Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ60

Bottom Line

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ60 is the baby brother of critics' favorite ultra-zoom camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 (*Est. $600) . To shave bulk and cut the cost in half, Panasonic cut many of the FZ200's sophisticated features -- most importantly, the fantastic lens aperture, hot shoe and ability to shoot RAW. Still, the FZ60 keeps three rare-for-its-price features: 24x zoom, a viewfinder and full manual controls. In fact, the FZ60 wins first place among ultra-zooms in a leading test.

Ease of Use

"Looks and feels very much like a DSLR." Although it's a little smaller than its FZ200 big brother, the Panasonic FZ60 is still bulky for its class. "This is not a camera for slipping into a pocket by any means," says Mark Goldstein at PhotographyBlog.com.

On the bright side, that means plenty of room for your hands, plus lots of easy-to-use physical buttons and dials. The FZ200 "looks and feels very much like a DSLR [digital single-lens reflex camera]," says Daniel Bell at EPhotoZine.com. "It has a mode dial with full manual controls, plenty of buttons for easy access to many settings and an electronic viewfinder."

A viewfinders is hard to find at this price, experts note. It can be especially nice to have on an ultra-zoom, because holding the camera up to your eye can help you hold it steady for long-zoom shots. Reviews point out that the FZ60 also has a very good-quality LCD screen on the rear (fixed, not swiveling like the FZ200's). You have to press a button to switch between the two.

Overall, reviewers find the Panasonic FZ60 very easy to use. That's partly thanks to "Panasonic's much talked about and copied Intelligent Auto mode," Goldstein says, which really does make it effortless for complete novices to capture properly focused and exposed photos.

Performance

Strong photo quality for the price. The FZ60's image quality can't match the pricey FZ200's in tests. Still, for half the price, reviews say it's quite good. It has "strong overall image quality," says Paul Nuttall at WhatDigitalCamera.com, although he notes some flaws with fringing and sharpness when he zooms completely out or completely in. Low light poses problems, too: The 16-megapixel sensor coughs up grainy image noise starting at a pretty bright ISO 400, says Goldstein at PhotographyBlog.com. By ISO 1,600, detail softens and smears.

It's slower than the FZ200, too, although still "a pleasing user experience," Nuttall says. Autofocus is usually prompt in tests. The FZ200 can fire off 10 full-resolution frames per second (fps), but only for three shots.

Video looks good at 1080i HD, according to EPhotoZine.com and another leading source. Testers appreciate the one-touch video record button, excellent anti-shake stabilizer and the ability to zoom while filming, although the zoom noise shows up on the soundtrack.

Battery life is rated at 450 shots, and reviewers are impressed.  "We managed over 1,000 [shots] and the battery was still going strong," says Bell at EPhotoZine.com.

Durability

Plastic body feels "very well put together." The Panasonic FZ60's body is made of plastic, not metal. EPhotoZine.com counts that as a con.

But customers at Amazon.com haven't run into any durability problems, and other experts say it's fine. PhotographyBlog.com's Goldstein says the FZ60 "certainly feels like it could withstand the odd knock. It feels solid and rugged in the palm."

Nuttall at WhatDigitalCamera.com praises its "quality build and feel ... The body feels very well put together and as though it will stand the test of time. Another sign of this build quality is the assuring sturdy mode dial and power switch, both of which will certainly resist any knocks while shooting."

Features

Lacks RAW shooting and a hot shoe. As usual for this price, the Panasonic FZ60 lacks some advanced features you'll find on pricier ultra-zooms like the Panasonic FZ200. It can't shoot RAW files (only JPEGs), so you won't have as much editing control. There's no lens hood, microphone jack or hot shoe.

And although both cameras get 24x zoom lenses, they're different. Both start with an f/2.8 maximum aperture at their wide angles. But while the FZ200 wows experts by maintaining the same light-swallowing aperture at full telephoto, the FZ60 can't: It shrinks to f/5.2 at full zoom.

But the FZ60 does inherit some of its big brother's features. Both can shoot 3D and panoramic photos. Both get the same useful Face Recognition feature, which can "remember" up to six faces and make sure they're always the center of focus and exposure in your shots. Both get a pop-up flash and Intelligent Zoom, which uses digital zoom to reach up to 48x (although it "results in a grainy image which lacks detail," says Nuttall at WhatDigitalCamera.com). And both get the same plethora of photo styles (vivid, monochrome, etc.) and effects (miniature, toy camera, etc.).

Neither Panasonic includes GPS (a con, in EPhotoZine.com's book) or Wi-Fi.