Panasonic Lumix FZ72 Review – Verdict

The race between manufacturers, or rather between their respective marketing departments, to sell more cameras by printing ever bigger numbers on the box, has led to some impressive technical innovation over the years, with incredibly high-resolution sensors and ever-more-powerful zoom lenses. However this has not always resulted in better cameras.

Small over-powered sensors are prone to image noise, and beyond a certain limit very long zoom lenses become unwieldy and difficult to use. Unfortunately the Panasonic Lumix FZ72 is well beyond that limit. While having the equivalent of a 1200mm lens might seem like a good idea on paper, in practice it’s very difficult to get a satisfactory shot under real-world conditions.

The camera’s excellent image stabilisation and lightning-fast AF system certainly help, but it’s almost impossible to aim the camera accurately or steadily enough to frame the shot at full zoom, and if you’re not going to be able to use the full potential of that enormous focal length, you’ll be better off saving some money and getting a camera with a less boundry pushing lens.