Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 review

The FZ28 was the lightest camera on test except for Kodak's Z8612 IS.

That's partly thanks to its Li-ion battery, which is more compact than AAs. A mini-joystick provides quick access to the most important photo controls, and manual focus and exposure are well supported.

2.7 seconds to switch on and take a photo wasn't as fast as the Canon, but in all other speed tests the Panasonic won the group. It captured an image every 1.7 seconds in its standard mode, and every two seconds with flash. Continuous shooting ran at 1.7fps and didn't slow down until our card was full.

The Panasonic and Olympus cameras are the only two here with a RAW capture mode. Rather than compressing photos to JPEG format, this saves unprocessed data, producing bigger files and slowing performance to a shot every four seconds, but leaving you with greater scope for optimising image quality on your PC. The FZ28's RAW files aren't yet supported by Adobe Camera RAW (which is included with Photoshop Elements as well as the full version of Photoshop), but the bundled Silkypix software is just as powerful.

This is the only camera here that can record video at 1280x720 pixels per frame. Unlike HD modes we've seen on other stills cameras, this one captures enough detail to live up to the specifications, and the benefit over the other cameras' 640x480 is massive. Zoom, autofocus and automatic exposure worked well in video mode, too, although sound quality was disappointingly basic.

Still image quality was a step up from most of the cameras here, with only the Canon for company. Focus was extremely sharp throughout the zoom range, and Panasonic's digital processing produced vibrant colours and made the tiniest of details leap out. Images were never noise-free, but the processing kept low light shots looking OK.

With great controls, class-leading performance and sumptuous image quality, this is the superzoom to beat at the moment.