Use your browser's "Back" button to return to the previous page, or the links at the top and bottom of this page to navigate to related information. If you have difficulty fitting the text on this page onto your printer output, simply resize your browser window to a narrower width and print again.

Dave here: Have our reviews been helpful to you? (Is this article you're reading right now useful?) Preparing this level of information on as many products as we do is incredibly hard work, not to mention expensive. Things on the Internet may look like they're free, but they're not. (As a lot of big dot.com companies are finding out these days.) Somewhere, somebody has to pay to produce worthwhile content. YOU can help us though, by remembering us when it comes time to make your purchase. Would you consider coming back to our site and clicking-through to one of our advertisers to make your purchase? Every dollar you spend with one of our advertisers helps us directly (in affiliate fees) or indirectly (the advertiser will keep renewing their ad contract with us). To make it easy for you to support us, here's a URL you can visit, to see all our current advertisers, with links to click on that will register your visit to them as having come from our site. It's up to you where you buy, but Mike, Mike, Kim, Yazmin, Marti and I would be really grateful if you'd help us out by choosing one of our advertisers to purchase from.

Back to Full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Review
Go to Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Data Sheet
Go to Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Pictures Page
Up to Imaging Resource Cameras Page

	*	5.0-Megapixel CCD delivers 2,560 x 1,920-pixel images
	*	12x optical zoom lens covers 36-432mm equivalent range
	*	Full range of manual and automatic exposure options, with nine preset shooting modes
	*	Styled like a traditional 35mm SLR

Introduction - The Panasonic FZ5

Panasonic is a company that started a little slow in the digital camera market, but have really come on strong in the last year or two. The five megapixel Panasonic FZ5 is largely based on the three megapixel FZ3 model we reviewed in 2004, which at the time was one of the best deals on the market for a camera with anti-shake technology in the long-zoom category. Relative to the FZ3, the Panasonic FZ5 increases image resolution, swaps in a larger, higher resolution LCD display, adds a new orientation sensor, and slightly refines the body design. Like its predecessor, the Panasonic Lumix FZ5 offers a 12x Leica zoom lens, incorporating Panasonic's own "Mega OIS" Optical Image Stabilization technology. As I've said about other cameras offering image stabilization, it's hard to overstate the benefit of this technology on long-zoom digicams: It makes an incredible difference in the usability of long telephoto focal lengths, and the Panasonic FZ5's 12x lens with Mega OIS is no exception. The long-zoom category is becoming increasingly crowded, but the Panasonic FZ5 has the features and image quality to compete strongly there. Read on for all the details, but if you're in the market for a relatively affordable long-zoom digicam with optical image stabilization, the Panasonic Lumix FZ5 could be the camera for you.

Panasonic FZ5 High Points

• 5.0-megapixel CCD delivering up to 2,560 x 1,920-pixel resolution images.
• Electronic optical viewfinder.
• 1.8-inch, color LCD monitor.
• 12x Leica zoom lens, 6-72mm (equivalent to a 36-432mm lens on a 35mm camera) with auto focus only and a nine-point focus area.
• As much as 4x digital telephoto.
• Program AE, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, and Manual exposure modes, as well as nine preset "Scene" exposure modes.
• Manually adjustable aperture settings from f/2.8 to f/8.0, depending on zoom setting.
• Manually adjustable shutter speed settings from 1/2000 to 8 seconds. (1/1300 and above only at smaller lens apertures)
• ISO sensitivity equivalents: Auto, 80, 100, 200, and 400.
• Three metering modes: Multiple, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering.
• White balance setting with six modes, including a manual setting.
• Built-in pop-up flash with six operating modes and flash exposure compensation.
• JPEG and TIFF still image file formats, movies saved as Motion JPEGs.
• Images saved to SD/MMC memory cards, 16 MB card included.
• Movie mode with sound.
• Flip Animation mode, plus three Burst continuous shooting modes and Auto Exposure Bracketing.
• Color Effects option, plus sharpness adjustment with three settings.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.
• USB cable for high-speed connection to a computer.
• Lens hood and hood adapter included.
• ArcSoft PhotoImpression, Panorama Maker, and PhotoBase software on accompanying CD ( for both Mac and Windows)
• Powered by Panasonic rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, with optional AC adapter.

With the confident looks of a traditional 35mm SLR, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 offers both style and substance, with an impressive Leica 12x optical zoom lens that lends a professional air. Measuring 4.3 x 2.7 x 3.3 inches (108 x 68 x 85 millimeters), the Panasonic Lumix FZ5 weighs approximately 11.4 ounces (324 grams) with the battery and storage card installed. The DMC-FZ5's all-plastic, matte-black body helps keep the camera's weight down, somewhat compensating for the heft of the rather large lens, but does tend to give the initial reaction that it feels somewhat "cheap". This is rather a difficult thing to explain, since there's no real creak or flex to any of the body panels, but was definitely a common thread from several people who had occasion to handle the camera during the review process. While it definitely won't fit into your shirt pocket, an accompanying neck strap makes it easy to tote, but I'd also recommend picking up at least a small camera bag to protect that Leica lens.

The front of the camera includes a telescoping 12x Leica zoom lens, optical viewfinder window, and a bright orange LED light emitter that serves double duty as the autofocus assist and the self-timer countdown indicator. There are also two small holes next to the light emitter that serve as a grille for the built-in microphone. The built-in, pop-up flash is just above the large lens, and is mechanically released by a button on the rear panel. A modest-sized handgrip on the right side is covered by a redesigned rubbery, textured wrap that clings to fingers. With my rather large hands, the handgrip felt a little small, but my middle finger tended to wrap around the provided indent on the grip and then run vertically down the inside edge of the grip, providing a fairly secure hold.

The right side of the camera (as viewed from the back) features only an eyelet for one end of the neck strap. The rubber textured wrap from the front of the camera follows around to this side of the camera, and extends much farther back than it did on the FZ3.

The opposite side of the camera features the other neck strap eyelet, as well as the diopter adjustment dial on the side of the optical viewfinder. Also on this side of the camera, beneath a hinged, plastic door, is the connector compartment, which houses the Video/Digital Out and DC In connector terminals. The compartment door opens from the rear panel, and features a pressure hinge that snaps it securely in place when opened or closed.

The Panasonic FZ5's top panel features a Mode dial on the right, along with the Shutter button, Zoom lever, Optical Image Stabilizer button, and Burst Mode button. The Shutter button and Zoom lever have been moved closer to the front of the camera, and are much easier to reach. Also on the top panel is the pop-up flash (mechanically released by a button on the rear panel).

The majority of the exposure controls are located on the camera's rear panel, along with the electronic optical viewfinder (EVF) and LCD monitor. Lining the top of the panel are the EVF / LCD, Display, Exposure, and Power controls, with the Flash Open button just above them. The Menu and Focus/Delete buttons line up with the top and bottom right corners of the LCD monitor respectively, with a Four-Way Multicontroller at center. True to its name, the Multicontroller accesses a variety of camera settings and features four arrows for navigating through camera menus and reviewing images. A small speaker rests in the lower right corner of the rear panel, and a textured thumb grip reinforces the modest handgrip on the camera's right side. The only really significant changes from the FZ3 on this panel are the larger LCD display, and a small ridge on the Exposure button that helps differentiate it from the other buttons without your having to remove your eye from the electronic viewfinder.

The DMC-FZ5's bottom panel is reasonably flat, with a sliding door to access the combined SD/MMC and battery compartment, and a threaded metal tripod mount on its right. The metal tripod mount is positioned off-center from the lens, and is too close to the compartment for quick battery and memory card changes (something I'm probably more sensitive to than most users, given the amount of on-tripod shooting I do).

The DMC-FZ5 features both an eye-level electronic optical viewfinder (EVF) and a 1.8-inch LCD monitor on the back panel for image composition. The EVF is essentially a miniaturized version of the larger LCD monitor, complete with all of the image and information displays. A button on the rear panel switches the view between the two monitors. A dioptric adjustment tucked on the left side of the eyepiece adapts the viewfinder optics to your vision, with a diopter range from -4 to +4 (an unusually wide range). The eyepiece has a high "eyepoint," making it well-suited to eyeglass wearers. I could just about see the full frame without touching my eyeglass lenses to the viewfinder eyepiece. Even better, the FZ5's dioptric adjustment more than accommodated my uncorrected 20/180 vision, something few cameras can do.

The 1.8-inch, low-temperature, polycrystalline, TFT, color LCD monitor has a 130,000-pixel display that's bright and clear. (LCD brightness can be adjusted in seven steps via the Setup menu.) The Display button controls the image and information displays, accessing five display modes in Record mode, and three modes in Review mode. The main display shows the image area, center AF brackets, camera modes and settings, battery level, image resolution and quality, and the remaining image capacity of the memory card. Pressing the Display button enables the same display but with the addition of a small histogram. A third press enables the "Out of Frame" display, which puts the image area into the top left corner, and displays the camera stats in the right and bottom borders (useful if you're having trouble framing with the information overlay, but still need to refer to it). The remaining two displays are a framing guideline (which divides the image area into thirds horizontally and vertically) - useful both for ensuring a level horizon, and placing objects in the relevant areas of your photograph to follow the "rule of thirds" - and the image by itself (with just the central AF brackets). You can also cancel the LCD monitor display (though the EVF remains active unless switched to the LCD monitor).

By default, the LCD screen displays basic information about the captured images, including the file name, date and time it was recorded, compression, resolution, what number it is in the sequence of images stored on the memory card, and the battery level. Depressing the Display button once brings up a more detailed information such as the shooting mode, aperture, f/stop, exposure compensation, and metering mode. In addition, the screen shows a small histogram to indicate the distribution of tonal values. If activated through the Setup menu, the Highlight Display will blink any blown-out highlights in the image from white to black and back again, letting you see exactly where detail has been lost. (Note that the blinking highlight display is only available in Review mode, accessed via the four-way controller, not in normal Playback mode.) A third display mode shows only the image, without any information.

Free Photo Lessons

Learn how to use lens aperture to control depth of field - Visit our free Photo Lessons area!

The Panasonic Lumix FZ5 boasts a high quality 12x, 6-72mm telescoping Leica zoom lens (equivalent to a 36-432mm lens on a 35mm camera). A removable, plastic lens cap protects the lens surface, and a small eyelet hole in its edge lets you tether it to the camera body to prevent it from being lost. Lens caps are always a nuisance to keep track of, so tethering it to the camera is a good idea. When the camera is powered on, the lens telescopes out from the camera body into its operating position, projecting an additional three-quarters of an inch from the camera body. It retracts again when the camera is shut off. Panasonic includes a lens hood with the DMC-FZ5, and a hood adapter for attaching auxiliary lenses. Focus is always under automatic control by the camera (that is, there's no manual focus mode), with a range of 0.98 feet (30 centimeters) to infinity in normal mode. Macro mode lets you focus as close as two inches (5 centimeters) in wide-angle mode and 3.94 feet (120 centimeters) in telephoto mode. The lens aperture adjusts automatically or manually, and the maximum aperture varies with lens zoom, with a range of f/2.8 at the wide position to f/3.3 at the telephoto position. The minimum aperture is f/8.0, regardless of lens zoom position. (This is a departure from the FZ3, which had a constant-aperture f/2.8 lens.)

The Panasonic DMC-FZ5 offers nine active autofocus (AF) areas, but you can also limit the active area to three or one AF points through the Record menu. In nine-area mode, the nine AF points are arrayed in a 3x3 pattern in the center of the frame. The camera automatically sets the focus based on the part of the subject closest to one or more of the AF areas, and highlights each area that it's using in the display with a white box. Thus, you can photograph off-center subjects without having to lock the focus and then reposition the camera. In three-area mode, the three AF points stretch across the center of the frame, and the camera again bases focus on the portion of the subject closest to any of the points. One-area mode bases focus on a large area in the center of the frame. There's also a Spot AF mode, which employs a smaller central focus area. A Continuous AF mode is available through the Record menu, which continuously adjusts the focus for moving subjects, but only works with the single area AF modes. New to the FZ5 is high-speed focusing, available only for the 3-area or single-area AF modes. This prioritizes focusing speed over viewfinder refresh, resulting in a brief pause in the viewfinder or LCD image - but definitely improving autofocus lag significantly. (It's worth noting that the FZ5's autofocus speed is much improved over that of the FZ3, even when the 9-area AF mode is in use.)

If dim subject lighting requires it, a bright orange LED autofocus assist light on the front of the camera automatically illuminates whenever autofocus is active. (The AF-assist light can be turned off via a menu option.) The AF assist beam is rated as effective to about 4.92 feet (1.5 meters). Even without the AF assist light in play, the Panasonic FZ5 focuses better in low light than most cameras, as it can achieve focus down to a light level of roughly 1/6 foot-candle, about one-sixth the brightness of a typical city street scene at night. With the AF assist beam enabled, it can focus in total darkness, so long as your subject is within the range of the beam.

Because of the DMC-FZ5's long lens, Panasonic included Image Stabilization technology to reduce blurring from camera movement, which is more noticeable at the full telephoto setting. You can turn Image Stabilization off courtesy of a button on the camera's top panel, or set it to Mode 1 or 2. In Mode 1, stabilization operates continuously, while Mode 2 keeps it in standby, activating it only when the shutter is released. (Based on Panasonic's recommendations and my own testing of the earlier FZ3 model, I suggest using the Mode 2 stabilization most of the time, as it makes the best use of the relatively limited excursion of the Mega OIS floating optical elements.) I don't have any way of quantitatively evaluating the effectiveness of anti-shake technology, but that in the FZ5 seems to work reasonably well. As I've said before, I feel that optical stabilization is an almost essential feature in a long-zoom digicam like the FZ5, and its system works well enough to make the long lens far more usable than it would be otherwise. An in-depth look at the image stabilization of the previous DMC-FZ3 model compared to that of the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z3 can be found in our DMC-FZ3 review; the feature should be very similar to that in the FZ5.

The DMC-FZ5's 4x Digital Zoom can be enabled through the Record menu, and is activated whenever you zoom past the maximum optical telephoto range with the Zoom lever. I always warn readers that digital zoom only enlarges the center portion of the CCD image, and compromises the image quality by reducing resolution and enlarging noise patterns.

True to its Leica heritage, the lens on the FZ5 appears to be of high quality, offering better corner to corner sharpness at most focal lengths than I'm accustomed to seeing in digicam lenses, particularly those with long zoom ratios. (Its images get a little soft in the corners at the telephoto end of its range, but to a lesser extent than I've seen with many long-zoom lenses.) Barrel distortion is about average at maximum wide angle (at 0.8%), and pincushion distortion at telephoto focal lengths is low (0.2%). Chromatic aberration is also quite low at wide angle lens settings, rising to an average level at telephoto.

Free Photo Lessons

Learn about white balance and simple lighting techniques for dramatic shots in out free Photo Lessons area!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 offers excellent exposure control, with Program AE (P), Shutter Speed Priority AE (S), Aperture Priority AE (A), Manual (M) exposure modes, and a handful of special settings for specific shooting situations. The Program AE mode controls shutter speed and aperture settings, but also provides access to other exposure controls including Exposure Compensation, Flash Exposure Compensation, Spot Metering, ISO adjustment, AE lock, Auto Exposure Bracketing, White Balance, Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation, among others. Halfway pressing the Shutter button displays the selected aperture and shutter speed settings. Unfortunately, the Program Shift function of the FZ3 has been removed, as noted elsewhere in this review.

Shutter Priority mode puts you in control of the shutter speed setting (from 1/2,000 to eight seconds), while the camera chooses a corresponding lens aperture. As with the Program AE mode, you maintain control over all other exposure options. Aperture Priority works along similar lines, except that you control the aperture (f/2.8 to f/8.0) and the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. Both the shutter speed and aperture values are displayed on the LCD monitor. If the camera can't find an aperture or shutter speed to produce the correct exposure with the shutter speed or aperture you've selected, the LCD indicators will turn red, letting you know that you need to change the setting you selected.

Important note: In common with many other consumer-level digital cameras, the Panasonic FZ5's maximum shutter speed depends on the shutter speed selected. At apertures larger than f/4.0, the maximum shutter speed is 1/1000. From f/4.0 - f/5/0, the maximum is 1/1300, from f/5.6 to f/7.1 it's 1/1600, the highest speed of 1/2000 only being available at f/8.0.

Full Manual exposure mode lets you control both shutter speed and lens aperture independently. Pressing the Exposure button switches the four-way rocker control arrow keys from their normal functions to control aperture (the up/down arrows) and shutter speed (the left/right arrows). A nice touch is that half-pressing the shutter button calls up an exposure-meter display on the LCD screen, showing the currently selected exposure level, across a range of +/- 2 EV. The exposure-meter display disappears after a few seconds of inactivity, or you can use the Display button to select a display mode without the on-screen information overlay.

A number of preset "scene" exposure modes are also available for shooting under special conditions, and include Portrait, Sports, Scenery, Night Scenery, Night Portrait, Panning, Fireworks, Party, and Snow modes. These modes preset a variety of camera options, helping novice photographers capture good-looking pictures in challenging situations without requiring a full knowledge of the camera. The Scene modes are accessed through the "SCN" option on the Mode Dial. Through the Setup menu, you can set the camera to automatically display the Scene menu when entering this mode, or set it so that the previously selected scene mode is enabled whenever switching to Scene mode.

Portrait mode enhances flesh tones and uses a large aperture setting to reduce depth of field, resulting in blurred backgrounds and strong focal emphasis on the primary subject. Sports mode instead utilizes fast shutter speeds and wider apertures, in effect "freezing" fast-paced action. Scenery mode is for capturing wide landscapes, and locks focus at infinity.

Night Scenery mode uses a slow shutter speed to capture the color and detail of evening settings without using the flash. Because of the slow exposure, a tripod is recommended. Night Portrait mode works in the same manner, but utilizes the flash to illuminate the primary subject in the foreground. By using a slow shutter speed and the flash together, the overall scene is more evenly exposed. (The flash mode is fixed at Slow-Sync with Red-Eye Reduction. Portrait subjects should be warned to stay still after the flash, until the shutter is closed.)

Panning mode is useful for following a moving subject, such as a person on a bicycle or in a slow-moving vehicle, so that the subject stays in focus while the background becomes a blur. When shooting in Panning mode, hold down the Shutter button while moving the camera to follow the subject. (Just make sure that the subject is moving at a speed you can easily follow without blurring.) Fireworks mode preserves the color and pattern of fireworks by using a slow shutter speed to capture the full effect (a tripod is recommended). Party mode is best for taking pictures under dim indoor lighting with a flash. You can select between Forced Red-Eye Reduction and Slow-Sync Red-Eye Reduction modes, and a tripod is recommended. Finally, Snow mode captures good exposures in bright, snowy conditions, and adjusts the white balance and exposure to ensure the bright snow doesn't trick the camera into underexposure or color casts.

Exposure compensation can be adjusted from –2 to +2 exposure values (EV), in one-third-step increments. The camera's metering system offers three operating modes, which include Multiple, Center-Weighted, and Spot, selectable through the Record menu. Multiple metering measures brightness throughout the entire frame, and determines the best overall exposure. Center-weighted averaging is based on an averaged light reading of the overall scene, but places more emphasis on the center of the viewfinder or LCD monitor. Spot metering reads only a specific point in the viewfinder. You can lock the exposure (and focus) by halfway pressing and holding the Shutter button, and then reframing the subject.

The DMC-FZ5 offers six White Balance modes, including Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Incandescent, Flash, and White Set (manual). The White Set mode allows you to manually set the white balance by holding a white card in front of the camera to set the value in the setup mode. You can fine-tune the camera's white balance by adding more red or blue to the color balance in all of the modes except Auto, Simple, and Scene, using the WB Adjust feature (accessed by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until WB Adjust appears on the LCD monitor).

ISO film speed equivalents on the DMC-FZ5 are set in the Record menu, with choices of Auto, 80, 100, 200, and 400. The higher the ISO setting, the more you can extend the camera's exposure range in low-light situations. Just keep in mind that higher ISO values have progressively lower quality levels, with increased image noise. On that note, the DMC-FZ5 does feature long-exposure Noise Reduction, which uses dark frame subtraction to reduce the amount of image noise in longer exposures. What this means is that after the initial exposure, the camera takes a second exposure with the shutter closed, and compares the two images to subtract the noise pixels from the main image.

The DMC-FZ5 also offers a Color Effect setting with Cool, Warm, Black and White, and Sepia color options. A Picture Adjustment menu option features an additional adjustment tool, with options somewhat deceptively labeled as "Natural," "Standard," and "Vivid." On the FZ5, these options are a little confusing, in that they affect the amount of in-camera sharpening applied to the Z5's images, as well as the color saturation. - I'd much prefer to see a separate menu option for controlling in-camera sharpening independently.

Auto Exposure Bracketing
The Auto Exposure Bracketing mode is accessed by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until "Auto Bracket" appears on the LCD monitor. It automatically captures a series of three images, each at a different exposure setting. You can manually set the exposure variation between shots in one-third-step increments, up to as much as +/- 1 EV. The camera makes all three exposures in rapid succession with just one press of the Shutter button. Unfortunately, just as in the FZ3, this function cannot be used with flash photography. If the flash fires, only one image will be recorded. (The likely reason for this is that the onboard flash recharges too slowly to be usable in a multiple-exposure application like this.)

Burst Shooting
The DMC-FZ5 has three Burst shooting modes, which are accessed by pressing the Burst button on the top panel. Low Speed mode captures a maximum of 4 consecutive frames at a bit over two frames per second, while High Speed mode captures a maximum of 4 images at 3.0 frames per second, as long as you hold down the shutter release. (Burst length will depend on the subject you're shooting, and how well the resulting images compress. In my testing, using a standard noise pattern for worst-case compressibility, I found a maximum burst length of four frames.) There's also an Infinity mode, which limits the number of images only by memory card capacity, and shoots at just over two frames per second. (Interestingly, I found that the frame rate in "Infinity" mode was actually almost exactly the same as "Low Speed" mode, leading me to wonder why one would ever care to use Low Speed mode, although there may be differences between the two with a slow memory card.) The number of images and actual shot-to-shot speed depend on several factors, including the amount of memory remaining on the flash card and the size/quality of the images being acquired. It's important to note that the shooting speeds mentioned here are based on measurements made with a Lexar 32x SD card: Slower memory cards may introduce limitations on maximum run length, particularly in the "Infinity" mode.

Movie Mode
The DMC-FZ5 also offers a Movie mode, which is accessed by turning the Mode dial on top of the camera to the miniature film frame symbol. The Motion JPEG files are recorded at 320 x 240 pixels, at either 30 or 10 frames per second. Recording times are limited by frame rate and memory card capacity. Recording stops and starts with a full press of the shutter button, and the amount of available recording time appears in the upper right corner of the LCD monitor. While the lens can be zoomed before and after movie recording, it cannot be activated during the recording process itself, and the camera's exposure is also set and fixed at the beginning of the recording interval. Unlike many cameras which take advantage of the vastly lower resolution of the movie as compared to the imager, and replace the optical zoom with a digital zoom that crops the center from the image to effectively "zoom" the movie, the FZ5 also disables digital zoom in movie mode. Movies are recorded with sound. As with its "INF" continuous shooting mode, the FZ5's Movie mode appears capable of recording movies continuously to the limit of card capacity, provided you use a fast enough memory card.

Flip Animation Mode
This mode, enabled through the Record menu, lets you connect a string of images together to make a 20-second movie that resembles a flip animation. You can record as many as 100 consecutive images to create the animation. To capture the series, select "Image Capture" under the Flip Animation menu option, then snap away. During capture, you're told how many images you've captured, and how many remain. You can also switch to review mode to browse and delete images you've captured. Once you've captured all of the files you need, select "Create Motion Image" and select the frame rate (either five or ten frames per second) to string the images together into a motion file. Once the animation has been created, you can opt to delete the still images to save memory space. (This can be a fun mode. Sony had a Flip Animation option on their cameras a couple of years back, but that feature was limited to a much shorter sequence of images.)

Self-Timer Mode
The Self-Timer is set by pressing the left arrow key on the Multicontroller, and offers a choice between a two- or 10-second countdown. When set to Self-Timer, the camera displays the standard self-timer icon (a clock counting down) in the LCD display, and depressing the Shutter button activates the countdown, during which a lamp on the camera's front panel blinks. The two-second option is very handy when you're shooting long exposures with the camera on a tripod, and want to avoid jiggling the camera and blurring the shot when you press the Shutter button with your finger. The two-second countdown is enough time for any vibrations to die down before the shutter opens, but not so long as to seriously slow your shooting. - I also find myself using a short self-timer for shots in low light or macro situations, where I just prop the camera on a convenient rock, fence post, or water glass (at a restaurant, for example) to avoid hand-held jiggles. Very convenient, when you don't happen to have a tripod along.

Flash

The Panasonic Lumix FZ5's built-in, pop-up flash operates in one of six modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction (Auto), Forced, Red-Eye Reduction (Forced), Slow-Sync (with Red-Eye Reduction), and Flash Off. The Auto mode tells the camera to determine when flash is necessary, based on existing exposure conditions. Forced means that the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of lighting conditions, and Flash Off completely disables the flash. The three Red-Eye Reduction modes fire a small pre-flash one second before the full flash, to reduce the redeye effect in portraits. Slow-Sync mode combines the flash with a slower shutter speed, letting more of the ambient light fall on the camera's sensor, brightening background objects.

The flash exposure can be adjusted from -2 to +2 EV in one-third-step increments by pressing the up arrow of the Multicontroller until the Flash Exposure Compensation adjustment appears. Panasonic rates the DMC-FZ5's flash as effective from 0.98 to 14.8 feet (30 centimeters to 4.5 meters) depending on the zoom setting and ISO. In my own tests, light from the camera's flash started to fall off at about 10 feet at ISO 80, with the lens towards the telephoto end of its range. This is about average among the consumer-level digital cameras I test, but a bit of a step down from the performance of the FZ3 in this area. Given the extent of its other "enthusiast" features, I was a little surprised to not see a sync connector on the FZ5, for use with an external flash unit. - For that capability, you'll have to go to the higher-end (and higher resolution) FZ20 model, which sports a hot shoe.

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5:

The Lumix DMC-FZ5's user interface is straightforward and should present a relatively short learning curve if you read through the included manual. (Although there are a lot of features here, so I'd imagine that novice users could easily spend a couple of hours learning them all. Experienced digicam users should be able to come up to speed on the major functions in under an hour though.) I generally prefer to see external access to as many exposure controls as possible, and the DMC-FZ5 does provide a fair amount of control without resorting to the LCD menu system. The camera's Multicontroller controls a wide variety of functions independently of the LCD menu, though the menu itself is quite straightforward. As noted earlier, I also found the FZ5's menu system unusually fast to navigate.

Shutter Button: Located on the right side of the camera's top panel and surrounded by the Zoom lever, the Shutter button sets focus and exposure when halfway pressed, and when fully depressed, it trips the shutter release. In Self-Timer mode, fully depressing the Shutter button triggers a two- or 10-second countdown before the shutter is released.

Zoom Lever (see image above): Surrounding the Shutter button, this lever controls the optical and digital zoom in any Record mode.

In Review mode, pushing the lever toward the "W" end activates a nine-image index display mode. Pushing the lever to the "T" end digitally enlarges a captured image as much as 16x. When playback zoom is active, pushing the lever back toward the "W" zooms back out.

Mode Dial: To the left of the Shutter button, this notched dial is used to select the camera's shooting modes as follows:

• Program AE (P): Places the camera in control of shutter speed and lens aperture, while you maintain control over everything else (i.e., white balance, ISO, metering, exposure compensation, flash, etc.).
• Aperture Priority (A): Allows you to set the lens aperture from f/2.8 to f/8.0 (depending on the zoom setting), while the camera controls the shutter speed. In this mode, you maintain control over all other exposure variables.
• Shutter Speed Priority (S): Allows you to control the shutter speed settings from 1/2,000 to eight seconds, while the camera controls the aperture. All other exposure settings are available. (As mentioned earlier, note that shutter speeds above 1/1,000 second are only available when smaller lens apertures are selected.)
• Manual (M): Provides complete control over all exposure settings, including shutter speed and lens aperture.
• Macro: Places the camera into Macro mode, letting you focus on smaller objects at a closer range.
• Movie: Records moving images with sound, at either 30 or 10 frames per second. Recording times are limited by memory card capacity and frame rate.
• SCN: Accesses one of nine preset scene modes. (Through the setup menu, you can opt for the last used scene mode to be automatically selected when entering this mode, or you can set the camera to automatically present you with a menu listing all available modes when scene mode is entered.)
• Simple Mode: This would be the "green" or "Auto" mode on other cameras, Panasonic calls it the "Simple" mode. In this mode, most user options are removed, allowing control only over image resolution (with options of "Enlarge," "4x6," or "E-Mail), Auto Review mode (on/off), Beep (off/low/high), and Clock Set. Continuous-mode options are reduced to a single choice, and instead of exposure compensation adjustments, the up arrow on the four-way controller simply toggles a Backlight option. Flash options are reduced to just Off (flash head stowed), Auto, and Auto with Red-Eye Reduction. The self-timer function is available as normal, but the image stabilizer is not.
• Playback: Lets you review captured images and movie files.

Optical Image Stabilizer Button: Directly behind the Shutter button / Zoom lever combo on the top panel, this button accesses the camera's image stabilizer function, which attempts to reduce image blurring caused by camera shake. The stabilizer can be disabled altogether, or can be set to Modes 1 or 2. In Mode 1 the stabilizer functions continuously whenever the shutter button is half-pressed. Mode 2 operates the stabilizer only during the actual image capture, which conserves power and potentially provides a slightly better chance of capturing a blur-free image (when in Mode 1, the stabilizer may already have used much of its available range to correct shake that occurred before the shutter was released, and hence may not have as much latitude to correct the shake during the actual exposure).

Burst Mode Button: Directly behind the Optical Image Stabilizer button, this button accesses the three Burst modes (High, Low, or Infinity), or returns to the single-shot mode.

Flash Release Button: Located on the rear panel, just below the pop-up flash compartment, this spring-loaded button mechanically releases the pop-up flash from its closed position.

Diopter Adjustment Dial: Hidden away on the left side of the optical viewfinder eyepiece, this dial corrects the viewfinder optics for eyeglass wearers, with a range from +4 to -4. (An unusually wide range.)

EVF/LCD Button: The first button in a series lining the top of the rear panel, this button switches the viewfinder display between the EVF and LCD monitors.

Display Button: To the right of the EVF/LCD button, this button controls the image and information displays in Record and Playback modes. In Record mode, pressing the button cycles between the five display modes, which include the image with information, image with information and live histogram, "Out of Frame" display, alignment grid, and image with no information modes.

In Playback mode, pressing the button cycles between the image with information, expanded information and histogram, and no information displays.

Exposure Button: On the right side of the Display button, this button lets you shift the exposure in Program AE mode. In Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual exposure modes, pressing this button lets you adjust the aperture and/or shutter speed by pressing the button and then using the arrow keys to adjust the selected variable. (As noted in my User Notes above, I felt that this setup was a little awkward to use.) The Program Shift function that let you bias Program-mode exposures towards a faster shutter speed or smaller aperture (as found in the DMC-FZ3 camera) has been removed, which is rather a shame.

Power Switch: To the right of the Exposure button, this sliding switch turns the camera on or off. Powering the camera on with the Mode dial set to a record mode triggers the lens to extend. (Likewise, turning the camera off causes the lens to retract.)

Menu Button: Next to the upper right corner of the LCD monitor is the Menu button, which calls up the settings menus on the LCD display in all camera modes. A second press of the Menu button cancels the menu display.

Four-Way Multicontroller: Located directly to the right of the LCD, the Multicontroller is a four way rocker disk that accesses a variety of camera settings. The arrow keys navigate through menu options and adjust camera settings. In most record modes, the up arrow accesses the Exposure Compensation, Auto Exposure Bracketing, Flash Exposure Compensation, and White Balance Adjustment tools. The right arrow cycles through the available flash modes, while the left arrow cycles through the Self-Timer modes. The down arrow activates a quick review of the most recently captured image.

In Playback mode, the right and left arrow keys navigate through captured images and movie files. When an image has been digitally enlarged, the four arrow keys pan around within the image.

Delete Button: Adjacent to the lower right corner of the LCD monitor, this button pulls up the delete menu in Playback and Review modes. When the AF trigger option is set through the Record menu, this button is used to trigger the camera's autofocus system, rather than the more usual half-press of the shutter button doing so.

Record Menu: The following options are available by pressing the Menu button in any record mode, though some menu options aren't available in all modes:

• White Balance: Sets the white balance to Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Halogen, Flash, Manual, or White Set modes. (White Set isn't a separate white balance mode, it's just the option for manually setting the white point that's selected by the Manual option.)
• Motion Rate: (Movie mode only.) Sets the frame rate to 30 or 10 frames per second for movie files.
• Sensitivity: Adjusts the camera's sensitivity setting. Choices are Auto, 80, 100, 200, or 400 ISO equivalents.
• Picture Size: Sets image resolution to 2,560 x 1,920; 2,048 x 1,536; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,280 x 960; or 640 x 480 pixels, plus an "HDTV" setting (1,920 x 1,080 pixels).
• Quality: Sets the image compression to Fine or Standard, or to uncompressed TIFF.
• Audio Recording: When enabled, causes the camera to record five seconds of audio with each still photo. (JPEGs only, audio recording isn't available with TIFFs, or when shooting in one of the camera's continuous modes.)
  
  
• Metering Mode: Designates the camera's metering mode as Multiple, Center-Weighted, or Spot.
• AF Mode: Sets the AF area mode to Nine-Area, Three-Area High Speed, One-Area High Speed, One-Area, or Spot.
• Continuous AF: Turns the Continuous AF mode on or off.
• AF Trigger: Selects whether autofocusing should be achieved with the shutter button, or via a separate Focus button. When enabled, focus is set whenever you press the Focus button on the rear of the camera, and isn't changed until you snap the shutter or press the Focus button again. When disabled, a half-press of the shutter button sets focus.
• AF Assist Lamp: Activates the autofocus assist beam, which automatically turns on whenever the camera is autofocusing in dim lighting to help the camera focus on poorly lit subjects.
  
  
• Digital Zoom: Enables or disables the digital zoom option.
• Color Effect: Selects a color effect, with options of Cool, Warm, Black and White, or Sepia.
• Picture Adjust: Offers three settings - Natural, Standard or Vivid. The natural setting gives a softer, less color-saturated image, while the Vivid setting increases both color intensity and sharpness, as compared to the default Standard setting.
• Flip Animation: Enables Flip Animation mode. "Image Capture" lets you capture the series of images (as many as 100). During capture, you're told how many images in the series have already been captured, how many are remaining, and can browse the captured images and delete specific images as you desire. "Create Motion Image" puts them together as a motion file with a choice of 5 or 10 frames per second playback speed. The "Delete Still Images" option erases the series of still images, but not the motion file.

Scene Menu: If designated through the Setup menu, this menu automatically appears whenever the camera is switched to the Scene mode. If turned off, pressing the Menu button when in Scene mode calls up this page. For each Scene mode option, you can press the left arrow button to receive a brief description of the mode. (No screenshots here, these screens just have a little icon and text name for each mode.)

• Portrait: Utilizes a larger aperture to decrease the depth of field, and emphasizes flesh tones, resulting in a sharply focused subject in front of a slightly blurred background.
• Sports: Employs a faster shutter speed to "freeze" fast-moving action.
• Scenery: This mode fixes focus at infinity, and is best for capturing wide vistas and landscapes.
• Night Scenery: In this mode, the camera slows the shutter speed to as long as 8 seconds, capturing more ambient light and preserving color in darker exposures. (The flash is disabled.)
• Night Portrait: As with the mode above, the camera uses a slower shutter speed for better color in night shots. However, the flash is set to Slow-Sync with Red-Eye Reduction mode.
• Panning: This mode is for panning the camera to photograph a moving subject, such as a runner or cyclist. You hold down the Shutter button and pan the camera with the subject, so that the subject is in focus but the background is blurry.
• Fireworks: Here, the camera uses a slower shutter speed and enhances color slightly to capture the full pattern and color of fireworks.
• Party: Best for taking pictures under dim indoor lighting with a flash, you can select between Forced Red-Eye Reduction and Slow-Sync Red-Eye Reduction modes. Biases white balance for indoor lighting.
• Snow: This mode adjusts the white balance and exposure to counter the bright snowy areas of the scene, preventing the camera being fooled into underexposing the shot.

Play Menu: This menu is only available in the Review mode. It lets you scroll through captured images; erase, protect, and rotate them; or set them up in a slide show or for printing on a DPOF compatible device. The Play menu offers the following selections:

• Rotate Display: Selects whether images that were tagged as rotated by the camera's orientation sensor, or using the next menu option, should be shown rotated on the LCD display.
• Rotate: Rotates captured images 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.
• Protect: Write protects the currently displayed image, protecting it from accidental deletion, except by card formatting. There's also an option for protecting multiple images at once.
• DPOF Print: Marks individual or multiple images for printing on a DPOF compatible printer, or cancels marking of images.
• Slide Show: Automatically plays all images or only DPOF selected files in a slide show format. You can designate the display interval for images from one to five seconds, and audio can be enabled or disabled.
  
  
• Audio Dub.: Lets record a brief audio clip (max. 10 seconds) to attach to the currently reviewed image.
• Resize: Lets you resize an image to a smaller resolution and save a separate copy.
• Trimming: Sort of like a cropping function, this option lets you "trim" an image and save it as a separate file. To trim the image, you use the Playback zoom and pan functions to select the area of the image that you want to retain on the display, and then press the shutter button to save the cropped image.
• Format: Formats the SD/MMC card, erasing all files.

Setup Menu: The Setup menu provides universal camera control options that remain the same in both Shooting and Review modes. This menu is accessed by depressing the Menu button once and scrolling to the right with the Multicontroller. Following are the available settings:

• Monitor: Adjusts the brightness level of the LCD monitor in seven steps.
• Auto Review: Disables the automatic image review, or sets the review time to one or three seconds. A Zoom option displays the captured image for one second, then zooms it 4x for one second.
• Play on LCD: If enabled, this function automatically displays captured images in the LCD monitor whenever the down arrow button is pressed in record mode to preview the most recent image. If disabled, the camera will display the image in the electronic viewfinder if it was in use for image capture
• Power Save: Lets you enable or disable the camera's auto power off feature, and change the time before the LCD display "sleeps" to 1, 2, 5, or 10 minutes.
• Beep: Turns the camera's beep sound on or off, with low and high volume settings.



• Shutter: Turns the shutter noise on or off, with low and high volume settings.
• Volume: Adjusts volume of recorded audio played back through the camera's speaker, with seven steps of adjustment available.
• Clock Set: Sets the camera's internal clock and calendar.
• No. Reset: Resets file numbering with each new SD/MMC card (Yes setting), or continues file numbering from card to card (No setting). (Continuous file numbering is very handy to avoid accidentally overwriting images you've previously copied to your computer's hard drive.)
• Reset: Resets all record-menu settings to their factory defaults.



• USB Mode: Sets the USB mode to PC or PictBridge (PTP).
• Highlight: Turns the blinking highlight display on or off in Playback mode.
• Video Out: Sets the video output timing to NTSC or PAL. (NTSC for the US and Japan, PAL for most of Europe.)
• Scene Menu: Options are Off or Auto. If Off, the camera automatically reverts the previously used Scene selection when the Mode dial is turned to SCN. If set to Auto, the Scene menu automatically appears when the mode dial is rotated to the SCN position.
• Language: Changes the menu language to one of seven languages. (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese Traditional, or Japanese.)

The Panasonic Lumix FZ5 uses SD/MMC memory cards for image storage. A 16MB SD memory card is supplied with the camera - far too small to be of any real use, so you'll want to immediately purchase a larger capacity card to accommodate the large five-megapixel maximum resolution. Entire SD/MMC cards cannot be write-protected except by using the physical switch on the side of the card, however the DMC-FZ5's Play menu allows you to write-protect individual image files, protecting them from accidental erasure, unless the card is formatted.

Still images can be saved at one of six resolutions (2,560 x 1,920; 2,048 x 1,536; 1,600 x 1,200; 1,280 x 960; or 640 x 480 pixels or "HDTV," 1,920 x 1,080 pixels), while movie images are recorded at 320 x 240 pixels. Still images also have two JPEG compression levels available: Fine and Normal, plus an uncompressed TIFF setting that records the RGB image with no compression at all.

A full complement of interface software comes with the DMC-FZ5, as does a USB cable for speedy connection to a PC or Macintosh computer.

Following are the approximate resolution / quality and compression ratios for the furnished 16 MB card. (Compression numbers are based on my own computations. - You can see how pointless the 16 MB card is, able to hold only six images at the camera's best JPEG size and quality setting.):

The Panasonic DMC-FZ5 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 804 KBytes/second, a very good rate of speed, if not quite matching the fastest models on the market. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)

The Panasonic FZ5 has a video-out port that supports both PAL and NTSC timing formats. The video output can be used for reviewing previously recorded images or running slide shows from the camera. It also carries the viewfinder display, so you could use a video monitor as a remote viewfinder if you wanted.

Power

The Panasonic Lumix FZ5 is powered by an internal Panasonic CGA-S002A rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. The camera ships with one battery pack and a charger. An AC Adapter Kit is sold separately, with a power adapter, DC coupler, and power cord.

Because the DMC-FZ5 relies on its LCD display for viewing and selecting some of its settings, it can be somewhat of a drain on the power supply. Fortunately, the camera has an automatic shutdown mode to help conserve battery power, and you can save power by relying on the electronic optical viewfinder whenever possible.

Here are the power consumption numbers I measured for the FZ5, along with the projected run times for various camera operating modes:

Included Software

The Panasonic FZ5 comes with a very nice complement of software on the included CD. Compatible with Windows and Macintosh operating systems, ArcSoft PhotoImpression, Panorama Maker, and PhotoBase applications provide a well-rounded offering of image organization and editing tools. The CD also features USB drivers for both Macintosh and Windows computers.

Readers interested in seeing a sample of more pictorial images shot with the DMC-FZ5 can visit our Panasonic DMC-FZ5 Photo Gallery.

Test Results

In keeping with my standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only my key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the Lumix DMC-FZ5's "pictures" page.

As with all Imaging Resource product tests, I encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how the DMC-FZ5's images compare to other cameras you may be considering.

• Color: Generally very good color, a slight tendency toward a warm cast. Auto white balance struggled with incandescent lighting, but manual white balance did very well.. The DMC-FZ5 generally produced very good color throughout our testing. Strong reds, blues, and greens tended to be a bit oversaturated, but color as a whole was more accurate than average. The FZ5 did tend to leave slight warm casts in its images, but they were well within what I'd consider to be acceptable limits. Skin tones were good, slightly more pink than in real life, but definitely acceptable. Indoors, the Auto and Incandescent white balance options struggled with household incandescent lighting, but the camera's Manual white balance option did very well. All in all, very good, pleasing color.
  
  
• Exposure: Generally accurate exposure, but high contrast. The Panasonic DMC-FZ5 handled my test lighting quite well, though the camera's slightly high native contrast resulted in lost highlight and shadow detail in harshly-lit subjects. In outdoor lighting, the camera generally required less exposure compensation than average on shots that typically need it, while indoors it required about an average amount of adjustment. Overall, very good results.
  
  
• Resolution/Sharpness: High resolution, 1,300 - 1,400 lines of "strong detail." The DMC-FZ5 performed well on the "laboratory" resolution test chart for its 5.0-megapixel class. It started showing artifacts in the test patterns at resolutions as low as 1,100~1,200 lines per picture height vertically and horizontally. I found "strong detail" out to at least 1,400 lines horizontally, and to about 1,300 lines vertically. "Extinction" of the target patterns didn't occur until about 1,650 lines.
  
  
• Image Noise: Moderate image noise, with a fairly fine grain pattern. The DMC-FZ5 generally showed moderate image noise with a fine grain pattern. There was noise in the blue channel, even at ISOs 80 and 100, but it was for the most part invisible when viewing the full-color image. At ISOs 200 and 400, the noise level increased, with stronger blue and yellow pixels present that were visible on-screen. Noise was most distracting at the 400 ISO setting, even though a modest amount of subtle detail was traded away to reduce it. While the noise at ISO 400 was quite distracting on-screen or in large prints, it didn't look bad at all in 5x7 inch prints, and was for all intents and purposes invisible at 4x6.
  
  
• Closeups: A very small macro area with great detail. Flash had a lot of trouble up close though. The DMC-FZ5 performed very well in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of only 1.59 x 1.20 inches (40 x 30 millimeters). Resolution was very high, and detail was strong in the dollar bill. The coin and brooch details were soft, due to the shallow depth of field that's a natural consequence of such a close shooting range. Details softened slightly toward the corners of the frame, but were fairly sharp on the dollar bill. (Most digital cameras produce images with soft corners when shooting in their Macro modes.) The DMC-FZ5's flash was partially blocked by the lens though, and thus ineffective for even moderate closeups. (Definitely plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the Panasonic FZ5.)
  
  
• Night Shots: Good low-light exposures. Good color and exposure, with low image noise. Good low-light autofocus, but somewhat limited viewfinder capability. The Panasonic FZ5 is a very good low-light shooter, able to focus in pretty dim lighting (about 1/6 foot-candle), and with the exposure flexibility to handle quite dark conditions. Its biggest limitation for after-dark use is its EVF/LCD viewfinder, which is really only usable down to about 1/4 foot-candle. Still, that's about 1/4 the brightness of typical city street lighting at night, so the FZ5 should do just fine for after-dark shooting in most lighted areas. The DMC-FZ5 produced clear, bright, usable images down to the 1/16 foot-candle (0.67 lux) limit of my test, with good color at the 400 ISO setting. At ISO 200, images were bright down to the 1/8 foot-candle (1.3 lux) light level, though the target is visible at the lowest light level of the test. At ISOs 80 and 100, images were bright down to the 1/4 foot-candle (2.7 lux) light level. Noise was fairly low in most shots, though it crept up to a high level at ISO 400. Since city street-lighting at night generally corresponds to a light level of about one foot-candle, the DMC-FZ5 should do very well for after-dark photography in typical outdoor settings.
  
  
• Viewfinder Accuracy: An accurate "electronic" optical viewfinder. The DMC-FZ5's "electronic" optical viewfinder (EVF) was quite accurate, showing about 99 percent accuracy at the wide angle zoom setting. At telephoto, the top measurement line was cut off in the final frame, but the coverage was also quite close to 99 percent. The LCD monitor produced identical results, since it's the same view on a larger screen. Given that I like LCD monitors to be as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the DMC-FZ5 did quite well here.
  
  
• Optical Distortion: Average barrel distortion at wide angle, low pincushion at telephoto. Good corner sharpness and chromatic aberration at wide angle and normal focal lengths, about average at telephoto. Geometric distortion on the Panasonic DMC-FZ5 was about average at the wide-angle end, where I measured approximately 0.8 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared quite a bit better, as I found only 0.2 percent pincushion distortion there (about two pixels' worth). Chromatic aberration and corner softness were low at wide angle and medium focal lengths, higher but still about average for a long-ratio zoom lens at the telephoto end.
  
  
• Shutter Lag and Cycle Times: A little slow on startup, but very good shutter response, excellent cycle times. The Panasonic FZ5 is a little slow off the mark, getting its lens deployed when you first turn it on, but after that it's quite speedy indeed. Shutter response is very good with a full-autofocus lag time of 0.51 - 0.56 second. Its shot to shot cycle times are exceptionally good, at 1.23 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, regardless of how many shots you take in rapid succession. (That is, there's no arbitrary buffer limit.) Continuous mode speed is also good, ranging from 2.14 frames/second in "unlimited" mode (run lengths limited only by card capacity) to 3.0 frames/second in high-speed continuous mode for up to four large/fine images in rapid succession. Very impressive overall!
  
  
• Battery Life: Very good battery life. With a worst-case run time just shy of two and a half hours in capture mode with the rear-panel LCD selected, the Panasonic FZ5's battery life is very good. Despite this good battery life, I still recommend that heavy shooters planning long-term outings purchase a spare right along with the camera.
  
  
• Print Quality: Slightly soft at 13x19 inches, sharp at 11x14 and below. High-ISO shots noisy at 8x10 inches, but just fine at 5x7 and below. Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon i9900 studio printer, and on the Canon iP5000 here in the office. (See our Canon i9900 review for details on that model.) The FZ5's print performance was about what I've come to expect from a good-quality 5-megapixel camera. At 13x19 inches, its prints were slightly soft-looking, but more than good enough for display on a wall, where they won't be scrutinized at close range. Prints at 11x14 and below were plenty sharp for any usage. Shots at ISO 400 were noisy-looking at 8x10 inches, but many users would doubtless find them suitable for display on a wall or table. At 5x7 inches and under though, the high-ISO noise really wasn't an issue. Color on printed output was also very nice and natural-looking, a good job overall.

Conclusion

Free Photo Lessons

Learn how to take stunning photos with simple pro lighting tips, in our free Photo School area!

The five-megapixel Panasonic FZ5 is a very strong follow-on to last year's highly popular FZ3 model. Like the FZ3 before it, the new Lumix DMC-FZ5 offers excellent value in a long-zoom camera with optical image stabilization such an impressive feature set. Aside from the boosted resolution in this year's model, the new Panasonic FZ5 offers significant improvements in shutter lag, minor boosts in cycle time, and a larger rear-panel LCD, a welcome addition. To my mind, the dramatic improvements in shutter lag in its "high speed autofocus" modes is the biggest news, as it makes the FZ5 a truly excellent camera for shooting sports and other fast-breaking action (like active toddlers or older kids at play). Bottom line, the Panasonic Lumix FZ5 is a very capable camera that offers a lot of capability in an affordable consumer digicam, with an excellent 12x zoom lens, and optical image stabilization to boot. With a full range of exposure control modes, including a full manual setting and no less than nine preset "Scene" modes, the Panasonic FZ5 is an approachable camera for both novices and more experienced users alike. Its rich feature set, good image quality, and overall responsiveness made it a shoo-in for a "Dave's Pick" award in the long-zoom category.

Reader Comments!
Questions, comments or controversy on this product? Click this link to see what other Imaging Resource readers have had to say about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5, or add comments of your own!