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Select a Panasonic digital camera ----- 2009-2010 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 / FZ38 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 / ZX1 ----- 2009 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 / TZ7 Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1 / TZ6 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX580 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX48 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS25 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 / FT1 ----- 2008 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 ----- 2007-2008 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33 ----- 2007 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX30 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX12 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX10 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ6 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS75 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70 ----- 2006 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS2 ----- 2005-2006 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX9 ----- 2005 models ----- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ4 / FZ5 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 / LZ2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS1 -- 2004 & earlier -- Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20 / FZ15 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ10 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX7 / FX2

Category: Beginner to Serious Amateur

HANDLING & FEEL

The Panasonic FZ18 has slightly increased in dimensions and weight but it is still very compact and light (117.6 x 75.3 x 88.2 mm / 4.63 x 2.96 x 3.47 in.; 360 g / 0.79 lb). A deeper molded handgrip provides better handling and it's possible to hold the camera with one hand. It is most comfortably carried slung over a shoulder or around the neck. It uses the Secure Digital (SD) memory card.

The camera rests naturally in the palm of your left hand, with the fingers of that hand wrapped securely around the lens barrel which juts out from the body at about 4.7 cm (1.6 in.). When the camera is turned ON, the lens extends an extra 0.8 cm / 0.2 in. (W) and 2.5 cm / 0.8 in. (T).

Startup time is about 2 sec., shot to shot times about 1 sec., and there is no practical shutter lag (AF lag will depend on your subject contrast and lighting). Autofocus is fast and precise, even at long focal lengths (with usual slight AF lag) and low-light (with AF-assist).

If you choose RAW file format, the camera saves an image in RAW in approx. 3 sec. and in RAW+JPEG in approx. 4 sec. A Fine image takes about 3 MB of disk space, a Standard about 1.5MB, RAW about 13MB. Note that RAW+JPEG saves a RAW plus a (Standard quality only) JPEG image for quick review purposes.

Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion battery that can take about 400 shots with LCD on (CIPA standard) on a fresh charge and a Battery Charger DE-A43 that will recharge a new battery in approx. 120 min. The Battery Charger is of the type that plugs directly into a wall electrical socket.

The Terminal compartment is conveniently on the left side of the camera (viewed from the back) with a hinged plastic door that opens -- and stays open at -- 90° (which is way better than those rubber flaps that you've got to struggle with), which makes it easy to connect the USB cable.

The flash is powerful and can reach up to 6m on ISO Auto. You need to manually pop it up before it can be used -- the type I prefer. When closed, you won't be surprised by the flash suddenly popping up and firing when you don't want it to. Press a small button and it pops up; you can then use the RIGHT ARROW to select 4 flash options: Auto, Auto Red-eye reduction, Forced On, and Slow Sync Red-eye reduction. A fifth mode, Forced On Red-eye reduction, is available only in the PARTY and CANDLE LIGHT scene modes. To turn the flash off, simply close it.

Controls

Mouseover image for closeup of controls

The top of the camera has the Shutter Release Button with the Zoom Lever around the collar, the AF Macro/Focus button, the AF/MF button, the Power ON/OFF switch, and the Mode Dial with usual PASM modes, plus Custom, Print, Movie, SCN (Scene Mode), Night Portrait, Sports, Scenery, Portrait, iA (Intelligent AUTO), and Playback. The scene modes that are directly accessible on the Mode Dial have a number of sub choices.

The shutter release button could probably do with a further slight angular rotation toward the front. It sits inside a "well" (the Zoom Lever collar) that functions effectively as a rest for your index finger, especially for those who are prone to be "trigger-happy."

The Zoom Lever is a collar around the shutter release button and the Power switch is just beside the Mode Dial. The Zoom lever has a short angle of motion. It only takes a quick 3 sec. to zoom all the way from wide-angle to 18x telephoto, and there are about 41 intermediate steps: If you just toggle the zoom lever slightly, the zooming can be slowed down to @ 7 sec. If Zoom Resume is set in SETUP, then the zoom position is remembered when the camera is turned off, and restored when the camera is turned back on.

The "stepped" zoom makes for a very smooth transition from wide-angle to max. telephoto and allows incredibly precise framing especially at the wide-angle end of the zoom.

The Image Stabilizer is selected from the Menu (sorry, no button anymore) and provides 3 possible options: set it to OFF when putting the camera on a tripod; MODE1, if you want to see the effect of image stabilization at all times; MODE2, for the most effective stabilization, which takes place just before the image is taken.

Press the AF/MF button to toggle between Auto Focus and Manual Focus modes. In MF mode, the central portion of the screen or full screen is enlarged (depends on your selection in SETUP) and provides a pretty clear view of what you are focusing on. You push the Joystick up and down to focus. It works quite well, though it depends on your subject matter whether you'll be able to tell when it snaps into focus. In the example above, it was pretty easy to see the "K" snap into focus.

The Mode Dial rotates easily (but not loosely), and you can use your thumb to do that while holding the camera. It clicks solidly in place and I've not had any problem where the setting on the Mode Dial is inadvertently changed.

You can record movies with sound (until the memory card is full or 2GB is reached -- when using a super high-speed SD memory card) at either 848 x 480 or 640 x 480 or 320x240 pixels at 30fps or 10fps. You can preset optical zoom before any movie mode recording, but cannot zoom (optical or digital) during movie recording. Sound is always recorded.

As you can see, you can't record too much onto the approx. 27MB internal memory. We recommend a 2GB or larger capacity high-speed (at least 10MB/s) SD memory card.

In Aperture-Priority, Shutter-Priority and Manual modes, the Joystick conveniently adjusts Aperture and/or Shutter Speed. In Manual mode, an under/overexposure scale displays for about 10 sec. to indicate what exposure the current aperture/shutter speed settings will result in. This "Manual Exposure Assistance" is an invaluable approximation in obtaining correctly exposed pictures.

Speaking of exposure compensation, you access it by pressing the Up Arrow. Use the left and right arrow (or Joystick) to dial in a negative or positive exposure compensation. To dismiss the exposure compensation menu, just half-press the shutter release button or take the picture. If you instead press the Up Arrow again, you are now in Auto Bracketing mode and can select from ± 1/3EV, ± 2/3EV or ± 1EV. Press the Up Arrow again to set the Flash compensation. Note that Auto Bracketing remains in effect until you either set it back to OFF or turn off the camera.

WB Adjustment is also available but is now accessible from the Menu.

At the bottom of the camera, the tripod mount thread is metal. There is a very nice Battery/Card door and the battery has a latch to keep it from accidentally falling. You won't be able to change battery or card when the camera is on a tripod.

The Panasonic FZ18 uses the Secure Digital (SD) memory card. It has approx. 27MB of Internal Flash Memory that will record about 6 full-res images. A 2GB SD card will record about 499 full-res images. I recommed using as large a capacity SD card you can afford. The card is inserted into its slot at the bottom of the camera (same compartment where the battery goes) with its contact going in first and facing the rear of the camera. The diagram showing which way to insert the card and battery is not that clear, but fortunately there's only one way each will go in.

Panasonic FZ18 Silver with Lens Hood

The camera comes standard with a lens cap (and retaining string so you don't lose it), and a very useful lens hood to guard against flare and that adds even a better surface for your left hand to hold.

The outer lens barrel is threaded to accept either a hood adaptor (supplied) or a Lens Adaptor DMW-LA3 (optional). The hood adaptor is used to attach the supplied Lens Hood. To attach the lens hood, just screw the hood adaptor on first, then easily fix the Lens Hood to the adaptor.

Panasonic FZ18 with optional Tele Converter

To attach a conversion lens -- either a teleconverter (1.7x) or closeup lens (both optional) -- you would remove the hood adaptor and screw in the optional Lens Adaptor first.

The inner lens barrel is also threaded and is used to attach a MC Protector (to protect the lens - DMW-LMC46, optional) or ND Filter (DMW-LND46, optional).

Note that it is not possible to use the conversion lenses together with the MC Protector or ND Filter.

A cool safety feature is that if you leave the lens cap on the lens barrel when you switch the camera ON, the camera lens extends, bumps into the lens cap, and won't try to extend the lens past it. This prevents damage to the sensitive lens mechanism. A warning message will display on the LCD monitor to remove the lens cap and press the RIGHT ARROW.

If you are going to use flash, you need to remove the lens hood or the flash light will cast the shadow of the lens hood on the bottom part of your pictures. Likewise, if you are going to need the AF-assist light, remove the lens hood. The AF-assist light is easily blocked by the thumb of your left hand (if your left hand is holding the lens barrel), so be aware of this when you need to use it.

LCD & Menus

The LCD (188K pixels) and EVF (207K pixels) gain up in low-light. The LCD has a fast enough refresh rate for a smooth display.

Besides displaying a Live Histogram or a framing grid, an interesting Out-of-Frame display provides a 2-in. image unemcumbered with any text and symbols (displayed outside of the image area). Note that you can now specify in SETUP whether you want to display exposure info and/or Histogram when the grid displays. You can also display a Histogram in playback but no Black and White Highlights.

Display with Info	With Live Histogram
Out-of-Frame	Framing Grid Lines

The menu structure is very easy to understand and use. For some of the options that affect the image, the menu is transparent to show the effect of selecting that option. There are 4 RECord and 5 SETUP pages worth of menu settings.

	MENU 1 of 4 - White Balance - WB Adjust - Intelligent ISO - ISO Sensitivity - Aspect Ratio
	MENU 2 of 4 - Picture Size - Image Quality - Audio Recording - Metering Mode - AF Mode
	MENU 3 of 4 - Stabilizer - Continuous AF - AF Assist Lamp - AF/AE Lock - Digital Zoom
	MENU 4 of 4 - Color Effect - Picture Adjustment - Flip Animation - Conversion - Clock Set
	SETUP 1 of 5 - Clock Set - World Time - Custom Menu - Monitor Brightness - Guide Line
	SETUP 2 of 5 - Travel Date - Play On LCD - Auto Review - Power Save - Zoom Resume
	SETUP 3 of 5 - MF Assist - Beep - AF Beep - Shutter - Volume
	SETUP 4 of 5 - No. Reset - Reset - Video Out - TV Aspect - m/ft
	SETUP 5 of 5 - Scene Menu - Dial Display - Language
	LANGUAGE 1 of 2
	LANGUAGE 2 of 2
	WB 1 of 2 - Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Flash
	WB 2 of 2 - Halogen, , White Set 1, White Set 2, Manual
	ISO 1 of 2 - Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800
	ISO 2 of 2 - 1250, 1600
	PICT. ADJ. - Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Noise Reduction
	CONVERSION - Use when attaching optional tele conversion lens (1.7x more) and close-up lens (DMW-LC55, optional). - Optional lens adaptor DMW-LA3 is required.
	SCENE MODE - Food, Party, Candle Light, Sunset, High Sensitivity - Baby 1, Baby 2, Pet, Panning, Starry SKy - Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial Photo
	SCENE MODE HELP - Press the DISPLAY button to display a brief Help Screen
	EXPOSURE COMPENSATION - -2EV to +2EV in 1/3EV steps - A Histogram conveniently displays
	IMAGE QUALITY - Fine (Low Compression) - Standard (High Compression) - RAW - RAW + JPEG (8M)
	PICT. SIZE - 8M (3264x2448) - 5M EZ (2560x1920) - 3M EZ (2048x1536) - 2M EZ (1600x1200) - 0.3M EZ (640x480)
	MANUAL Top to Bottom, Left to Right: - M=Manual, Flash Auto Red-eye, WB 2, ISO 100, 8M Image Size, Fine Image Quality, Battery Level Indicator - Image Stabilizer MODE 2, AF Macro, Space left for 490 images - Flash Compensation +2/3, SD Card used - Auto Power LCD ON - Multiple Pattern metering mode, AF Lock, Live Histogram - Manual Exposure Assistance - Aperture F5.0, Shutter Speed 1/200s, Joystick indicator
	MOVIE ASPECT RATIO - 4:3 - 16:9
	MOVIE PICT MODE 4:3: - 640x480 30fps - 640x480 10fps - 320x240 30fps - 320x240 10fps 16:9: - 848x480 30fps - 848x480 10fps
	MOVIE - 22m47s left to record
	HISTOGRAM - Histogram is displayed in Shooting and Playback mode _ It is possible to display Framing Guide, Exposure Info and Histogram together
	SAVING CUSTOM MODES 1 of 2 - 3 Custom Modes are available in SETUP - To save your Custom Modes, first set the camera to the settings you desire, then access SETUP and save the camera settings as C1, C2 or C3
	SAVING CUSTOM MODES 2 of 2 - Phrasing is a bit confusing. - Should instead read: "Overwrite CUSTOM SET 1 with current camera settings? Yes, No"
	USING CUSTOM MODES - To use a saved Custom Mode, rotate Mode Dial to CUSTOM, and select C1, C2 or C3 - Press SET to select that Custom Mode - If you want to view the camera settings saved under a Custom Mode, select "i"
	VIEWING CUSTOM MODES 1 of 3 - Here is the first page of C1
	VIEWING CUSTOM MODES 2 of 3 - Here is the second page of C1
	VIEWING CUSTOM MODES 3 of 3 - Here is the first page of C3 that I saved as RAW+JPEG mode

The controls are well laid out at the back, and intuitive in actual use. Definitely "designed by a photographer."

A couple of other nice features: the hinged plastic Terminal door opens up wide to allow unimpeded access [don't you hate fighting with a rubber flap?] to the AV OUT/DIGITAL (USB) socket and DC IN socket. Last, but not least, the tripod socket is metal, though not inline with the lens.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 is built for photography, with intuitive-to-use controls. You get the distinct impression that much thought went into its design for ease-of-use. It is fun to use this camera, and you feel confident that your images will consistently come out with very good quality. Throw in a very effective image stabilization and a High Speed (and accurate) AF function, and you have a long zoom digital camera that is a pleasure to use.