Panasonic L78

On first impressions, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8’s styling looks unremarkable. Its tasteful silver body boasts a fairly pronounced hand grip, but is otherwise inconspicuous and aesthetically pleasing. It has an 8.1MP sensor, 2.5-inch screen and the usual array of controls. The qualities that do make it stand out from the crowd, however, are the impressive feature set and the affordable price tag.

On top of the camera, you’ll find the Mode dial, with a comprehensive range of shooting modes – including some manual options – as well as the combined shutter button and zoom lever. These sit alongside the sliding power switch and an E. Zoom (Easy Zoom) button, which we’ll come to in a moment.

Around the back, there’s a modestly sized, yet bright and clear 2.5-inch LCD, along with an array of controls clustered to the right-hand side of the camera body. A sliding switch allows you to toggle between Playback and Shooting mode, while an Exposure button allows you to set your aperture and shutter speed in the Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes. The standard four-way D-pad and Set button combo allows you to navigate menus, as well as providing short cuts to Exposure Compensation, Flash, Macro and Self-Timer.

A Display button alters the information displayed on the LCD and toggles a grid display on and off to aid composition. Finally, a Q. Menu button allows fast access to Stabilizer mode, Burst Shooting, AF mode, White Balance, ISO, Picture Size and LCD mode.
Overall, the interface is simple to get to grips with and the details like the E Zoom and Q. menu buttons make it quick and easy to access functions while shooting. The menu system features large, black text on a white background and an uncluttered design that’s easy to read and navigate.

The LCD itself has a trick or two up its sleeve. Not only does it boast an above-average resolution of 230,000 dots, but it’s light sensitive too, so it automatically adjusts the brightness level to suit the ambient lighting conditions. Images are clear and crisp when being reviewed on-screen and while shooting. Although the LCD offers a wide viewing angle when tilting the camera to the left or right, the same can’t be said for when the camera’s tilted up or down (as you might when shooting overhead or close to the ground). This makes it a little tricky to compose, say, macro shots of flowers at ground level or similar. Despite this minor niggle, the LCD is excellent.

The thing that impressed us the most is the range of shooting modes the LZ8 has to offer – particularly if you consider the price. Not only is there a vast array of scene modes – including Food, Party, Candle Light, Sunset and Aerial Photo, as well as the usual presets – but there’s also Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes. This is a real plus for more advanced photographers who want to break out of the Scene modes and take greater control over the technical aspects of their photography. The LZ8 also offers Exposure Compensation, +/- 2 EV steps, allowing to fine-tune your exposure settings.

Intelligent Auto mode offers a further shooting option, and combines the camera’s optical image stabilisation system – Mega O.I.S. – along with the Intelligent ISO Control, Intelligent Scene Selector, Face Detection and Quick AF functions to optimise your shooting experience. Mega O.I.S and Intelligent ISO Control work together to eliminate camera shake, while Intelligent Scene Selector automatically chooses from the most frequently used scene modes, according to your current shooting situation. The LZ8’s Face Detection system recognises up to 15 human subjects and automatically sets the focus and exposure according to the position of your subject(s) within the scene. The Quick AF system detects and focuses on your subject, without you having to half-depress the shutter button first. This speeds up the shooting process, reducing the number of missed opportunities.

One niggle we have is that the LZ8 runs on AA batteries. They may be easy enough to come by – making it convenient to pick up replacements in most urban areas – but you can’t beat a lithium-ion battery in terms of longevity. The first set of batteries that came with the camera lasted for just 24 shots before giving up the ghost. We replaced these with some rechargeable Eneloop batteries, which fared better, lasting for 176 shots at a mixture of settings, with and without flash.

The in-camera slide show feature is one that you’ll either love or hate. It allows you to play back all of the photos on your memory card, or just a selection of your best photos, complete with music. You can choose from a range of styles: Natural, Slow, Swing or Urban. You can also turn the music off if you just want to admire the beauty of your images alone.
Image quality is very good for a camera in this price bracket. Photos taken at low ISO sensitivities in good light are clear, sharp and surprisingly detailed, with accurately reproduced colours to boot. All in all, the LZ8 offers a decent feature set that’s not worlds apart from its pricier big brother, the L10. It certainly ticks the value-for-money box and is worth considering if you’re on a tight budget.