Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 > Reviews (15)

Panasonic is not a brand normally associated with digital photography. I have lots of time for their televisions and telephones but of the few digital cameras I have seen they tend to be from the lower end of the market in terms of picture quality and colour reproduction, in my opinion the 2 crucial features of a camera.

I will be basing my experience on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18digital camera that we have had in store now for 4 days (it was released onto the market 20th September 2007) and which has proved to be something of a lemon in sales terms as we have only managed to flog one in that time despite being extremely competitively priced. Normally when a new camera is released we sell or have pre-ordered on our books at least 10-15. Needless to say we won't be ordering any more of these cameras in but I think it has had a bit of bad press and as far as the competition goes yes it may not be the best out there but for the price you can do a lot worse. If anything has killed this type of camera it is the pricetag. When you can pick up a perfectly reasonable digital camera for £50 and a semi-professional model for around £150 why on earth would you spend more for something just over average?

Cost & Availability:

A brand new Lumix DMC-FZ18 will cost in the region of £250-£375 and most good camera stores will stock at least one. As with most things these days online is the place where bargains are to be found but you are still looking at a minimum of £250.

What you get for your money:

A standard package will contain the camera, the battery, a USB cable, camera software and the detachable flash.

The software loads really quickly and has the usual onscreen prompts to assist along the way. Unlike the Sony software that usually corrupts other digital camera programs the Panasonic software does not and doesn't slow computer speed down one jot.

There is the red eye removal that comes with most camera software but also a distortion piece, the option to smear sections of photographs and a blurring for backgrounds to bring out objects the foreground making that little bit crisper and clearer without having to go out and take an other shot. This distortion is now pretty standard across most mid-ranged digital cameras but the Panasonic allows for greater precision.

Size, look and feel:

Weighing over 400g with the battery the Lumix is deceptive as it looks like a pretty chunky piece of kit. Nothing about the build can be faulted as the casing is thick and despite a few knocks here and there doesn't mark easily. I would class it as a large camera being 11.76cm across, 7.53cm high and 8.83cm deep.

I have attached a picture of the camera we have in stock for reference as Ciao do not seem to have one of the older models on display that gives me of a look of an SLR rather than the digital model. The tell tale giveaway is the rear of the camera where the 2.5 inch LCD monitor which acts as a viewfinder but also reproduces pictures once they have been taken.

Technical Stuff:

-8.

1 Megapixel
-18x Optical Zoom
-MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer
-Intelligent Auto
-2.5 Inch LCD

My thoughts:

The software is fantastic and actually using the camera is a breeze with every setting (dark light, flash, saving pictures) all done automatically. The colour reproduction is excellent and the zoom is also just spot on for this type of camera. The best feature of the camera is the image stabiliser which makes the camera foolproof. You can't help but take great pictures with it. You can jerk the camera around but will not experience any kind of blur and equally moving objects are captured immediately without any form of delay associated with cameras like the EasyShare or PowerShot.

I personally like the camera but with it still being priced over £250 I cannot recommend it as a sound purchase. If you can pick it up in a few months for between £125-£175 then by all means do and you won't regret your purchase but at the moment it is overpriced in a highly competitive marketplace.