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Pana ZS7, same as Leica V-Lux 20 for only $313

bradhusick

Active member
FYI: Abe's of Maine offers the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-ZS7 12.1-Megapixel Digital Camera in Black, model no. DMCZS7K, for $313.95. With free shipping. Features include a built-in GPS for geotagging, Leica DC ultra wide-angle 12x optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization, 3" LCD, HD motion capture (720p), 15MB internal memory, SDHC card slot, USB connectivity, and more.

This is the same camera as the Leica V-Lux 20 without the red dot. As with any small sensor camera, be aware that pixel-peeping will not be a rewarding activity.
 

Terry

New member
I have it. Pixel peeping is a no no. Brad, have you had good luck with the GPS. Even by my office windows (which are huge) I couldn't get a lock.
 

bradhusick

Active member
No, I decided not to buy it. I didn't like the pixel-smearing typical of these sensors I saw on the test samples. I still use my LX3 for this category of camera.
 

Terry

New member
I bought it to try it out with the intent of selling it. There was a brief nanosecond when Panny went crazy with low prices on their discount plan and I picked it up (less than Abe's price) I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
 

wjlapier

Member
I picked this camera up recently because I wanted a pocketable superzoom P+S mostly for daylight shooting. I figured my daughter's softball game would be a good place to test the reported fast AF and the clean 16X intelligent zoom. I like the 25mm wide, and I was pleasantly surprised how well the intelligent zoom worked.

BTW--my daughter is not the pitcher--she's behind the plate.
 

wjlapier

Member
Another one of my daughter and a 100% crop. This is at 16X--4 over optical zoom.

Typically I use a Nikon D2Hs and 80-200 AFS combo for my kids in sports.
 
R

rwsphotography

Guest
I have it. Pixel peeping is a no no. Brad, have you had good luck with the GPS. Even by my office windows (which are huge) I couldn't get a lock.
Terry, I have the Leica version and I found that the GPS feature has to have almost complete access to the sky directly overhead. I've been in several places where you can get a lock from a normal GPS unit, but not the camera. As I understand it, the GPS electronics in these cameras are fairly small and low power so they have some minor limitations. I found that if you get a lock, it usually keeps it in areas it wouldn't have locked to begin with (does that make sense?). Hope this helps - misery loves company...
 

Terry

New member
Yes, it would not locknin my office Even with huge windows and my iPhone/iPad will.

I good light the camera is really really nice and dies a very
good job.

I simply just don't need it and have bought too many goodies recently with G2/E-PL1/NEX5 (on order)
 

wjlapier

Member
I just wanted to report about this camera again. Took some HD video yesterday at my daughter's softball tournament. Looking at the video on my Panasonic HDTV I was amazed at the detail and color. And the photos pop right out of the screen. I'm really liking this camera for what I bought it for--daylight snaps and some video.

The cool thing about the video is you can zoom in and out and focus stays sharp most of the time. The zoom does slow down while video recording which I figure helps keep things nice and sharp.

BTW, my daughter's team won 6 straight games to win the tournament!
 
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