Panasonic DMC-FZ8

Reviewed April 2007

Ergonomics

The Panasonic DMC-FZ8 is the iteration of the FZ camera, replacing last year’s FZ7. Outwardly, the changes are modest consisting of minor, mostly cosmetic changes, while inwardly the FZ8 offers an extra million pixels, and higher resolutions for both monitor and EVF.

As always, the zoom lever also serves in Playback, presenting thumbnails of the photos as an index sheet when pushed towards the W side, first in groups of 9 images then 25 when the lever is pushed a second time towards the W side, then presenting photos in a calendar view that starts with the current month, and places a tiny thumbnail of the first image of those captured on a specific date. Pressed to the T side, the lever serves to zoom into an image currently displayed on the monitor in increments of 2X, 4X, 8X, and 16X.

Two buttons are aligned behind the shutter release, the first of which is to control the FZ8's Mega O.I.S., the camera's optical stabilizer. As with other Panasonic cameras, the stabilization system has three possible settings, selected from a little on-screen menu:

The other button positioned behind the shutter release is called the Focus Switch button, and it offers three modes, also selected from an on-screen menu:

• AF: is the default auto focus mode. It allows the camera to focus from 30 cm (1 ft) to infinity.

• AF Macro: serves to capture subjects that are close to the front element of the lens. It offers a focus range of 5 cm (1.95 inch) to infinity when the zoom is set to the wide angle end, and 1 m (39 inches) to infinity when the zoom is at the telephoto end.
• MF: Starts the Manual Focus mode. Manual focusing is assisted in any one of three ways, selected in the Setup section of the menu:
  • MF1: enlarges the centre of the screen to help in focusing while displaying a distance scale.
  • MF2: magnifies the subject full screen and also displays a distance scale.
  • Off: simply displays a distance scale.

The other control on the top right side of the DMC-FZ8 is the Mode dial. The dial has 10 positions, one more than the DMC-FZ7 had, thanks to the addition of the Intelligent ISO mode, the Print mode and the deletion of the Macro mode. As the Mode Dial is turned, an animation of the dial is superimposed on the monitor or EVF, whichever is in use, which avoids having to look directly at the dial while it is changed from one mode to another:

	Simple Mode is the most automated shooting mode of the FZ8, turning the camera into a simple to use point-and-shoot. The Simple mode handles all photographic settings and only offers a short menu. (See the Characteristics section of the review for more details about the Simple Mode's menu.)
	Playback Mode plays back images or movies captured with the FZ8.
	Intelligent ISO uses the technology of the new Venus III image processor that is able to adjust sensitivity incrementally not only according to the amount of light reaching the CCD, but also according to the subject's movement, allowing the use of lower ISO settings with still subjects, and an ISO sensitivity increase — up to 1250 ISO — commensurate with the subject's motion so it can be captured without blur. The upper limit of the sensitivity gain can be specified in the camera's menu when it is in this mode.

	Aperture Priority provides control over the aperture from f2.8 at the wide end, and f3.3 to f8 at the maximum telephoto end while the FZ8 selects the shutter speed.
	Shutter Priority: provides shutter speeds ranging from 1/2000 to 8 seconds when the zoom is set to the wide angle end, and 1/1600 to 8 seconds at the telephoto end, while the camera matches an aperture to the selected shutter speed.
	Manual Mode provides control over the aperture with the same range as the Aperture Priority mode, and the shutter speed over a range that covers from 1/1000 second to 60 seconds, irrespective of the zoom position.
	Print mode serves to make prints while the FZ8 is connected to a PictBridge compatible printer. Once the camera is connected, a menu is displayed on the monitor making it possible to select the images to print, the number of copies to make, the print format, the layout, and whether or not the capture date should be superimposed on the print.
	Motion Image mode captures movies with mono sound. Three frame sizes are available: 4:3 Ratio: VGA: 640 x 480 pixels at 30 or 10 frames per second. QVGA: 320 x 240 pixels at 30 or 10 frames per second. 16:9 Ratio: 848 x 480 pixels at 30 or 10 frames per second. The optical zoom is locked at its current position when the recording starts, as is the focus, and the optical stabilizer only operates in Mode 1. Exposure and white balance are adjusted as the recording progresses. Any single recording is limited to a maximum of 2 GB, and cannot be captured using an MMC (MultiMedia) memory card.

The next position, SCN, provides access to the 20 Scene modes available with the FZ8:

The electronic viewfinder (EVF) of the DMC-FZ8 is one of the areas that distinguish it from its predecessor. In comparison to the FZ7, the FZ8's EVF has an increased resolution of 188,000 pixels instead of 114,000 pixels, resulting in a noticeably sharper image. Similarly, the monitor also offers a higher resolution and is now composed of 207,000 pixels.

First on the right side of the viewfinder is the EVF/LCD button, which serves to choose if the EVF or the monitor is used to preview and review images; and to its right is the camera's On/Off switch.

Next comes the Joystick: it serves to adjust the aperture when the camera is set to A mode, the shutter speed when it is set to S mode, and both shutter speed and aperture when the camera is set to M. In addition, it is also used to select the focus point, set exposure compensation, and when the FZ8 is in Playback mode, moving the joystick from side to side moves from one photo to the next, while pressing it straight in returns an image that has been zoomed into to full screen.

Furthermore, with the exception of the Simple mode, pressing the joystick straight-in displays a quick menu that is superimposed on the image coming from the lens — shown here on a black background for legibility — which allows for quick changes to current settings without having to access the relevant menu sections:

• AF Mode: Multi-area focusing, 3-area focusing (high speed), 1-area focusing (high speed), 1-area focusing, Spot focusing.
• Metering Mode: Multiple, Centre-weighted, Spot.

• White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Flash, Halogen (incandescent), White set 1, White set 2 (both of which are memories for user-set white balance settings), and White Set, for setting a white balance to take into account a specific light environment, and then saving it to either White set 1 or White set 2.
• ISO Sensitivity: allows adjusting the CCD sensitivity starting at 100 ISO (100, 200, 400, 800 or 1250 ISO). An Auto mode is also available, covering from 100 to 200 ISO when the flash is not used, and 1000 to 400 ISO when the flash is used. Worth noting, the High Sensitivity scene mode uses 3200 ISO exclusively.

• Picture Size: serves to set the image size (see the Characteristics section of the review for more details on the available image sizes for the FZ8).
• Picture Quality: to choose the compression level, or the RAW format that is available with the FZ8. (See the Characteristics section of the review.)

The default presentation shows the basic camera settings in a strip at the top of the monitor: shooting mode, flash mode, white balance, sensitivity, image size and compression/raw, battery level. In addition, below the display indicates the number of photos remaining, the type of memory in use, the possible use of the joystick, exposure compensation, focus mode and the stabilizer's current mode.

Pressing the DISPLAY button once adds a real-time histogram on the right side of the image.

Pressing the button a second time changes the display so that image coming from the lens is a bit smaller and positioned on the top left, allowing the current settings to be shown on the right and bottom of the screen over a black background, increasing their legibility.

Pressing the button once more returns to the histogram view, and adds a composition grid, the style of which is determined by an option in the Setup menu. (See the Interface and Software section of the review for details about the Setup menu.)

Yet another press of the button clears all but AF area from the screen.

In Playback mode, the Display button cycles through three presentations for the captured images. The default setting simply superimposes the icon for the playback mode in the upper left corner, while the top right corner indicates the image size and quality, the battery state, the image's file name, and its position within those contained in the folder. In addition, a strip at the bottom of the screen shows the time and date on which the photo was captured.

As a secondary function, when the button is held pressed for more than a second, its LCD MODE function is activated and it displays a short menu, superimposed on the image:

• OFF is the default setting.
• Power LCD increases the brightness of the monitor, making it more legible outdoors or under bright ambient light.
• High Angle serves to boost the monitor brightness to such an extent that it is too bright when seen normally, but perfectly visible when the camera is held overhead and the screen is seen from below, ideal for situations where photos can only be captured overhead.

Worth noting, when the camera is set to the Playback mode, the LCD MODE options are limited to the first two choices.

The Cursor buttons are next, arranged in a circle around the MENU/SET button that calls up the camera menu and also serves to confirm menu selections. The four directional buttons serve to navigate the menus, or review images in playback; moreover, with the camera set to one of the capture modes, each of the 4 directional arrows controls a function:

	The down arrow starts the Instant Review mode, which displays the last captured photo for up to 10 seconds. The image can be magnified up to 4X or 8X, or even deleted if it is unsatisfactory. Worth noting, the Review mode cannot access the Playback menu.
	Finally the left arrow button serves to activate the Self Timer, which can be set to either 2 or 10 seconds (the Simple mode only offers a 10-second timer), or 10 second and 3 pictures, with each of the three shots captured at a 2-second interval after the 10 seconds have elapsed.

Finally, the last button on the DMC-FZ8 is the Single or Burst mode button, , which serves as the Delete button when the camera is set to the Playback or Review modes:

	High Speed captures 3 frames per second or up to 5 frames at the best image quality, and up to 7 frames with the most compressed image quality.
	Low Speed captures 2 frames per second or up to 5 frames at the best image quality, and up to 7 frames with the most compressed image quality.
	Unlimited: captures 2 frames per second with no limit on the number of frames.

The improvements the DMC-FZ8 brings to the previous version of the camera are subtle but important. Both the monitor and the EVF offer a higher resolution than had been available with the FZ7, making them much more pleasant to use. In addition, while the functions assigned to some controls have been streamlined, the quick menu has been enhanced, making it more functional.

Otherwise, the DMC-FZ8 remains as comfortable to use as its predecessor.