Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
- 5.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints
- Amazing 12x optical zoom gets you close to the action without sacrificing image quality
- Super-fast shutter times: .008 seconds to release (not including AF time) and .4 seconds between shots
- Stores images on Secure Digital (SD) cards; 16MB card included
- Powered by a Lithium-Ion battery pack (7.2V, 680 mAh); battery charger included
The DMC-FZ5 features the LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens – a small, lightweight lens that packs the same zoom power as a big, clunky 400 mm-class film camera lens. This 12x optical zoom lens is super-bright too, at F2.8 to 3.3 with a focal length of 6 to 72 mm (equivalent to 36 mm to 432 mm in a 35 mm film camera). You’ve got all the power and flexibility you need to take beautiful shots from telephoto to wide angle and macro. The FZ5 also has a 4x digital zoom. Use it together with the 12x optical zoom and you’ve got ultra-powerful 48x zooming – roughly equivalent to a huge 1680 mm lens on a 35 mm camera.
Rating: 
(out of 47 reviews)
List Price:
Price: $ 399.98
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Review by T. Olson for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
Rating:
This camera has far exceeded my expectations. I am one of those geeks that research everything on the market before making a purchase. There are plenty of cameras that looked like they would meet my needs, but as I researched and tested, too many had glaring flaws or fell short on critical features.
I’m not going to waste your time and mine repeating all the details of every feature from the earlier reviewers. They did a great job of listing its strengths and weaknesses. Instead, I will waste our time sharing my personal impressions on the use and results of this fine camera.
The image stabilizer is like magic. I have been able to take indoor, hand held shots that would have been impossible with an un-stabilized camera. I cannot overstate the value of this feature. In well lit pictures the stabilization makes for a crispness I haven’t seen in a point and shoot type camera (perhaps the massive Leica lens may have had something to do with this too). The flash has impressed me as well. It seems to meter very well compared to my Cannon A70. No more flash blown out shots on close up groups. Rarely did it get it wrong.
I spent yesterday at the Point Defiance Zoo in Seattle, running the FZ5 through its paces. The resulting pictures blew me away. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face looking at the pics on my computer afterwards. I’m no pro, but some of the pics were. It was a bit humorous to hear comments all day long by other Point and Shoot photographers “I wish I had more zoom”, all the while I am taking crisp 12x close-ups of all the fuzzy critters in cages.
Also, I like a camera that looks and handles like a camera, not some kind of Star Trek shuttle craft with a lens on the front. The Minoltas look goofy and handle goofy. Scotty, beam me up.
Is it perfect? Nope, but so close I’m still smirking with smug satisfaction. After the zoo trip, I would like a manual focus option. There were times that glass or chain link fence made focusing a chore. Would I trade for a bigger, heavier camera that had manual focusing? Not for my uses. You can keep your bloated and clunky DSLRs. This camera carries like a Point and Shoot, but functions like a much bigger beast. Toting it around was barely noticeable (that is a key feature for me). This is a camera that you can carry easily and it excels at 95% of any use I may deem for it. The size is perfect. A gargantuan 12x stabilized lens on a camera this small is unreal (somebody pinch me).
Of course, please upgrade the included SD card. I get annoyed when reviews gripe about the small included memory cards in today’s cameras. I don’t want the camera company deciding for me which high capacity card to use (and jacking up the price of the camera). I say put in a tiny inexpensive card to allow camera testing, then let the end user pick their favorite card. This camera is already speed demon compared to my Canon A70. Imagine my surprise after plugging in a SanDisk Ultra II card and watching the write speeds cut in half. It was dramatic. Get a fast 10mb SD card and snap pictures at will.
As far as the review by “jjmmdd” I have to say “Either you don’t know how to hold a camera still, or the camera is defective” If it is the former, spend more time on your technique. If it is the latter, then for heaven sakes, get the camera fixed or replaced. Across the board Panasonic puts out some of the most consistently reliable consumer products available. “jjmmdd”, you were so very right. Every positive review written for Panasonic products is written by a Panasonic employee. Dude, put on your aluminum foil hat, check yourself for alien implants, and “buy a vowel”.
Regarding the review by “D. Rosenfeld”, as far as I am concerned, any “movie mode” in a “still camera” is a defect, not a feature. If you need a video camera, buy a video camera. Anyone buying a still camera for its video features is looped. It is consumers like you that make me fear the camera companies will start putting cell phones in digital cameras. D’oh! Oh another thing “D”…. The stabilizer “ROCKS!!!”
It has been a while since I purchased a toy that lived up to my expectations after I lived with it for a while. The Panasonic FZ5 did just that. I’m now dreaming of this same camera with manual focus and a magnesium chassis……mmmmmm, magnesium. Wake up man!!! In the category of “Stellar, Point, and Shoot, Mega-Zoom, Cameras” This baby is getting all 5 stars from me.
(Subliminal message to follow)
Panasonic, please release the DMC-FX8 in the US market….. Panasonic, please release the DMC-FX8 in the US market….. Panasonic, please release the DMC-FX8 in the US market…..
Review by Tony the Tiger for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
Rating:
I’ve had this camera for about 3 mos. now. Several of the good things you’ve probably already heard about it are absolutely true; it is light for an ultra-zoom, the image stabilization makes hand-held low-light or long zoom shots possible, the optics are excellent, it’s got a full range of options, and the price/performance ratio is excellent.
Several of the bad things you may have heard are also true; it’s got more noise in low-light conditions than some other cameras, the ‘easy’ mode is oversimplified and not too useful, and there’s some barrel distortion at the wide end of the range.
My initial experience with this camera (my third digital) was poor. Out of the box, with the battery barely charged, it was erratic. Close-ups and mid-range pictures were sharp and colors were accurate, I was using the ‘easy’ mode and it seemed OK. I could get into portrait range easily (about 2x ‘normal’ magnification; a very useful range to get good pictures of people’s faces, carved objects, and other things with irregular surfaces) and results were crisp, etc. At about 8x or more, though, the stabilizer didn’t seem to be working reliably; and the autofocus was easily fooled by anything — even grass — with strongly parallel lines.
After a few failure pictures (and filling up the teeny-tiny memory card with pictures) I sat down to review my work. I wasn’t happy with the camera. I reviewed the manual, and switched several of my defaults; choosing a smaller focus area and ‘type B’ stabilization. The results were hugely different; now my pictures were stabilized and generally not mis-focused. (With a small focus area, you need to aim to the center of what you want to focus on and ‘lock’ the focus, then re-frame the image, then complete pressing the shutter.) At this point, with relatively little customization, I had a camera that worked the way I work. I wiped the memory and took some more pictures, and was satisfied.
The next day I got a larger memory card. Now I could take a picture in TIFF format (this is a non-lossy format — you can edit a picture repeatedly and it never loses its crispness or color accuracy unless you tamper with those two settings, but the image files are quite large). I compared a TIFF of an outdoor scene with a JPEG of the same scene. The JPEG mode is actually quite good, but in the darkest areas, it had a tiny bit more noise.
Later that evening I took some outdoor shots. The noise problem was striking; I went to my defaults again and switched myself to 80 ISO. At this level, even under the most extreme of conditions, the noise level fell below the level of awareness (that is, you had to really look for it to find it).
I borrowed a Canon S1IS and took some comparison shots. The S1IS costs less than the Panasonic (the S2IS costs considerably more) and has only a 3 Meg imager. Side-by-side, the Canon had less noise at ISO 200, and produced smoother images in general, but was overall less crisp, even when I zoomed the Panasonic in closer so that the pixel-representation was essentially identical. The Canon seemed to have a more tolerant stabilizer; I didn’t have to tweak it at all, but under high magnification it looked like it didn’t stabilize quite as well. The Panasonic seemed to have brighter colors, the Canon seemed to have a slightly warmer cast. With an image magnified in printing, though, the real difference was sharpness, and at all ranges the Panasonic was sharper.
My impression is that the on-board software makes the difference here. Canon strives for smootheness, and gets it. Panasonic went for sharpness, and got there.
Summary — out of the box, the camera’s sort of a solution to no problem — the ‘easy’ mode is too easy, it’s best for moderate zoom indoors, at which point you might as well get a 2 or 3 meg 3x zoom camera and take your snapshots; it’ll be cheaper. If you want to go the extra distance and properly customize the camera for your own use, you’ll find it leaps ahead in capacity. It borders on excellence. It’s not there.
Review by E. A. Rounds for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
Rating:
This review should really be 4.7 stars. The only ‘flaws’ I have found are the absence of manual focusing (if you need that, get the Panasonic FZ20) and spot focus being potentially aimed outside of the little focus box (test where yours is).
I knew about the lack of manual focus going in, and weighed against the larger (3/4 inch wider, 1/2 inch taller, and 1 inch deeper), more expensive 20 oz. FZ20, the smaller 11 oz. FZ5 wins easily. I already own the FZ10 which is very similar to its replacement the FZ20, and its sheer size and weight prevented carrying it regularly. Its bulk is the reason I replaced it.
I’m not certain yet if my spot focus is aimed correctly, but others have had problems, and a few of my pictures have been out of focus. Many of those seem due to hand shake with a slow shutter speed. When zoomed even image stabilization/antishake technology won’t compensate for slow shutter speeds – use the flash or a higher ISO.
You have the flexibility to do that because other than manual focus, you have endless options. At least 4 ISOs, shutter priority mode, aperture priority mode, manual mode, and a variety of pre-programmed shot settings if you don’t want to mess with the details. Fireworks, party, night landscape, night protrait, sports, macro and on, it’s all there. The exposure system is the most accurate I’ve seen in not over-exposing and losing white tones and highlights. The white balance is actually accurate enough that you may need to adjust it, although ‘auto’ does pretty well. Focusing can be whole screen, spot, high-speed spot, etc. It also has two image stabilization modes, one that gives you the greatest accuracy stabilizing, another that makes focusing easier.
An often ignored consideration in picking a camera is whether it has a focus assist light. Inside, especially at night under incandescent light, many cameras may have trouble getting enough light to focus correctly. You won’t notice this in a well-lit store or outside, but when you need a picture of a birthday party or other event, half your shots will be out of focus. This has the light. I believe only Canons also have this feature consistently.
If you’ve made it to this camera, you are probably already aware of the benefits of an extended zoom. It’s wonderful to be in total control and able to get as close as you want to your subject. Since I’m unable to hand-hold even at 6x zoom, image stabilization is vital in an ultrazoom model.
There are cameras available with more megapixels. While more pixels may give you the ability to capture more detail, that must be weighed against the file sizes created by more megapixels. You’d need extra or larger memory cards to hold those files, or compress them and lose resolution in order to fit in a smaller size. If you’re only printing 4x6s or even 5x7s, it’s too small to see that detail. Most web images are less than 1 MP, and a standard 1024×768 screen is also less than 1MP. If you are sending images by email, larger images and files only making it harder to send those to people with dial-up. Don’t buy a camera on megapixels alone – it may be more trouble than it’s worth.
Other than the FZ20, only the Konica Minolta Dimage Z5 is comparable to this model. The Dimage is heavier and larger, making the Panasonic the best option for me so that I carry it as often as possible and get the most from my investment. Other than hard-core photography afficionados who need the manual focus (or a hot shoe which this also lacks), I doubt anyone would be disappointed.
Review by J. M. Libit for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
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I’ve had a Panasonic FZ5 camera since May and have taken it all over the world (Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, China, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand). It takes great pics under virtually all conditions. I’ve probably taken 8,000 pics with it and am VERY pleased. This is my third digital camera and first ultrazoom model.
The 12x optical zoom lens with OIS is fantastic for getting a broad range of shots under nearly all conditions. The biggest gripes I hear from most of my traveling companions are how they can’t get close enough to the subject with their 3x point and shoot cameras or that their pictures with movement in them come out blurry. They see what I shoot with the FZ5, and how small it is, and they’re amazed. Even my friends with $1000+ digital SLRs are amazed at the FZ5 as they lug around their bigger, heavier camera and its extra lenses.
Yes, in low light it has sometimes has problems focusing. But I’ve also taken some low light pictures without tripod (indoors in natural light and outdoors at dusk) that came out quite good. In sunlight and cloudy conditions outdoors, its pictures are incredibly good quality for most amateur photographers. And if the pictures aren’t perfect, I use Picasa and/or Photoshop Elements to make them better.
Yes, you need to make occasional adjustments for white balance, saturation, contrast, and exposure to get a perfect shot. That’s what photography is all about. I found that if you read the manual and practice a bit with the camera’s many features, it can handle almost any scene.
The compact size and light weight make it ideal for travel photography. I carry the camera, an extra battery, a polarizing filter, and a skylight filter all in a small belt pack.
I use the LCD Monitor in a lot of situations to review recorded pictures, but have come to find the LCD Viewfinder to be my preferred method of framing a shot. In tricky situations, the histogram and auto-bracket features are extremely useful for capturing the best shot. Finally, the layout and indicators on the screen display are intuitive and easy to read.
My only knock on this camera is its lens hood adapter – the threads are so shallow that it’s tricky to screw on a filter. A few photo websites and forums give hints on making modifications, but I wish someone would make a replacement adapter that was better than what comes with the FZ5.
When I was shopping, the only other camera I found that I liked that was comparable to the FZ5 was the Canon S2IS (wasn’t yet shipping when I bought the FZ5 for a trip). I think it’s a tossup between the two, but I expect the FZ5 can be found at a lower price. If you want a small, lightweight, ultrazoom camera with a superb lens, I recommend the FZ5.
Review by J. Davis for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5K 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Image Stabilized Optical Zoom (Black)
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My First impression of the FZ5 was that it was smaller and certainly much lighter than I expected. It is of course not a pocket camera, but it is compact enough and so light that you can in theory slip it into a large pants or coat pocket. This is why I choose the FZ5 over the FZ20, but at this point I’m not sure if I will grow to appreciate the class leading portability of the FZ5, or wish for a camera that has more to grab onto. I am getting use to it, but I find myself wanting a thicker, longer grip, so I can better wrap my fingers and have a place for my pinky to go.
The camera can certainly come off as a toy until you take a few pictures. Once you do, you quickly come to appreciate the fast focus and fast shutter release of this camera. The level of flexibility and control offered by the cameras buttons and menu system was intuitive and easy to master. I am no pro, but I knew right away that this camera would make me a better photographer. I love how quick and easy it is to set auto bracketing, adjust EV exposure and flash strength. White balance and ISO settings, are easy to access as the first two options on the menu system. I would have liked the auto focus options and metering modes on the first menu screen also, but it’s not that hard to toggle through the screens. The number of AF modes including the high speed choices are very helpful. The burst mode is cool and very fast and easy to select by a separate button. Too bad the burst modes and the auto bracketing feature don’t work with the flash on. I guess they figure the flash takes too long to regenerate, but I wouldn’t mind waiting until the flash is ready for the next shot. I did quickly bumped up against the FZ5′s lack of a manual focus option, because of it’s low light focusing limitations. There is an AF light, but it only works to maybe 8 feet away. The LCD or EVF don’t show much of anything in low light. The onboard flash has very respectable performance when you let the Auto ISO setting move up to 400. Noise is noticeable on the computer screen with images taken at 400 ISO, but 4×6 prints turn out just fine. If you force the ISO to 80 or 100 the range of the onboard flash is fairly limited. Here than you bump up against the FZ5′s other major weakness … The lack of a flash shoe or even a sync connection
I have taken picture indoors, outdoors with & without flash over the past few days. I have used the cameras excellent macro capabilities and I have given the imaging stabilization on the 12x zoom a run for it’s money. I moved up from a 3 mega pixel camera that is almost 4 years old, so I may be a pushover for the 5 mega pixel images of the FZ5. They are tack sharp with good contrast and natural well saturated colors. The images look nice on the computer screen and print out even nicer. The movie mode on the camera works fine. The resulting movies are relatively low resolution compared to some other super zooms on the market. Not a big issue for me as I also have a Panasonic Digital 3CCD video camera.
The Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) in tandem with the 36-432mm lens is of coarse the real defining feature of the FZ5, and the half a dozen other cameras on the market that have it. As someone who knows what it’s like to try to take a steady picture using a 35mm camera with a 300mm F5.6 lens …. I really appreciate the performance of this camera’s 432mm F3.3 Lens. With a steady hand I have been able to take pictures that I could never have taken with my old 35. I can’t wait to try this camera for wildlife photography! The O.I.S. technology greatly extends what was once possible with a conventional lens of these gigantic focal lengths, but it too eventually runs up against the limitations of the available light. I suspect that is why a few reviewers here on Amazon have complained about blurry picture. They are probably use to point & shoot cameras and assume you can handhold the same shoots at 12x that they use to at 3x. The other issue is that these super zoom cameras can’t focus at full zoom on really close objects. Even in Macro mode I believe the limit is around 5 feet. That isn’t to say this camera can’t be used by a beginner. The program AE mode is easy to use and though I didn’t use it there is also a “Simple” mode. All the auto settings seem to work very well. Exposures, white balance, ISO and flash intensity seem well chosen 95+% of the time.
I would say that I am happy with my decision to buy the FZ5. I looked at the comparable: Canon S2, Sony H1, Kodak P850, Minolta Z6 models and also the Panasonic FZ20 and FZ30. I bought the FZ5 because it is the smallest and lightest camera in this class and about $50 to $150 cheaper than any of the other super zoom (except the Minolta). I couldn’t justify the price tag of the FZ30, so my second choice was the FZ20. It offers a constant F2.8 lens, flash hot shoe and manual focus. I was a little put off by the FZ20′s size and weight, but as I have come to learn this may not be all bad when it comes to getting a grip. The FZ20 is also suppose to be a little slower at auto focusing. My third choice would have been the Canon S2. Based on my research the Canon’s image quality is just a hair behind the Panasonics, but the full feature set offered by the S2 including the VGA movie mode made it a close call.
The plummeting prices of the Digital SLR’s made me stop and take a look. While they have far superior low light capability they still cost twice what the FZ5 cost and you don’t get a O.I.S. 12X zoom. The bottom line is that all the “Super Zoom” camera’s on the market with an O.I.S. 12x zoom lens represent a tremendous value. They are so close in overall performance that it really comes down to your band preferences and maybe the trade off of a couple features. I would recommend the FZ5, but there aren’t really any bad choices.