TO buy or NOT to buy: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7

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venomgrass

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Hello There,
Looking for a camera to do scenery shots of mountains, hills, nature etc..
Lake district in cumbrian mountains, must be compact and I like canon or panasonic best.

How would the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 coop?
Also is there anything beter for similar price range?

:cool:
 
I picked up a TZ6 for my mrs last week. Quite a nice simple P&S And as she wont ever use the HD video I saved myself £50.
Best price in the UK I found was from Amazon.

It also depends on how seriously you want to take this. These camera will take nice photos, but for good photos you'll want an SLR with ok lens on a tripod. Might be able to pick up a second hand 20D in this price. I've only recently replaced my 20d with the 1D.

HTH
J
 
oyu need SD or higher capacity SCHC, which would be a good choice if you intend to shoot HD. :)
 
What would you recommend? Also what is diff between SD and SCGC whats best? :)
 
Sorry , I typed wrong, I mean't SDHC - stands for secure digital hi capacity. Get one of those, you can get a 4gb for a tenner, should give you enough space. :)
 
hmm well my 8 mega pixel 30D holds 400 jpeg shots on a 2gb card, I would have thought yours would hold about 600-800 pics, though less if oyu shoot a lot of video. Personally, I'd buy over here, as I've had too many things go wrong, and the cost to post will in the long run outweigh the benefits, personally. Looks a grat little camera though. :)
 
no problem. You got me wanting one now! :D
 
The panasonic TZ6 or TZ7 (HD video) are great camera's, fully automatic, so let down abit because lacking a manual mode, but as a P&S, can't be beaten.

Other offerings around the same ball park price is the canon SX200 IS, does have manual capabilities and like the panasonics above comes with 10x zoom, but not as wide as the panasonic, although it has extra at the long end.

Then there's the fuji 200EXR (5x zoom), or its bothers, the 70EXR and 80EXR (10x zooms). This camera is unique in the way it handles images, although it has some manual capabilities, really a auto P&S. The 80EXR has HD video capabilities, so have a look, before making the plunge as there are other options out there.
 
I have the TZ6 and i love it. In good light it is a stunner! Don't buy the TZ7 if you don't want/need HD Video. The camera/lens part is more or less the same for both cameras.
 
I've had my TZ7 for a good few months now and for P&S photos it would be hard to beat...i can recommend it 100% :thumbs:
 
My wife has the TZ7 and it's a nice little camera. It does seem to get the exposure a bit wrong on flash photos (or maybe the flash is too weak?). Other than that it takes nice snaps.
 
i have a tz7 and whilst it's a great little point and shoot the lack of manual control does let it down a little. You can get round this somewhat by getting to know what changes each of the scenery modes make and selecting these (sometimes when you wouldn't normally expect it to do any good - if you see what i mean).

I've also had a canon sx200 and loved it (i traded it for my eos500d - good move!!). If i had the choice now i would trade the tz7 for the sx200 in a flash (just for the extra control) - the pop up flash on the canon was a bit annoying but soon got used to it.

all in all if you just want good photo's with no messing the tz7 is great!

have a look at the camera labs reviews of the tz7, it also does some comparative reviews of the competition too.
 
My son bought the ZS3 (USA equiv) a couple of weeks ago when we were on holiday. He used it continuously at Busch Gardens for nearly four hours before the battery died. He bought an hahanel HL-PG10E as a back up when we got back. Bristol Cameras sell them at approx. £20 + pp. There are cheaper ones on the market but he was advised that most weren't compatable with the TZ7/ZS3 as these have the 1.2 Firmware version on them. Panasonic updated the software so that generic batteries wouldn't work correctly with the camera. The hahanel works fine. Pictures that he has taken with it are very good but not as good as my Nikon D300!!! lol.........
 
My TZ7 fits nicely in my pocket and I tend to carry this around with me whenever I walk the dog in the countryside. It is so convenient, so easy to use and so much less hassle than the DSLR with zoom lens to carry. It is capable of some very good shots but I do find it somewhat limited on AE. I also would prefer it to have a RAW option but it is great for snapshots.
 
I have a TZ2. It's a nice size to carry around but frankly that's about the limit of its plus points. I find it gives noticeably soft images compared to even the most basic dSLR/kit lens combination. Mine also produces some very unnatural colours in strong sunlight which are very difficult to correct in post processing. If small size is important to you my advice would be to get a larger sensor mirrorless camera. In my opinion any of the Panasonic micro 4/3rds cameras would be a much better bet and are very reasonably priced at present.
 
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