Panasonic’s DMC-TZ7 Hybrid Camera
Panasonic Lumix cameras go from strength to strength with technological advancements designed to offer the ultimate in picture performance and user convenience. Building on its digital still camera achievements, Panasonic presents a completely new photography concept – in the form of the new DMC-TZ7 hybrid camera. Offering all of the features that Panasonic’s multiple award winning TZ range of cameras is renowned for – including a remarkable 12x optical zoom in a compact, stylish body and 25mm ultra wide angle lens – the TZ7 goes one step further to offer AVCHD Lite motion picture recording, making the TZ7 a truly versatile proposition.
More Detail in a Single Frame
The TZ7 features a high-quality LEICA DC VARIO ELMAR 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens with a 12x optical zoom. A lens like this, with a range from 25mm to 300mm in 35mm film equivalence, is almost inconceivable in such a small, lightweight camera. Comprising 10 elements in 8 groups, including 2 ED lenses and 2 aspherical lenses with 3 aspherical surfaces, and utilizing new lens material in its design, this advanced lens unit realizes the outstandingly slim and compact body while passing Leica’s stringent standards to deliver exceptional optical performance. The Extra Optical Zoom function that extends zoom power to 21.4x (at 3-megapixel resolution) by using the center part of the large CCD to bring subjects even closer without deteriorating the image quality.
The TZ7 has a 12-megapixel CCD and shoots with up to 10-megapixel resolution. This is because the CCD on the TZ7 is multi-aspect that can reproduce images shot with the lens set from 25mm to 300mm in any of three aspect ratios – 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9 – so you can always capture dynamic, richly expressive shots with a wide perspective. The Multi Aspect mode lets you to take an image in all three aspect ratios simultaneously then choose the one that best suits your scene after shooting.
AVCD Lite for Long Recording of HD Motion Images
In addition to Motion JPEG images , the TZ7 can record high-definition motion picture in AVCHD Lite. It features almost doubling the recording time in HD quality compared with the conventional Motion JPEG format. The TZ7 also features Dolby Digital Stereo Creator to record high quality audio, so you can match the beautiful motion images with outstanding stereo sound.
Including features more commonly seen in camcorders, such as stereo microphone, a wind cut function to block out most of the noise from the back ground wind and audio sampling 48kHz – the TZ7 is a true hybrid – a single model that performs admirably as both a camera and a camcorder. Not forgetting ease of use, Panasonic has paid particular attention to achieving smooth, easy operation in both modes through features such as an independent movie recording button,
Now on the TZ7, the popular iA (Intelligent Auto) is also available in motion image recording. Optical Image Stabilizer (O.I.S.) helps prevent handshake when using high-powered zoom. Face Detection automatically detects a face in the frame and adjusts focus, exposure, contrast, and skin complexion so it always turns out beautifully. Intelligent Exposure continually checks the ambient light level and adjusts the exposure setting as conditions change to prevent blown highlights and blocked shadows. And Intelligent Scene Selector automatically switches between Normal, Portrait, Macro, Scenery, and Low Light modes according to the situation to optimize visual quality.
Motion image recording can be started by pressing a dedicated button on the camera’s back panel – an extremely quick, convenient way to start motion image recording. Most of the camera’s settings will be carried over when switched to motion picture recording. The powerful 12x optical zoom is available in movie recording, too.
The TZ7 also carries over 16 different scene modes in movie recording. In AVCHD Lite recording, you can select from three levels of motion image quality: SH (17 Mbps), H (13 Mbps) and L (9 Mbps).
Still or motion images recorded in AVCHD Lite on SD Memory Cards are easy to view on a Panasonic VIERA TV . Simply insert the card into the VIERA Image Viewer (SDHC/SD Memory Card slot) on VIERA TV or DIGA Blu-ray Disc Player to playback your contents. Alternatively, you can use an optional Mini HDMI cable to output the still and motion images you took from the TZ7 directly to the TV for VIERA Link. You can take maximum advantage of Lumix camera’s playback functions including the slideshow in which both still and motion images integrated in the timeline, category playback according to the scene mode you used or calendar display and so on. All control is possible using only the TV’s remote control.
In addition, with the included software PHOTOfunSTUDIO HD Edition, it is easy to view and edit your recorded contents. You may also choose to upload your videos to YouTube or burn them to a DVD disc for archiving.
Newly added Face Recognition
With the TZ7, taking great photos is that easy. Panasonic incorporated Intelligent Auto mode in pursuit of the ultimate ease of operation and the reduction of misshots. This mode is also further advanced with the inclusion of AF tracking and Face Recognition feature – a function that ‘remembers faces’.
