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Digital Camera Home > Digital Camera Reviews > Panasonic Digital Cameras > Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30

By: Dave Etchells

Panasonic's latest in the Lumix lineup, with an eight-megapixel sensor and high quality long-zoom Leica optics.

<<Intro and Highlights :(Previous) | (Next): User Report>>

Page 2:Comparison with Earlier Panasonic DMC-FZ Models

Review First Posted: 01/18/2006

MSRP $699 US

Comparison With Earlier Panasonic DMC-FZ Models

As of this writing (in early January 2006), Panasonic currently has several long-zoom, optically-stabilized digicams on the market. While there's a steady progression of sensor resolution as you move up the line, other features are not so consistently distributed. Here's a table showing how the features of the different "FZ" models compare:

	DMC-FZ3	DMC-FZ15	DMC-FZ20	DMC-FZ30
List Price (At introduction)	$399	$499	$599	$699
Megapixels (Effective)	3.2	4.0	5.0	8.0
CCD Size	1/3.2"	1/2.5"	1/2.5"	1/1.8"
Size	108 x 68 x 85 mm 4.3 x 2.7 x 3.3 in	128 x 87 x 106 mm 5.0 x 3.4 x 4.2 in	128 x 87 x 106 mm 5.0 x 3.4 x 4.2 in	86 x 141 x 138 mm 3.37 x 5.54 x 5.44 in
Weight (With Batteries)	323 g (11.4 oz)	556 g (19.6 oz)	556 g (19.6 oz)	746 g (1.64 lbs)
Body Material	Plastic	Metal	Metal	Metal
Lens Zoom	12x	12x	12x	12x
Lens equiv. Focal Lengths	35-420 mm	35-420 mm	36-432 mm	35-420 mm
Max. Aperture	f/2.8	f/2.8	f/2.8	f/2.8
Manual Focus Option	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Supports Conversion Lenses	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
LCD Size	1.5"	2.0"	2.0"	2.0"
LCD Pixels	114,000	130,000	130,000	235,000
Stated Flash Range (Auto ISO)	4.6 meters	7.0 Meters	7.0 Meters	7.0 Meters
External Flash Connection	No	No	Hot Shoe	Hot Shoe
ISO Options	Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400	Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400	Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400	Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400
Image Adjustment Options	Sharpness	Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness	Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness	Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness
Scene Modes	9, One "SCN" mode setting	9, Two "SCN" mode settings	9, Two "SCN" mode settings	14, Two "SCN" mode settings
Noise Reduction Adjustment	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shot to shot cycle times (Full res JPEGs)	1.56 sec.	0.54 sec.	0.86	1.20
Sound Recording	Yes	No (Some question on this, but our eval unit didn't seem to record sound clips)	Yes	Yes
Included Memory Card	8 MB	8 MB	16 MB	16 MB