Zalebox.com : Consumer Buying Guide

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2413 in Camera & Photo
• Color: silver
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: SDR-S7S
• Dimensions: 2.47″ h x 1.22″ w x 4.50″ l, 4.00 pounds
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• Capture video to flash memory
• 10x optical zoom
• 2.7-inch LCD screen
• Ultra lightweight, compact design
• Compatible with SD/SDHC memory cards

From the Manufacturer

The S7 is a camcorder you can take just about anywhere, as you would a small digital still camera. The S7 fits nicely in the palm of the hand. This outstanding mobility makes the S7 an ideal choice for business use. Just slip it in a suit pocket or handbag and carry it anywhere.

The power turns on or off as soon as the LCD is opened or closed, and Quick Start recording begins in only 0.6 seconds. This combines with the camera’s handy compact size to help catch those sudden and immediate shooting opportunities.

If your TV has an SD card slot and can play MPEG-2 files, just slip your card into the slot and get ready to watch beautiful motion or still images on a large screen.

Panasonic SDR-S7 Highlights

Small enough to fit in a pocket or bag

Compact Size and Cool Styling The SDR-S7 is small enough to slip in a pocket or bag. Cool enough to take everywhere you go. This is one stylish camcorder you’ll never want to be without.

Easy Shooting at High of Low Angles You can freely adjust the angle of the LCD monitor for comfortable viewing no matter how you’re holding the camera. The SUB REC button on the side makes it easy to shoot when you’re holding the camera low. The buttons are laid out simply and logically for easy one-hand operation.

High Picture Quality with a 2.7-inch Viewing Screen This model offers the High-Picture-Quality Wide Mode, which produces images that make for beautiful, dramatic viewing on a wide-screen TV. The image is processed on 16:9 area of the CCD. Because the image decoded has the same proportions as your wide-screen TV, there is virtually no picture quality degradation. You get beautiful images and all the excitement and dynamism on either a wide 16:9 screen TV or a conventional 4:3 TV. This model also features a wide 2.7-inch LCD, making it easier to frame shots when you’re shooting in 16:9 mode. You can enjoy shooting wide, and viewing wide.

Pure Color Engine The Pure Color Engine converts the CCD output signal from a complementary color signal into an RGB signal at an early stage and extracts the low-frequency luminance component from the RGB signal. This innovative engine also achieves truly superb color reproduction for high-zoomed pictures.

High-quality MPEG 2 Engine Panasonic’s MPEG2 engine is a wide-range, high-precision search engine that produces smooth, beautiful motion pictures. Because it precisely records the differences in each frame, it can render fast, complex motions - like those of athletes in the thick of the action - with exceptional precision. The MPEG2 engine also uses Variable Bit Rate technology that Panasonic developed for the high-end DIGA DVD recorder. Giving LP recordings nearly twice the resolution captured with previous Panasonic camcorders, this lets the camcorder record clear, smoothly flowing pictures.

10X Optical Zoom Distant subjects can be enlarged so they appear to be right up close. This allows dynamic shots of both motion and still pictures.

Shooting Functions

Pre-Record Function (Images are Recorded Before you Begin Shooting) This clever new function records three seconds of images even before you actually begin shooting. The images are held temporarily in the camcorder’s internal memory, before recording onto the SDHC/SD Memory Card begins. This helps ensure that you won’t miss the start of a moment you want to record, such as when an event begins all of a sudden. For example, if you’re waiting to snap a shot of a jumping dolphin, you can press the REC button after you’ve made sure that the dolphin has cleared the surface of the water. The camcorder will record the entire scene, from the instant of the dolphin’s jump until it disappears again into the sea.

Power LCD Simply press the Power LCD button and the LCD becomes brighter, making it easier to see outdoors or in other bright locations. Also, a new scanning technology allows the LCD to show diagonal lines more sharply.

Select the Recording Mode to Match your Needs This unit records in VBR. VBR is an abbreviation for Variable Bit Rate. VBR recording automatically varies the bit rate (amount of data in a fixed time) depending on the subject being recorded. This means if a subject with sharp movements is recorded, the recording time is reduced.

One Touch Navigation and Easy Operation The cursor makes the camera much easier to use. You can handle a number of operations quickly and easily.

• Easy to use Design You can do most operations with a single finger.
• Direct Mode Dial Just rotate the dial with your fingertip to select the icon that corresponds to the mode you want.
• Simple Cursor Operation Press the center of the cursor to display icons on the screen.

Quick Search and Access with Thumbnail View Unlike videotape, you don’t need to rewind or fast-forward to search for specific scenes. The camcorder LCD screen displays a list of the recorded scenes for quick and easy searching.

Easy On/Off reduces the time required for operating the camera. When you open the LCD, the power turns on. Shut it and the power turns off.

Quick Start mode helps shoot videos on the spur of the moment. This mode lets you shoot those not-to-be-missed scenes by turning on the power just 0.6 seconds from the time the LCD is opened.

Color Night View gives you smoothly flowing pictures even in dark places, where it’s normally difficult to capture good shots.

World Timer Handy for travelers, this function makes it easy to set the camcorder time when you cross time zones and again when you return home. Simply select your destination from the displayed map, and the camcorder is automatically set for that time zone. The time for two different places can be set — such as home and destination — and you can switch between the times by simply pressing a button.

Editing and Networking

Storing on a DIGA If you have an MPEG2-compatible DIGA DVD recorder with an internal hard disk and SDHC/SD memory card slot, saving your images on the hard disk is as easy as inserting an SDHC/SD memory card into the slot. This saves space you’d otherwise need for storing the recording media, and makes playback easier. And once the data is on the hard disk, it’s easy to copy it to a DVD disc.

Easy DVD Copying Connect the S7 directly to a DVD burner via a USB cable. You can then copy recordings from the SDHC/SD Memory Card to a DVD disc with easy operation. The disc you make can be played on DVD players, so playback is easy too.

Copy from your memory card to DVD

Includes USB 2.0 and Editing Software
USB 2.0 compatibility lets you upload a motion picture data to a PC at high speed over a single USB cable.

You never have to finalize an SDHC or SD Memory Card, so you can transfer data to a PC right after you shoot. Just slip the card into the slot on the PC, and you’re ready to upload and edit. The camera comes with MotionSD STUDIO software that lets you add music and words during editing or copy your recordings onto a DVD disc.

Optional Accessories and Products

• Panasonic DIGA DMR-EZ475VK - DVD recorder/ VCR combo - black Panasonic 16GB Memory Card Panasonic VW-BN1 DVD Burner

Customer Reviews

worth it for the price
THis is a very affordable item which serves my basic needs for capturing home footage!

Wish I’d never bought it! BAD customer service!
My computer would not recognize the files as movie files, and it took about 5 calls to customer service to get a straight answer. I have to purchase a converter now. I’m so frustrated that they couldn’t give us an answer sooner! At the time this camera was purchased, advertising was VERY misleading. They said it would work with either a pc or a mac. It does not work with a mac. I would like to throw this camera at panasonic’s head. The birth of my children is on this camera!!!!! Argh!!!!! I HATE THIS STUPID CAMERA!!!!!

Video camera
This is one sweet camera. It literally fits in your pocket. Consumer Reports rates it as one of it’s top picks for value, as well.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Blue
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: DMC-TZ5A
• Released on: 2008-03-07
• Dimensions: 4.07″ h x 1.44″ w x 2.33″ l, .47 pounds
• Display size: 3
• Included Software: Yes

Features

• 9-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for poster-sized prints
• 10x optical zoom Leica DC lens; Face Detection
• New Panasonic Venus Engine IV improves noise reduction, elevates the detection accuracy and corrective effects
• 3.0-inch LCD; Mega O.I.S. and Intelligent ISO
• Captures images to SD memory cards (not included)

Manufacturer Description

The 9.1-megapixel Panasonic DMC-TZ5 packs a 28mm wide-angle, 10x optical zoom Leica DC lens in a compact design, ideal for the active photographer who needs a versatile camera. By combining a 28mm wide-angle lens, which lets you capture a wider-framed shot when compared to a traditional 35mm camera, with the TZ-Series 10x optical zoom, you’re empowered to take expanded shots, both wide and far. Panasonic’s Intelligent Auto technologies are also expanded, with new Intelligent Exposure and Digital Red-eye Correction.

With the addition of Intelligent Exposure and Digital Red-eye Correction, Panasonic’s Advanced Intelligent Auto mode consists of seven intuitive technologies, all which are specifically designed to help make photo-taking an enjoyable and seamless process unnoticed by the consumer — helping them to take clear photos. When in Advanced Intelligent Auto mode, the following technologies all operate automatically; no settings need to be manually changed.

Also new to the TZ5 is the Venus Engine IV, Panasonic’s new high-performance image processing LSI. The Venus Engine IV produces higher-quality pictures than its predecessor, the Venus Engine III, by using a more advanced signal processing system. The new Venus Engine IV also improves noise reduction, elevates the detection accuracy and corrective effects in both Mega O.I.S. and Intelligent ISO and reduces the shutter release time lag. Both models also incorporate Intelligent LCD, which detects the lighting condition and controls the brightness level of the LCD in 11 fine steps, to offer optimal clarity in any situation, whether dark or light; indoors or outdoors. With a newly developed 460,000-dot high resolution in the TZ5’s 3.0-inch LCD, photos can be easily viewed on the display, regardless of the shooting environment.

The TZ5 is also capable of recording 720p high-definition motion pictures, and because of its support of SD memory cards, is easily compatible with Panasonic Viera plasma HDTVs that have an integrated SD memory card slot, so viewing photos is simple. Also, with the newly added HD component output capability, users can also connect the TZ5 to an HDTV and watch a slideshow complete with mood-appropriate music, choosing from natural, slow, urban and swing.

Lumix DMC-TZ5A Highlights

Intelligent Exposure With this new feature, photos will no longer be under- or over-exposed. Instead, the TZ5 instantly analyzes the framed image and adjusts the brightness in areas that are too dark because of dim lighting, backlighting or the use of the flash. The camera will automatically adjust the brightness accordingly.

Digital Red-eye Correction This feature helps to eliminate the red-eye problem that sometimes results when taking flash shots at the night. Incorporated into the built-in flash, the camera emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects red-eye and will digitally correct it.

Mega O.I.S. Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image.

Intelligent ISO With Intelligent ISO, the TZ5 can determine if the photo subject is moving and change the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly, thus giving a blur-free photo.

Intelligent Scene Selector Intelligent Scene Selector senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and will automatically select the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode. This intuitive technology, helps you use the most common scene modes that are built into the camera, but often go unused, without making any manual adjustments.

Face Detection Panasonic’s Face Detection detects faces anywhere in the frame and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces, Panasonic’s Face Detection can even track a face if the subject is moving.

Continuous AF The Continuous AF (auto focus) system maintains focus on the subject even without pressing a shutter button halfway, thus minimizing the AF time.

Customer Reviews

Lumix- great zoom, easy to use
I bought this mainly for the flexibility of having a (35mm equivalent) 28-280 zoom. The Leica made lens does not disappoint.
As a multi-Canon owner I was unsure of learning new menu icons but the Lumix is fairly easy to adapt to. Love the ‘quick menu’ guide.
Only downside is I do occasionally miss having an optical viewfinder and why can you only use certain IS and Aspect Ratios settings with video?

With the close-outs deals the TZ5 is a No-Brainer
All the leading camera makers offer outstanding products for family photograhy, but after cutting through all the gadgety stuff and arcane settings that I’ll never used, but the TZ5 was the only contender with a real Leica lens, 10X zoom, 28mm wide-angle, and 3″ screen. When prices were reduced because a new TZ7 model was being introduced, it reached no-brainer level.

I’m not a highly skilled photographer but I’m getting exceptionally high quality pictures effortlessly. I took some test shots in problem lighting and the subjects were consistently well exposed. The controls are simple, the 10X zoom rocks, the flash brightens the whole room, and the LCD screen is big and bright. And its easier to grip than the slightly smaller ultra-compacts. I look forward to becoming familiar with the manual settings to get even more out of it.

Another thing…camera reviews usually give little space to video performance. TZ5 video is simply SPECTACULAR in daylight use. I haven’t done any vids in artificial light so can’t comment on that. Though limited by the software to 15 minutes per shoot (EU import issues?), the 16:9 high quality setting produces home video as good as any I’ve seen. Its supposed to be even better in full HD if the $35 optional “component” cable is used, but really I can’t imagine how. And it zooms while videoing, though the autofocus might not keep up in large changes.

I bought my TZ5 for $[...]at Costco but would have no issues spending more and am very satisfied.

Panasonic Lumix TZ5 Awesome Camera!
I bought this camera for the wide angle lens. It sole purpose was for a vacation pictures and then new baby photos.
So far it has only been used for the V action shots. It has worked flawlessly. It takes great pictures. The camera is a tiny pit heavy compared to others in its size, but in its class it is small light weight and excellent.
I would recommend this camera to all friends and family.