Criteria
Comments
Rating
- Image quality No comments
- Video quality No comments
- Battery life No comments
- Design and form factor No comments
- Durability No comments
- Speed (start-up time, lag) No comments
- Ease of use No comments
Detailed review
We did quite a bit of research before choosing the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 camera. Our goal was to find a high quality camera with high resolution and the ability to take 720p video. So far, the FZ-35 is doing a splendid job.
When looking at the back, the first thing you notice is a nice screen and a lot of buttons. There will be a learning curve, but if you're after this sort of camera you're prepared. Before long, you'll have the basics down and ready to take pictures and video intuitively. And speaking of intuitive, the plethora buttons are pretty friendly. For example, there's a familiar button array for up, down, left, and right surrounding a select button. You can use these to review the pictures and videos within the camera. There is also a short nub just above those buttons that acts like a joystick with which you can also navigate your pics and videos. It's nice that the engineers considered that intuitive multi-use.
The camera supports 3 burst pictures. They're all taken in about a second. You can also take relatively rapid pictures with your "trigger" finger. In less than a second the camera is ready to go again. The zoom is incredible. You can also take a clear picture as close as an inch to your subject. Perhaps closer, but an inch is close enough for me. The camera also offers a peek-hole view finder which would come in handy in bright, outdoor settings. Using the peek-hole offers all the same onscreen info, and turns off the main screen. Very nice.
The videos are saved in AVCHD Lite format, and this format is supported by Microsoft's Windows Live Move Maker software (which is offered for free). This simplifies working with the videos, and the software makes it a cinch to create a mix of stills and video (with optional music). Move Maker even makes it easy to create a DVD or upload your videos to YouTube.
We bought a 16 GB SDHC flash memory card, and the GZ35 indicates we can take over 2,000 pictures. I noticed that each 12 megapixel image was between 4 to 4.5 megabytes in size. I took a short video (about 15 seconds) and that file size was about 40 megabytes. By the way, you can use zoom while recording video.
Why didn't I give it a 10. Well, nothing is absolutely perfect. The sophistication of the camera can make getting used to how it works a bit confusing. Once you get to a very high zoom, the camera focuses very well, but not perfectly. It sort of moves to different focus points until you really, really aim at something. Understandable, but disconcerting until you get used to it.
Overall, we are very happy with our purchase.
--Mike.
Atlanta, GA
When looking at the back, the first thing you notice is a nice screen and a lot of buttons. There will be a learning curve, but if you're after this sort of camera you're prepared. Before long, you'll have the basics down and ready to take pictures and video intuitively. And speaking of intuitive, the plethora buttons are pretty friendly. For example, there's a familiar button array for up, down, left, and right surrounding a select button. You can use these to review the pictures and videos within the camera. There is also a short nub just above those buttons that acts like a joystick with which you can also navigate your pics and videos. It's nice that the engineers considered that intuitive multi-use.
The camera supports 3 burst pictures. They're all taken in about a second. You can also take relatively rapid pictures with your "trigger" finger. In less than a second the camera is ready to go again. The zoom is incredible. You can also take a clear picture as close as an inch to your subject. Perhaps closer, but an inch is close enough for me. The camera also offers a peek-hole view finder which would come in handy in bright, outdoor settings. Using the peek-hole offers all the same onscreen info, and turns off the main screen. Very nice.
The videos are saved in AVCHD Lite format, and this format is supported by Microsoft's Windows Live Move Maker software (which is offered for free). This simplifies working with the videos, and the software makes it a cinch to create a mix of stills and video (with optional music). Move Maker even makes it easy to create a DVD or upload your videos to YouTube.
We bought a 16 GB SDHC flash memory card, and the GZ35 indicates we can take over 2,000 pictures. I noticed that each 12 megapixel image was between 4 to 4.5 megabytes in size. I took a short video (about 15 seconds) and that file size was about 40 megabytes. By the way, you can use zoom while recording video.
Why didn't I give it a 10. Well, nothing is absolutely perfect. The sophistication of the camera can make getting used to how it works a bit confusing. Once you get to a very high zoom, the camera focuses very well, but not perfectly. It sort of moves to different focus points until you really, really aim at something. Understandable, but disconcerting until you get used to it.
Overall, we are very happy with our purchase.
--Mike.
Atlanta, GA
good review!
2 people find this review helpful