Review of the Lumix DMC-FH7 Compact Camera

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH7 (also known as DMC-FS22) is a slim and stylish digital camera with a robust metal alloy body, a 3-inch touchscreen, and the intelligent Venus Engine IV image processor, making it a great companion for every journey.

Design of the Lumix DMC-FH7 Compact Camera

Similar to its counterparts in the Lumix DMC-FH series, the Lumix DMC-FH7 travel camera (also known as Lumix DMC-FS22 in some countries) is constructed from a combination of high-quality plastic and metal. The majority of the camera body and frame are made of plastic, while the front panel is encased in metal. This compact camera by Panasonic measures 95 x 56 x 19 mm overall, and weighs 126 g including the battery.

A metal plate covers the front of the camera, housing the 28mm lens slightly offset to the right, with the Lumix logo and flash on the left.

The functional buttons on the Lumix DMC-FH7 camera have been completely removed to utilize the touchscreen.

The Lumix DMC-FH7 camera is a slightly different version compared to its FH series siblings, as Panasonic has eliminated most of the functional buttons alongside the screen. Instead, there is only a single 'M' button placed to the right of the camera, through which all settings or photo access are done. Subsequently, all operations will be performed entirely on the camera's touchscreen.

The photo capture button and power switch are still retained.

Although the touchscreen supports zoom functionality, as well as photo capture, Panasonic still keeps these two physical buttons on the top side of the camera, right next to where the toggle power button is located. The battery compartment and memory card slot are both placed on the bottom side along with the tripod mount.

The battery compartment and tripod mount are conventionally positioned at the bottom of the camera.

Features of the compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera

In terms of sensor technology, the compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera, like its siblings, is equipped by Panasonic with a CCD sensor measuring 6.08 x 4.56 mm, boasting a resolution of 14 MP. Accompanied by a 28 mm lens from Leica, 4x optical zoom, providing a focal length of 28-112 mm in photo shooting mode, aperture ranging from f3.1-6.5, along with Optical Image Stabilisation (Mega OIS) capability. The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera utilizes Venus Engine IV image processing supporting 9-point autofocus, with the fastest time to capture an image approximately 0.35s.

In Macro photo mode, at the shortest focal length of 28 mm, you can get as close as 5 cm to the nearest subject for focusing, and 50 cm at maximum focal length.

The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera supports a fairly wide ISO range from 100 to 1600.

The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera supports a fairly wide ISO range from 100 to 1600, with HiAuto extending up to 6400. However, for the best-looking photos with clear details, it's advisable not to set ISO higher than 800. In necessary low-light conditions, utilize the assisting flash, which is most effective within a range of approximately 3.3 m.

Belonging to the compact camera category, Lumix DMC-FH7 employs an electronic shutter with the fastest shutter closing time being 1/1600s, and the longest being 1/60s.

Being an affordable compact camera, Lumix DMC-FH7 only supports JPEG image format. The camera supports various memory card types such as SD/SDHC/SDXC.

Being a budget-friendly compact camera, Lumix DMC-FH7 only supports JPEG image format, with support for various memory card types such as SD/SDHC/SDXC, along with 70 MB of built-in memory.

The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera is capable of recording videos in three resolutions: 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, all at 30 frames per second, saved in motion JPEG format, with mono sound.

The USB port serves both as a connection to the computer and as an output for video.

The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera has only one standard USB connection port, through which you can connect the camera to a personal computer. This port also serves as a video output, albeit only capable of mono sound playback.

And perhaps the most noteworthy feature of the Lumix DMC-FH7 camera's touchscreen is the ability to focus by simply touching the screen and selecting the necessary settings modes.

Image quality of the compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera

The compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera doesn't boast the finest hardware naturally, as it's a rather inexpensive travel camera, but thanks to the support from the Venus Engine IV image processor, the image quality this camera delivers is quite good.

Image captured at 28 mm focal length, f/3.1 aperture, and ISO 100.

Sharp images, along with smooth details, are obtained with ISO range from 100 to 400, and the shortest lens focal length of 28 mm.

Image captured at 48 mm focal length, f/4 aperture, and ISO 100.

Image captured at 70 mm focal length, f/5 aperture, and ISO 100.

Image captured at 112 mm focal length, f/6.5 aperture, and ISO 100.

We tested zooming the lens to focal lengths of 48 mm and 112 mm, and surprisingly, the Lumix DMC-FH22 camera still produced very good quality images.

Conclusion

Compact, convenient, with a good image processor, the compact Lumix DMC-FH7 camera is truly worth taking along whenever you travel.

Minh Huong

(As per photographyblog)

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