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The camera does require some prior knowledge of products of this kind and does repay thorough scrutiny of the instructions. Initial appraisal is that, like all cameras of this type, it works best in good light. Focusing is brilliant, for instance, for birds flying against a bright sky - really quick and accurate. Everyone raves about its video capabilities, and although I did not buy it for this reason, the picture quality seems crystal clear. I did buy it for macro images, and early ones I've taken are a definite improvement on my old Canon Powershot. The real drawback is that if you use some of the gimmicks like bursts of shots, or even the zoom lens frequently, the battery life is quite poor. Worse still, it takes nearly as long to charge it again as it did to run it down. If you go out on safari or the like for a whole day, you are going to need 3 or 4 batteries to ensure you are not left high and dry. Still, if you can afford the camera, you are not going to grumble at the price of another few batteries.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Firstly my decision to buy a refurbished camera direct from Panasonic proved to be a good one. The camera is so far as I can tell brand new, with all new cables. Good value to. I've given the camera 4 stars, but I've also said it's not easy to use, seem to be contradictory statements. It's not easy to use for the simple reason there are so many options to choose from. If your happy using their auto functions then it obviously is easy to use. I also said image quality wasn't good? How do I judge good? Compared to my DSLR, then no, it's not. Compared to my compact camera, then the quality is better. The video quality is superb though, I'm still wading through some of the many options there. If your comparing the image quality from this camera to other bridge type cameras then again the image quality is good. It's a complicated world out here! One of the few problems I've noticed so far is that the auto focus isn't very clever, or fast enough for my liking. I was taking some bird shots with the bird clearly in the focus area, but the camera refused to focus on it, preferring a nearby branch instead. Now it's quite possible this is a daft user error, more testing is needed before I'm sure it's a camera problem. Battery life is OK, providing you don't over use the rear screen. I'd certainly recommend carrying a spare battery though, I needed to swap mine with less than a days casual use. It switches on quickly and has some impressive shooting options. Overall though I like the camera, its light weight is a big advantage to me. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Refurbished
I wanted a good quality bridge camera that had a decent zoom which was good in general use, was of a specification that I could grow in to, and had a large grip to match my large hands. So far, it has exceeded my expectations, although I have yet to really test image quality of enlarged photos. More regular use will improve my understanding of its considerable features, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the learning process. To this end, the advanced instruction manual is good to follow. The fast lens and the handling qualities made this the ideal camera for me.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I wanted to scale down from my DSLR with all the lenses and baggage that came with it and after extensive research it came down to this. Having said "easy to use" it does take a while to familiarise with all the controls. To be honest, it takes such high quality pictures on auto mode that it's very tempting just to leave it there and snap merrily all day. Amazing zoom, maybe not quite in the same league as the Nikon B700 that I also tried, but then too much magnification makes it very difficult to hold a steady and focussed shot, besides, with the software that comes with the camera you can crop and zoom to your heart's content. When you get to my age it's well worth taking a tripod with you! Video quality is excellent and again, with the software you can capture fabulous quality single frames. All in all this is a tremendous camera and great value for money, I don't think I'll be going back to SLRRead full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Found it a bit complicated at first but once i had got it set right with help from a friend found it took great pictures very happy with it
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Refurbished