The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 features a whopping 18x optical zoom, but are its images worth magnifying?
Review summary of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18:
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 Both point-and-shooters and low-end prosumers have far better choices on the market than the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, given how oversized its body is and how badly it handles noise. However, considering its impressive zoom-range, optical image-stabilization, manual controls, and support for RAW, beginners or passive amateurs without much pocket change to spare could find it a good match. Release: October 2007. Price: $320.
Pros: 18x optical zoom, optical image-stabilization, full manual-mode, RAW support
Cons: terrible noise distortion, middling image-quality for its price, narrow aperture range
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Full Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 Review:
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Design - Very good
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 is necessarily bulky to accommodate its heavy-duty lens, but the camera has been suitably designed to feel purposeful and substantial instead of merely oversized. A deep hand-grip runs the length of the right side and the lens barrel provides another hold, meaning the DMC-FZ18 can be handled similarly to large prosumers and SLRs, but is still small and lightweight enough to point-and-shoot like a traditional compact.
The DMC-FZ18 does not have a zoom ring on its massive lens, but along the shutter-release it does feature a psuedo-variable zoom control: twist the control a little, and it zooms slowly; twist it a lot, and it zooms quickly. Manual focus is invariably controlled via the four-way controller on the back, which can be a tad cumbersome.
While the camera is hardly sleek, the DMC-FZ18 does have a matter-of-fact industriousness that fits its ‘starter camera' appeal. Our only complaints are over its needlessly undersized buttons and the bizarre decision to protract the lens barrel, such that the camera is considerably longer than necessary.
Features - Very good
On one hand, the DMC-FZ18 offers a fully-featured manual mode and, even more surprisingly, support for RAW shooting. On the other hand, it's saddled with a mere 1/2.5" CCD sensor, the same you'd find in the cheapest of compact cameras. So, in light of its imposing, ‘take-me-seriously!' body, is the DMC-FZ18 just a faux-prosumer camera? Or, considering its price, is it more a Frankenstein point-and-shoot, its support for RAW a grafted-on extension beyond what nature intended?
The truth is, the camera is only going to frighten point-and-shooters, and prosumers wouldn't find it very useful. However, for beginners looking to learn basic photography, or for amateurs interested in the process but not enough to justify the expense of a DSLR, the DMC-FZ18 could be a $400 godsend. As seen below, it doesn't take the best pictures – a Canon compact for one-third the price performs better – but its inclusion of RAW and manual-mode support could make it a superb learning-tool.
The DMC-FZ18 also packs a phenomenal 18x optical zoom into a comparatively tiny body. Better yet, its effective optical image-stabilization means that sharp photos are a possibility at the upper-end of the zoom range, even when hand-held. The camera does lack most of the niftier features seen in point-and-shoots, such as smile-shutter, but that's an acceptable trade-off for RAW support.
Interface / Software - Good
The 2.5" viewfinder on the DMC-FZ18 is so bright and distinct that it's among the best of the LCD displays we've seen, and the menu systems are intuitive and quickly navigable. Some of the menu selections are a bit cryptic (the optical-stabilization settings are descriptively labeled "mode1" and "mode2"), which means we were digging in the user's manual when an intuitive interface would have done the trick.
As for software, the camera's RAW support is partially diminished by the fact that, of the Photoshop editions, only Photoshop CS3 supports it natively; otherwise users have to rely on the bundled "SILKYPIX RAW Developer" software, which, no surprise, is a far cry from Adobe's Camera Raw utility. This isn't so much Panasonic's fault as it is a common failing of the quagmire that is the RAW format. Still, any user who doesn't have the very latest version of Photoshop will be subjected to SILKYPIX, which is arduously slow and lacking in features.
Otherwise the DMC-FZ18 is bundled with two image-viewer utilities, a USB driver, USB and A/V cables, an external charger, and a decent lens-hood, which comes in handy on glaringly bright days.
Image quality - Good
Flatly, the DMC-FZ18 has terrible noise-management. High ISOs result in images awash in green blobs, as if, pardon our baseness, someone had sneezed on the photograph. We've never seen noise distortion quite like this before, and it's hands down the worst and most distracting we've encountered. Thankfully these splotches are only visible in particularly underexposed images taken at above ISO-400; were they to appear in all exposures, the camera would be an absolute lost-cause.
Scene test
RAW test #1
This first sample shows a fair amount of detail and accurate color reproduction, though even at ISO-100, noise is already evident in the darker areas along the left-hand side. The second sample is the same shot but manually developed from a RAW source (the DMC-FZ18 supports simultaneous recordings of JPEG and RAW), and while RAW processing can certainly produce more vivid, artistic photographs, it should be noted that not too much can be accomplished with a 1/2.5" sensor and the mid-grade developing software that ships with the camera.
Edge test
The DMC-FZ18 performed equally well in this fringing test: edges along the branches are well defined and free of halos and other distortion. Again the colors are a bit drab for a sunny, midday shot, though end-users could always adjust the in-camera saturation setting, or, even better, make use of the RAW functionality.
Macro test
As evinced here, the camera has a fantastic macro-range; in this sample the lens was hardly 2-centimeters from a concrete barrier. The actual image itself, however, is affected by inconsistent focus and, especially along the blown highlights, some color diffraction.
Zoom test [wide]
Zoom test [telescopic]
There's no denying the DMC-FZ18's powerful zoom. The first shot, at the lowest focal-length, is a panoramic ‘vista' of Queens. The second, taken from the exact same spot, is so tight on the opposite building that its edificial logo spills out of the frame. Better yet, this telescopic shot was accomplished without the use of any physical stabilization.
DOF test
RAW test #2
Unfortunately, as typical of cameras with small image-sensors situated close to their lenses, the DMC-FZ18 can't really muster a good, shallow depth-of-field. The point of focus here is the end of the first bench, and with an SLR or prosumer camera, the background would be an aesthetic blur. With the DMC-FZ18, almost the entire image is at least near-focused. As above, the second sample is the same shot but processed in a RAW workflow. The color fringing and crushed shadows again show that there's little headroom for tweaking with the DMC-FZ18's tiny sensor, but nonetheless, the RAW mode can lend a more pleasing character to images. Also, note that the RAW version of the same shot is actually at a wider angle than the JPEG version; it appears that, at the widest zoom, the in-camera processed JPEGs are cropped by a percent or two.
Price and availability
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 will start selling for $320 () in October 2007.
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