David J Taylor wrote:

Agron wrote:


"David J Taylor"
wrote



I have the Panasonic FZ5 and my wife the FZ20, and we have both been
delighted with the cameras. The image stabilisation works very well
indeed, and I would never wish to have a camera without IS in the
future. David


Thanks,
Iknow the FZ5 was a good camera but was wondering what the FZ7 is.



Good question - looking at the review I get the impression that some
things have been improved, but some of the new features (like high ISO)
haven't been well thought out. My /tentative/ view is that unless you
really need the extra megapixels or the other new features, the 5MP FZ5
may be the better value camera to get. What are the comparative prices
now?


Yes the new features appear worthwhile and the list price of the FZ7 is
lower than the FZ5. I have not seen any big sales prices on either
camera so I do not think there will be much of a difference. I am
planning on getting an FZ7. Based on the test reports I read the
results should be about the same and the new features (like the
joystick) should be a help. The movies mode has also improved for the
few times most will use it.

DP Review include the paragraph:

"The FZ5 was a camera that stood out in a very crowded market by virtue of
an excellent lens, comprehensive set of photographic controls and fast,
reliable operation. And most of the issues we did have - poor movie mode,
fiddly manual exposure control, lack of external ISO control and poor
low-light screen visibility have been addressed pretty convincingly in the
FZ7."

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicFZ7/page14.asp

Cheers,
David