Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 user reviews

Mike S 13 June 2012

Good: Handling,ease of use, superb pictures, accurate colour rendition

Bad: Nothing so far

Comment: I sold my expensive DSLR as I was tired of carrying around a large bag with a twin lens kit. The FZ48 produces beautiful pictures. It has an extensive but easy meanu system. I am delighted with the pictures both macro & telephoto. I will NEVER go back to DSLR cams. This should tell you something!

WindlePoons 9 June 2012

Good: Almost Everything

Bad: Nothing bad, Just minor things I'd improve

Comment: I got some money for my birthday (£300) and was looking for a new camera.

Previously I'd owned a Praktica 35mm SLR which I stopped using when I went to Uni, Then some years back I'd bought a Cannon Ixus 330 which I'd also stopped using when I got a Camera phone.

After a look around I decided that a bridge Camera was the way to go. None of the Compact Cameras came close to what I wanted and the DSLRs were out of my price range.

All the "Find a camera" wizards seemed to suggest this in the top 2 or 3 that fitted my needs.

Having looked at & handled a variety of bridge cameras (at a variety of prices) most of the others had something wrong that was a show stopper for me. Some didnt have a viewfinder, Some had issues with the Image stabilization at full zoom, and lets face it when do you need it most?? Several friends & family had FujiFilm cameras that they all liked, but for me they didn't sit right in my hand, I felt like I was going to drop it, And you don't want to be worrying about that all the time.

So I got the fz48 and I have to say I am VERY pleased with it. Given that its been 10 years since I I've take proper photographs, Within a week I'd got some stunning shots of Wildlife, Family, Landscapes, the moon (with no tripod), The stars, even 3 jem Lettice, just to try out the Macro "Food" option.

The colors are great the Sharpness of the Image is fantastic. i did feel a little disappointed when a couple of Images I printed were a little grainy but then I had taken them at full zoom (including digital) on a dull day and then printed it in A3, what did I expect...

The HD video recording was not something I was looking for but as its there I've used it. The sounds not perfect, when its quiet you do pickup motor noise from the zoom, but Its not a big problem. One of the great thing about this camera is the separate video record button, this allows you to capture movie without changing mode, and take stills while you record. (Great for the RedArrows Flypast)

Its also lighter than I had expected, Posibly even lighter than my old Ixus (which was the smallest compact at the time) and so I'm happy carrying it around with me (almost) all the time.

So, just for balance,
The not quite so great things about the camera.

There is no Flash shoe, Not that I wanted one but some people may.
The Manual is a) on disk and b) a waste of space (even on disk)

The Flash wont work in burst mode (fair enough) but when you pop up the flash it doesn't automatically cancel burst mode.

The Diopter (Great that it has one) is too easy to knock.

A missing feature (which some of the fuji's have) is an automatic screen/viewfinder sensor so that it switches to EVF when you hold the camera up to your eye.

The disappointing feature is the "Photo frames" supposed to allow you to put digital frames round your pictures.To be honest they would have been better off not bothering. My sons Kidizoom has better quality and better range of "frames". but then if I want to Put frames round Pictures I'll use Photoshop...

And I would have liked a bit more battery life. Or cheaper Spares. On a full day out (alarm at 5 am) I got about 600 stills + video and the battery died. I had been plating with the zoom lots which wont have helped.

All in all I am very happy with my purchase and I have used it just about every day since I got it over 4 months ago and most of them photos are worth keeping, except the ones where I was trying to capture a hover fly in flight, even then I got a couple of keepers.

EButler 2 April 2012

Comment: I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48 to upgrade from a Canon PowerShot A75 compact digital camera that I have used both personally and in my business for a number of years. I used to use 35mm SLR cameras as a hobby photographer and this is the best replacement that I could find within my budget that I set at a maximum of £300.

This will give me the next learning step I need to be creative with my shots and be using up to date photographs for my websites and family home and holiday photographs.<br />
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So far the results are looking really good. The camera is light and compact. (May be too compact for someone with large hands / fingers) It seems to have all the features that I need at the moment as it will take me a while to get used to them all. The pictures so far have come out really well using the auto focus even when zooming in to flowers and a bird on our feeder through the kitchen window.

I bought a spare battery, Samsonite carry bag, screen protectors and a fast 16Gb card to start me off. It will be great to see how well it performs over the Summer for landscape scenes, close up plant and flower shots as well as on holiday with the family. I'm a keen amateur photographer and I see this as a good way to move to a current format. It's been easy to connect to my window 7 PC and to download the pictures although the connection cable could do with being a bit longer.

*Note, before you're will buy this Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ48, I suggest you have to compare prices before you decide at

Overall I'm very pleased with the camera so far.

Chetan Deshmukh 2 January 2012

Good: very nice build, good image quality and best cam in its class

Bad: not so good 'macro' performace

Comment: overall very nice, impressed with its superzoom quality. after zooming in, image quality is still very nice. but i was disappointed with this, while trying to take 'macro' pictures. but apart from that, it is really nice.