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9
stars
Great little digicam for the price
by potter05
on
April 18, 2005
Pros: Sharp colorful pics under various lighting situations
Cons: I don't use the movie mode, but it could be a lot better.
Summary: I have owned more than 10 digicams, the Olympus C2100 ultra zoom, Canon Digital Rebel, Canon EOS 20D, Sony DSC-T1 and Konica-Minolta A2 to mention a few. I was pleasantly ...
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Summary: I have owned more than 10 digicams, the Olympus C2100 ultra zoom, Canon Digital Rebel, Canon EOS 20D, Sony DSC-T1 and Konica-Minolta A2 to mention a few. I was pleasantly surprized at the quality of the photos taken with the FZ5. Have had the camera a week and taken pics under various lighting situations with no problems. All the fuss about noise might be an issue with last year's FZ20, but not this little gem. Under $500 and well worth it.
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26 out
of 26 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
What little beauty....
by advid
on
April 22, 2005
Pros: fast / accurate / portable
Cons: perhaps... too small
Summary: ... I regularly use Canon 10D or Canon D60 SLR cameras - Put on a big 300 or 400mm lens and you're carrying 4 or 5 lbs of real chunky ...
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Summary: ... I regularly use Canon 10D or Canon D60 SLR cameras - Put on a big 300 or 400mm lens and you're carrying 4 or 5 lbs of real chunky camera... after a few hours you're well aware of the weight...
I ordered the Panasonic FZ5 from Pixmania to use as a lightweight 'take it anywhere' camera and beleive me - that's what I now do... It goes 'everywhere' with me (well almost) ... A superb little camera that will do macro shots at 3 inches one moment and zoom in on distant objects at 400mm the next... You try doing that with a Canon SLR without changing the lens...
When not in use it can 'almost' fit in my coat pocket...no need for a backpack of tripods/lenses/accesories with this little beauty....
I still use the Canons - BUT the FZ5 is now always with me as well... superb quality and highly useable with good 'pin sharp' focussing and accurate exposures... sometimes I wonder why I really need all those 'other' cameras.... anyone wann'a buy a Canon ????? 
Updated... I regularly use Canon 10D or Canon D60 SLR cameras - Put on a big 300 or 400mm lens and you're carrying 4 or 5 lbs of real chunky camera... after a few hours you're well aware of the weight...
I ordered the Panasonic FZ5 from Pixmania to use as a lightweight 'take it anywhere' camera and beleive me - that's what I now do... It goes 'everywhere' with me (well almost) ... A superb little camera that will do macro shots at 3 inches one moment and zoom in on distant objects at 400mm the next... You try doing that with a Canon SLR without changing the lens...
When not in use it can 'almost' fit in my coat pocket...no need for a backpack of tripods/lenses/accesories with this little beauty....
I still use the Canons - BUT the FZ5 is now always with me as well... superb quality and highly useable with good 'pin sharp' focussing and accurate exposures... sometimes I wonder why I really need all those 'other' cameras.... anyone wann'a buy a Canon ?????
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23 out
of 23 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Flawless execution
by dixonke1
on
May 24, 2005
Pros: All day battery, super telephoto, great images, 2nd gen image stabilizer, speedy image processor
Cons: no hot shoe terminal and who cares?
Summary: I waited a whole year to buy the perfect camera withiut blowing a wad of cash. Put the DMC-FZ5 thru the paces at Yosemite National park in all types of ...
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Summary: I waited a whole year to buy the perfect camera withiut blowing a wad of cash. Put the DMC-FZ5 thru the paces at Yosemite National park in all types of conditions - cold temp., direct sunlight, drizzle, even low light and action shots and movies of wildlife. This camera worked from sun up to sunset. Over 240 shots taken and the battery was ready for more. Awesome magazine-quality images. Couldn't be happier. SLR owners wil be envious of the all-in-one capabilities (no need for expensive telephoto or macro lenses) and the camera is half the price of an SLR. Does indoor as capably as outdoor. Unbelievable!
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22 out
of 23 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Everything I wanted was just there
by sunberries
on
March 1, 2005
Pros: The stabilized Zoom!!, Small form factor, lots of semi-pro features, good price
Cons: very light, plastic feel. ..others yet to be discovered.
Summary: It took me quite a while to decide between the Casio EX-505, The Sony DHC-H1 and The Minolta Z3..and finally concluded that the FZ5 is the best overall winner. ...
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Summary: It took me quite a while to decide between the Casio EX-505, The Sony DHC-H1 and The Minolta Z3..and finally concluded that the FZ5 is the best overall winner. The Casio EX 505 was "kawaii" but lacked the zoom and was oh sooo plastic, the Sony was just too pricey for the same ..well not same but actually less features, and Minolta just didnt have anything to beat the FZ5 except on the funky shape department. To sweeten the deal, the FZ5 is the cheapest of em all.
The camera was built for the very beginner and pros alike..even has a "heart" mode..which translates to "dummies mode". If you want a camera that has semi-pro features (this means you know a thing about AF and AE), great zoom, great pictures, bears a someone-who-knows-photography-effect, and all of this to fit comfortably in your daily bag of choice, then save yourself the time, just get this model.
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14 out
of 14 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Nice camera in a small package
by Bergahoo
on
April 14, 2005
Pros: Compact camera with great zoom and stabilization
Cons: Bluish overcast on my first couple of indoor shots...
Summary: This is my third digital camera, but have tested others. Love the compact size of the camera. Won't fit in my pocket comfortably with the lens adapter, but small ...
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Summary: This is my third digital camera, but have tested others. Love the compact size of the camera. Won't fit in my pocket comfortably with the lens adapter, but small enough given the great zoom feature of the camera. Without the lens adapter it's an almost pocket camera.
So far, I've had the camera for less than a day and have only browsed through the manual. Gotten great outdoor shots. Great burst shots of my kid doing cartwheels in the yard! Love the 'quickness' of the shots. My husband's Olympus routinely missed shots from the shutter delay. With this camera I could get several shots of cars speeding by at 35+ mph in front of my house. My old cameras wouldn't have even gotten the tail lights.
My current disappointment is the indoor shots which I'll have to play with and maybe use a filter. Compared to my bosses KM Dimage Z3 the pictures had a real blue overtone and the colors were washed out. Took two pictures of the same exact spot from my chair in my office from two cameras and compared side by side. The Dimage picture had more vibrant colors and warmer overtones (both shots without filters and with flash).
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11 out
of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
I am speachless. For $309 @ butterflyphoto.com no better deal. Its worth every cent.
by RealMcCoy86
on
May 27, 2005
Pros: Not too big, not too small. OIS is incredible, does wonders! 12X Zoom is better that I expected, will always buy a large zoom camera from now on...world of difference.
Cons: No absolute negatives--wish the resolution on movies was a little bigger, but other than that, perfeft.
Summary: Needless to say, upgrading from my piece of crap Kodak 3.2 Easy Share to this, is an exponential night-and-day difference. Going from a crappy camera with zero optical zoom, ...
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Summary: Needless to say, upgrading from my piece of crap Kodak 3.2 Easy Share to this, is an exponential night-and-day difference. Going from a crappy camera with zero optical zoom, no image stabilization, horrible shutter speed, etc...to this? WOW!
Every picture turns up crystal clear, every feature is very easily explained in the manual (not that you really need to read it if you are good with technology, it is pretty straightforward). Movies are great quality with sound as well. Burst mode comes in very handy. And my personal varoite is the incredible macro features.
Im pretty much out of words, I love this camera and will always buy another Panasonic after this. Great goin! Butterflyphoto is the best deal out there!
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11 out
of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
So many features in such a small and cheap camera
by buist
on
May 13, 2005
Pros: Image stabilisation, low weight, small camera, many features, unbelieveable zoom, SD card (cheap), many pixels for a relatively low price
Cons: Small bag hard to find, flash works by hand
Summary: Stunning camera, not many camera's available at such a good price that work so well and come so well equipped with features.
Very strange that it received such a ...
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Summary: Stunning camera, not many camera's available at such a good price that work so well and come so well equipped with features.
Very strange that it received such a mediocre review in PCMAG while DPREVIEW comes with a Highly recommended, which in my opinion is the true rating!
Check it out!
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8 out
of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
I absolutely love all the features and how easy it is to use.
by Haarrdvark
on
July 1, 2005
Pros: Takes pictures quickly and has the best zoom on the market
Cons: I don't think it has any major downfalls.
Summary: I bought the camera about a month ago after extensive research. I think I made an excellent decision. I took it on my vacation and couldn't have been happier ...
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Summary: I bought the camera about a month ago after extensive research. I think I made an excellent decision. I took it on my vacation and couldn't have been happier that I had bought it for the trip. The Zoom has been one of the best features of the camera. I've shot some fantastic closeups of wildlife. The features are easy to access. The heart feature makes it easy to handoff to anyone to shoot a photo for you. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a zoom camera that is very compact and has lots of features. I'm a very satisfied customer!
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6 out
of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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9
stars
Worth the money
by arctech
on
June 7, 2005
Pros: Small & light, powerful zoom and stabilization
Cons: Learning curve
Summary: I was a little cautious about buying this camera, and when I got it, the camera was much smaller and lighter than I expected. Right out of the box we ...
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Summary: I was a little cautious about buying this camera, and when I got it, the camera was much smaller and lighter than I expected. Right out of the box we took over 300 pictures with it the first day inside, ourside, day and night, it worked great, takes some learning, read the manual, but once you get up and running it can be as simple as you want or precise for advanced amature photographers.
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5 out
of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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8
stars
Great camera, lousy customer support
by greggwag
on
August 2, 2005
Pros: Lots of options, easy to use, great image quality, great zoom.
Cons: cutomer support
Summary: This is a great camera, the problem is that it stopped recording images about a month after purchasing it. Panasonic's warrantee policy required that I send the camera at ...
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Summary: This is a great camera, the problem is that it stopped recording images about a month after purchasing it. Panasonic's warrantee policy required that I send the camera at my own expense to a repair facility in Illinois, and wait for them to diagnose the problem. They would then decide whether to send me a new camera or to fix the broken one. As it turns out, the lens assembly needed replacing (a $300 value for parts alone). I still have not seen the camera and it is going on 2 months since I sent it in for repair. I can't see how they expect customers to endure this kind of service.
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4 out
of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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