Panasonic places a lot of emphasis on the bridge segment, which is halfway between compact and SLR cameras. Along these lines, it has just presented the new Lumix LZ40, a 42x zoom camera with a 20 megapixel CCD sensor.
Despite the attractiveness of the camera, the sensor is small (1 / 2.3 inches), which allows it to be able to incorporate a 42x zoom of contained dimensions. In return, the camera supports ISOs between 100 and 1600, although it is possible to reach 6400 through the ISO Boost function, which is usually the manufacturer's way of telling us that the camera is capable of taking photos, but that the noise level in images it will be excessive for most users.
As for the zoom, it is a 22-924mm equivalent in the standard 35mm (full frame) format. Its brightness is f3.0 at the wide angle (22mm) and f6.5 at the maximum telephoto position (924mm). It is not a particularly bright lens, but it should offer good photographic possibilities in terms of brightness at least in the most common focal length range (between 22 and 200mm).
The built-in LCD screen is 3 inches and 460,000 pixels and does not have an optical viewfinder. It allows recording video in 720p (HD) resolution and has a 1250 mAh battery that allows, according to the manufacturer, to take about 320 images per charge. The dimensions of the camera are 126 x 87 x 94 mm and it weighs just over 500 grams (with the battery).
As for the image formats, there is not much to tell, since the camera only allows to store the photos in JPEG, since it does not have the possibility of doing it in RAW. On the other hand, the recorded video is in MJPEG format. The connectivity is done through a USB cable, and it does not have direct output through HDMI to display the images.
Among its possibilities is to use it in different automatic, manual and program modes. In addition, it has several creative modes with 15 different filters, which allow you to retouch photos directly in the camera, and a mode to create panoramas easily. The price of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ40 has not yet been specified.