Panasonic FS7 vs Panasonic ZS40

Its time to look more closely at the Panasonic FS7 and Panasonic ZS40, former being a Ultracompact while the latter is a Small Sensor Superzoom and both are designed by Panasonic. There is a substantial difference among the image resolutions of the FS7 (10MP) and ZS40 (18MP) and the FS7 (1/2.5") and ZS40 (1/2.3") enjoy different sensor dimensions.

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The FS7 was revealed 6 years earlier than the ZS40 and that is a fairly big difference as far as camera tech is concerned. Both cameras come with different body type with the Panasonic FS7 being a Ultracompact camera and the Panasonic ZS40 being a Compact camera.

Before getting straight into a detailed comparison, below is a short synopsis of how the FS7 scores vs the ZS40 for portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Here is a preview of the gallery photos for Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS7 & Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS40. The full galleries are provided at Panasonic FS7 Gallery & Panasonic ZS40 Gallery.

For anybody who is going to carry your camera, you will need to factor in its weight and measurements. The Panasonic FS7 offers outside dimensions of 97mm x 54mm x 22mm (3.8" x 2.1" x 0.9") and a weight of 139 grams (0.31 lbs) while the Panasonic ZS40 has proportions of 111mm x 64mm x 34mm (4.4" x 2.5" x 1.3") and a weight of 240 grams (0.53 lbs).

See the Panasonic FS7 and Panasonic ZS40 in our completely new Camera plus Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Remember, the weight of an ILC will differ based on the lens you have chosen at that moment. Below is the front view physical size comparison of the FS7 compared to the ZS40.

Taking into account size and weight, the portability rating of the FS7 and ZS40 is 95 and 90 respectively.

In many cases, it's hard to picture the contrast in sensor sizing simply by looking through specifications. The photograph underneath will help give you a clearer sense of the sensor dimensions in the FS7 and ZS40.

Plainly, both of those cameras posses different megapixels and different sensor sizing. The FS7 with its smaller sensor is going to make getting shallow DOF more difficult and the Panasonic ZS40 will result in more detail because of its extra 8 Megapixels. Higher resolution will enable you to crop pictures somewhat more aggressively. The older FS7 will be disadvantaged in sensor technology.