Design

Panasonic Lumix FZ48 review – Design

The Lumix FZ48 is near identical to its predecessor, bar for a slight alteration to elongating the stereo microphone on top of the camera. The camera looks much like a small DSLR system though, of course, the 24x lens isn’t removable. Considering the ample 25-600mm equivalent focal range the FZ48 is relatively compact by superzoom standards.

The design is also well laid out: The camera’s top encompasses a mode dial for quick mode selection and a one-touch movie button to jump straight into motion recording; the rear has a four-way d-pad control, a thumbwheel to cycle through settings, a Q.Menu for accessing the all important options and a variety of other buttons including an AF/AE lock and AF/MF adjust.

The FZ48’s build quality feels sturdy, the lens remains rigid throughout its range and the camera’s pronounced hand grip has a rubberised finish for extra hold.

There’s very little to complain about in terms of the FZ48’s design, though the ongoing lack of an eye-level sensor to effortlessly toggle between using the LCD and EVF could be one future improvement (for now it’s an EVF/LCD button that has to be pressed manually).