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1. 5 Responses to “Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD”

2. The first one I purchased right here on Amazon worked fine with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7. I ordered a second as I am going on a long trip and for some reason it does not work. Says “battery will not work in camera”. The battery looked the same but not exactly. The print was a bit smaller and the box it arrived in had a strange lable on it. Box all beat up and looked like someone had already sent it back. I sent it back and hoping for a refund.
   Rating: 1 / 5

   By bigfansue on Oct 10, 2010

3. the camera comes with software to make the clips if this is why you want the camera. It did not update for me and is a bit low quality. I called panasonic becduase the error message you get states this. the agent takes no real information but keeps putting you on hold for 20 min at a time. the is no reason for it. In the end they do not offer any help for you. they know nothing about the software and keep you waiting for no reason. If you want this camera for the special HD movie feature buy another company where they care about your time and have people who know something. I tried three agents. All the same joke.
   Rating: 1 / 5

   By Aurelia Nova on Oct 10, 2010

4. Great camera. You ned to have it. In europe doesn’t work the HD under PAL; this is the only con I see.
   Rating: 5 / 5

   By rasty on Oct 10, 2010

5. I just received a brand new DMC-ZS7 a RED one and it looks great. My wife beat me to the front door when the UPS guy rang the bell but when she picked up the box the camera almost fell onto the concrete path in front of the door.
   
   Now how can this happen? you may well ask, the shipping box from Amazon was barely bigger than the actual camera box providing little or no padding and protection. As if that was not bad enough the really outrageous thing was that the shipping box was closed by a fold-in flap at each end that had NO TAPE OR GLUE TO SECURE IT. One flap was completely open and when my wife picked it up the inner camera box almost fell out, she just caught it in time. I called Amazon immediately to complain, the agent was very apologetic and advised me to send a message using a new feature that lets you communicate directly with Amazon shipping. I sent an appropriately curt message with pictures, I will let you know if anything happens.
   
   Now to the camera, it looks like a very nice camera but once again the Mfg. has done some crazy things that should get the development engineer and the micro brained marketing people FIRED.

   Panasonic provides an external battery charger, which is nice and convenient until you realize that there is NO WAY to charge the battery while the battery is in the camera or to power the camera from an external source while the battery is in the camera. Well what’s wrong with that you say, well what if you want to do something really far out such as display photos or play a video on an HD TV. If the Battery runs down then you have to stop the show while you remove the battery and recharge it.

   Ah! said I there is a USB connector surely the camera can be powered from this like so many other devices, NO YOU CANNOT POWER THE CAMERA FROM THE USB CONNECTOR. Now I delve into the manual, there appears to be some sort of DC power connector which plugs into the camera but how. I call tech support and spend a fruitless hour talking to someone who has nothing but a very basic understanding of the camera (or anything else for that matter, I had to explain the difference between AC sand DC) but I did find out that there is something called a DC coupler cable that COUPLES the camera to SOMETHING (the tech. person was not sure what it coupled to). Tomorrow I am supposed to get a call from a supervisor who knows more.

   I started searching the Panasonic site and other sites for some information, here is what I found.

   There is an optional device which can power the camera from external AC power, it consists of a DC power source and a plastic box that is the same size as the battery, you remove the battery and insert this box in its place. A cable from the DC power source plugs into a connector at the bottom of the plastic box which then connects to the battery input pins inside the camera. What a total screwup.

   The battery and DC connector are on the bottom of the camera it is therefore impossible to stand the camera on its base while this abortion is in use, neither can you attach the camera to a tripod because the connector gets in the way.
   
   I am not finished with this sad story, after a lot of searching I found what appears to be the part # for this contrivance and what appears to be a list price of, WAIT FOR IT ——– $79.99. BUT, with more searching this does not appear to be the correct device even though it was described as the DC COUPLER FOR A DCM_ZS7. Pictures of the device in no way correspond to the functionality of the DC COUPLER.

   What the hell does Panasonic think it is doing, even if you get the right DC COUPLER it is still powered by AC, there appears to be no way to recharge the battery or power the camera from a car adapter. All Panasonic had to do was to tap into the USB connectors 5 V supply and all problems would be solved, if they were concerned about charging the battery from the USB power they could have easily just allowed the camera to be powered by the USB. What is going on?
   
   This may be a deal breaker for me.

   Before I got this ZS7 I had tried the Samsung TL240, another terrific camera that is until I discovered its fatal flaw. The TL240 could be powered and recharged from the USB power supply, Hallelujah, however the TL240 had a strange HDMI port. I had called Samsung about this as their literature was very vague about it, “it’s a standard MINI HDMI port” they said “you just need a standard MINI to full size HDMI cable” they said, they lied.

   When I got the camera I saw immediately that the HDMI port was TINY and in no way could a mini HDMI fit into it so called them, they knew NOTHING about this problem but suggested I call their parts suppliers and ask for a part # they gave me, they provided 2 phone numbers (samsung-parts and J & J International). Neither outfit had any knowledge of the part # or any HDMI cable for the TL240. J & J said that there were probably none in the country they might be in KOREA. I called Samsung back again, they had NO idea what to do or when they might have the cables or what they would cost.

   I returned the camera.

   Is it me, am I expecting too much or do these companies employ idiots in their marketing departments, NO it must be me.
   Rating: 4 / 5

   By keith on Oct 10, 2010

6. Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3.0-Inch LCD (Black)

   I have been doing business with Amazon since they first went online and have been satisfied with their pring and service. In this case, I believe they are way out of line on the pricing of this camera. I have seen valid pricing of $50 less than their selling price of $313 for this item. I like this camera and would buy it from Amazon if their pricing was more in line with competition. Let’s go Amazon, get competitive!
   Rating: 4 / 5

   By SC Guys on Oct 10, 2010

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