Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 Review

Review based on a production Panasonic DMC-FZ5

Announced just before PMA in February 2005, the DMC-FZ5 is one of two direct sucessors to the popular (and dpreview Highly Recommended) DMC-FZ3. Like its predecessor the FZ5 sports a Leica-branded DC Vario-Elmarit zoom with a whopping 12x optical range (35-420mm equiv), though the larger sensor has resulted in a slightly slower F2.8-F3.3 aperture range. It also boasts the same newly-improved optical image stabilization system and the Venus II engine, which, according to Panasonic's documentation, is now equivalent to shooting at 3 or 4 shutter speed steps faster - (the figure for the FZ20 was quoted as 2 or 3 shutter speed steps).

Aside from the boost from 3 to 5 million pixels (bringing it in line with the high-end DMC-FZ20), the FZ5 has a range of relatively minor changes over the FZ3, including longer battery life, a repositioned shutter release and improved grip design, larger LCD screen, orientation sensor and a new fast focus mode, which Panasonic claims gives a 30% improvement on the previous model.

• 5.0 million effective pixels
• 36 - 432mm (equiv.) F2.8-3.3, 12x Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT Zoom Lens
• Mega O.I.S (optical image stabilisation)
• 1.8-inch colour screen
• New fast focus mode
• Improved battery life
• New orientation sensor
• Venus II image processing engine
• 9 scene modes and full photographic control
• TIFF mode
• Ultra-fast startup, focus, shutter lag and shot-to-shot time
• 'Simple' mode for novice photographers

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ5 vs FZ20 (differences)

	Panasonic FZ20	Panasonic FZ5
Lens Max Aperture	F2.8	F2.8-3.3
Flash hot shoe	Yes	No
Built-in flash range	7m (22.9 ft)	4.5m (14.7 ft)
Manual focus	Yes	No
Orientation sensor	No	Yes
Screen	• 2.0-inch • 130,000 pixels	• 1.8-inch • 130,000 pixels
Weight	556 g (19.6 oz)	326 g (11.5 oz)
Size (HxWxD)	87 x 128 x 106 mm (3.4 x 5 x 4.2 in)	68 x 102 x 85 mm (2.7 x 4 x 3.3 in)
Battery life (CIPA)	240	300
Converter lenses	Optional	Not available

The FZ5 closes the gap between the high end and mid-range Panasonic 'super zoom' to such a degree that the arguments for the DMC-FZ20 come down to size (some people prefer the bigger camera), flash (the FZ20 has a hot-shoe for external units and a more powerful built-in flash) and manual focus. Although Panasonic doesn't sell add-on lenses for the FZ5, third-party solutions are available.

Color options

Like the FZ20, the FZ5 will be available in two colors; black and silver. The camera used for this review is a silver model, though we much prefer the 'mini FZ20' look of the black version.

Panasonic DMC-FZ5 Key specifications

* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

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