Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7S Digital SLR Camera, 6.0 MP, 12x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom, 2.5" LCD, Black

The FZ7 features a LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT Lens with a remarkable 12x optical zoom, equivalent to a 35 to 430mm lens on a 35mm film camera. A film camera with an optical zoom this powerful would be too big & heavy to handle it with one hand. The FZ7, on the other hand, is small, lightweight & easy to handle.

It also has Panasonic's Extended Optical Zoom. While causing minimal deterioration by using the center part of the high-resolution CCD, this function magnifies the image to give you total zoom power of 17.5x1, roughly equivalent to a huge 1680mm lens on a 35mm camera.

Jitter from shaky hands is one of the main reasons why cameras produce blurry images. That's why Lumix cameras help solve the problem of unsteady hands with advanced MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer technology. The DMC-FZ7 has a built-in gyrosensor that detects any hand movement & relays a signal to a tiny microcomputer inside the camera, which instantly calculates the compensation needed.

A linear motor then shifts the Optical Image Stabilizer lens as necessary to guide incoming light from the image straight to the CCD. You won't even notice it working-all you'll see are the outstanding results!

The High-Sensitivity Mode helps suppress motion blur by automatically setting the ISO sensitivity to 1600, which increases the shutter speed. It also lets you take clearer, sharper shots in dim lighting without using a flash.

The FZ7 features a large, 2.5" diagonal LCD & the Power LCD function. Simply touch the Power LCD button & the display becomes about 40% brighter for easier viewing on sunny days. The FZ7 also has the world's first developed High-Angle LCD feature, which makes it easier to check the LCD when you're holding the camera high to shoot over a crowd.

The large LCD lets you check the focus, frame the shot, & use functions like 25-thumbnail display & Calendar View in comfort, with no eye strain. Also, we aligned the electronic viewfinder & LCD along the same line of sight to minimize differences in the images you see when framing shots.

You can snap off up to 14 consecutive shots at a swift 3 frames per second in Standard mode. The FZ7 also has Unlimited Consecutive Shooting, so you can keep on shooting until the SD Memory Card is full. The joystick on the back of the camera gives you quick, easy, accurate manual focusing.

You can also use the Manual Focus Assist function, which helps you set perfect focus by magnifying the center of the LCD image & displays a bar graph of the focal distance & depth of field.

The joystick also makes it easy to manually adjust the exposure & focus. You can set the aperture, shutter speed & focus with your thumb while framing the shot on the LCD monitor. Press & hold down the joystick, & you can also instantly change 4 key settings, white balance, ISO sensitivity, image size, & image quality, while viewing the subject on the monitor. There's no need to switch to the menu.