

If you like close up photography the macro setting is easy to use and delivers perfect pictures. Don't get stung sneaking up on that bee on the flower - you'll be closer than you realize!

I've also had good results with the battery life to photos taken ratio. All the photos I take are at the full 6mb resolution and I can get a couple hundred photos on a pair of batteries. Obviously, use of the flash or video mode is going to affect this. (I use either the harder to find Oxyride non-rechargeable batteries or my favorite, the 2500 mAh rechargeable batteries. Energizer has a 15 minute charger for these.) Plain alkaline batteries go pretty quick. Be sure to set the battery type in the appropriate menu.

The 1gb SD memory card (not included) serves me well. The prices for these have come down considerably and I get 326 full resolution photos on each card. Add some short videos and the photo rate goes down of coure, but on an average vacation, I think the 1gb card will hold up. I do carry an extra one nonetheless. I haven't tried the 2gb SD card yet ... the reviews I read on these weren't favorable at the time.

I do have an issue with the absence of a viewfinder. The other cameras I've used over the years have always had that little viewfinder and I find I still take this camera and slam it into my forehead looking for that little image. The relatively large LCD image on this camera is excellent in normal to dim light, but in bright sunlight or in very dark conditions, I have no clue what I'm looking at and take a guess at the point and shoot. I found a high quality, small profile, spring loaded folding shade at Ritz camera that attaches to the LCD that helps some, but if the sun is over or behind you, that LCD image is hard to see and the image is difficult to frame. Practice with the point and shoot to see what you end up with on those hard to see shots. Unlike a film camera, if the picture doesn't turn out, delete it.

Bang for the Buck? Very good on this camera. It's even less now than when I originally bought it a few months back. Hate it when that happens. Lots of interesting features not mentioned here for you to explore. Enter the camera in an Internet search with the word "review" attached and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the favorable in-depth reviews of this camera.

I bought this camera 10 months ago from Amazon (the black version of it). It was my 4th digital in seven years, and definitely my favorite one. The size is just perfect to carry around, and the 6X optical zoom with image stabilization is hard to beat. At the time, I struggled between this model and the Canon counterpart, but at the end, I was really happy with my decision. I actually stopped using my video camera, storing movies in my 4 2GB SD cards.

One week ago, the flash stopped working. I thought to myself "no problem, the one year warranty will cover it". Well, guess what, the warranty only covers parts, and the labor flat-fee from Panasonic is $170.00 USD. I can buy a new one on Amazon for less than that! I wrote to Panasonic, but didn't get a satisfactory response from them.

I am switching now to the Canon Powershot A570 IS, which supports image stabilization, and 7 Megapixel pictures. Their warranty covers EVERYTHING for one whole year, so at least I feel safer buying their product. The price is a little bit higher than this model, but totally worth it.

Something to keep in mind if you are considering to buy this model.

The only reason it did not get 5 stars is low light performance(which you can overcome by setting the camera manually). I have purchased 4 other digital cameras. first was Fuji 1400Z (1.3), Olympus C-1(1.3), Fuji 2800Z(2.8), Canon A70(3.2), and a Nikon L4(4.0).

One thing that amazes me is the sales pitch that you need all of those pixels. It is possible to get a good 8 X 10 print with a 1.3 megapixel camera. Seems as though the camera experts want to fill up your hard drive with those enormous size photo files. BTW, The NASA Mars Rover uses only 1.3 MP.

Now for the camera. It is better than ANY camera you can buy, if the other camera doesn't have the image stabilizer. The stabilizer works in the video mode also. The video alone on this camera, VGA at 30fps, with the stabilizer,is worth the price. My only complaint, is the video output. It is in Quicktime, insteat of AVI or MPEG. I know you Apple Freaks love it, But most of us use Windows PCs. To use Windows Movie Maker, you will need conversion software, of which there are a few good ones, on line, for free.
My wife, who hates hi-tech, gets excellent results in simple mode. If you put the picture mode setting on 4 X 6(in simple mode), you get 1365 pictures on a 1GB SD card. A plus is AA batteries, which you can buy anywhere(get some rechareables). Video, with 1GB card, about 12 minutes very high quality(VGA@30fps), 31 minutes good quality(VGA@10fps), and 35 minutes of better than TV quality(QVGA@30fps).
For low light, My 4-year old Canon A70 is better. I miss the optical viewfinder. That is the only reason it did not get 5 stars.

I cannot stress enough the importance of the image stabilizer, especially with the zoom, which can be as much as 8.3X optical(with digital total is 33X!) No more blurry photos, even without flash. There are 2 settings for the image stabilizer.

This camera is an awesome buy. You get a lot of bang for your money. The best feature of this camera is that you are able to capture video with sound at a great resolution. This camera is definitely worth your money. The 6MP is more than enough for daily home pictures and the zoom is more than plenty.