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Panasonic released a wide variety of digital cameras from point and shoot to digital cameras, under the Lumix branding, in the past. Fitted with their German designed Leica lens, the Lumix series have been fairly popular among amateurs and professionals photographers, alike. Panasonic have recently launched the Lumix DMC-FZ150, a super zoom camera with a capability of shooting at 24x. We’ve put it through its paces in our labs and let’s have a look if this new offering from Panasonic is worth the bucks.
It's got the looks
Design and Build Quality
Like most cameras nowadays, the Lumix DMC-FZ150 comes in a complete black finish with a slight hint of silver circling the rim of the lens and on the buttons. Majority of the camera face is covered by the ultrazoom Leica lens, whilst the remaining area is for indentations that provide better grip and support to the user. The back consists of the optical viewfinger, a three-inch swivel LCD screen and a host of buttons that are quite familiar, if you’re pretty used to a Panasonic camera. The three-inch swivel LCD has wide viewing angles with a 270 degree rotation. To the top left, next to the viewfinder is the flash button, along with the focus adjustment dial for the viewfinder.
24x optical zoom
The EVF/LCD button and AF/AE lock buttons are located on the top right next to the jog dial located at the far end. Underneath the dial, the display, play, directional keypad and delete buttons have been placed. The top consists of the various modes, the Power button, a separate record button, a burst mode button and the shutter button, along with the zoom rocker. Just behind the existing flash, the additional slot allows placement of an extra microphone or a bigger flash. The buttons and dials are predominantly made of plastic, but they are quite responsive and deliver the right amount of feedback and resistance. The bottom houses the removable 895mAh Li-ion battery and the SD card slot. Another set of buttons are located on the left, near the lens to toggle between different zoom settings, auto and manual focus.
Nano coated surface to reduce glare
There are silver loops on either sides of the camera for attachment of the neck strap accessory. Connectivity options, include an AV out and HDMI port along with a 3.5 mm jack. At 528 grams, it’s definitely not the lightest camera around, but it’s got a solid build and has the looks as well.
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