Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 (in some areas labeled DMZ-TZ10) arrived shortly after I'd shipped back the Sony HX5V, which it very closely resembles. The two compact, long-zoom digicams may be cousins, but not the kissing kind. I can just hear their mothers bragging about what one can do that the other can't at every family gathering.
There's plenty of intelligence packed into both packages. The Panasonic ZS7 uses Panasonic's Venus Engine HD II to provide Intelligent Resolution Technology that analyzes the image to enhance detail even in Movie mode, which itself is HD in AVCHD Lite format. The 12x Leica lens enjoys Power optical image stabilization, an improvement over Mega OIS. Intelligent ISO control considers motion detection and Intelligent Exposure salvages shadow detail, particularly in backlit scenes. There's built-in GPS and a 460K pixel LCD along with 15MB of onboard memory.
So they're both intelligent -- but their personalities are very different. Where the Sony HX5V doesn't need any direction, the Panasonic ZS7 does exactly what it's told.
You might think that means the Sony would be ideal for the beginner and the Panasonic for the enthusiast, but it isn't quite that simple, we discovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment