I have tried probably 10 cameras between $120 and $250 over the past few months, looking for myself and my wife each a new camera.
Through stores and by borrowing from friends and family, I understand what is out there, and let me tell you there are several duds and a few winners, but most are very competent outdoors, with decent indoor video if you dont compare to a $400 vidcam, and only passable for low light.
That being said, I now own a Lumix ZS15 (grade A-) and this SZ7 (B+) is for my wife who uses iAuto mostly.
This SZ7 beats Canon Elph300 (B) and SX160 (B+ but heavy), Samsung PL210(B or B-) Sony HX70(B-), and Nikon 6300 (B-).
PROS: Very good Auto results, good Program Mode (SZ7 calls it Normal mode ).
Very usable low-light no-flash with Auto, and even better if you use the "Scene" mode called "Hi-Sensitivity" set at 3mp... where you can get speeds set by the camera according to conditions speeds from ISO 2000 all the way to 6400!! Sure, some other cameras will push ISO (also at lower mp's ), but usually only with a single jump from 1600 to 3200, with no stops in between, and nothing above 3200! Granted, these high ISO pics will be grainy, but so were the old film cameras with pushed ISO. You will have a photo when no one else could get their under-$200 camera to capture any picture at all !
Very good outdoor video, and better than most indoor video, with no hiss.
Very good zoom better than any other camera in its price range by a lot very smooth and with no clicking recorded into the audio.
CONS: Flash underpowered. UPDATE 10-21-12 : This lil cam has a feature not found on many cameras at 2 or 3 times its price: It can use the +/exposure (on the top of the rear control ring) to make flash pics brighter and dimmer. It will change the ISO being used with the flash, even in Auto mode. You can therefore control the "output" brightness when using flash. I don't know of any other cam near this price that can do this, plus push iso to 6400 in special non-flash situations. What a combination !! A great camera for art and natural history museums.
The SZ7 has no A,S,or M settings for manual control. (Get the Lumix ZS15 or Canon SX260.)
Overall picture quality is nice in Auto, and better when you learn the +/and ISO properly. But the output is not for 8x10 or larger. This can be said for every cam in the price range, but I just want you to hear it from a real admirer of the SZ7 for what this camera CAN do.
SUMMARY: Best camera out there at this price and this slim....4.1 out of 5 stars.
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