The powerful LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT 12x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 36-432mm on a 35mm film camera) offers f/2.8 brightness.  For enhanced image monitoring and playback, there is a 207,000-pixel LCD and a 0.44-inch in-line EVF with a resolution of 188,000 pixels.

Ervin Quek, Product Manager, Digital Still Cameras and Camcorders, Panasonic, said: "With the DMC-FZ8, you've got all the power and flexibility you need to take beautiful shots from telephoto to wide angle and macro.  You can also take advantage of the 12x zoom and f/2.8 to f/3.3 aperture to snap photos that capture the subject clearly and sharply, while giving the background a beautiful soft focus."

The DMC-FZ8 offers manual control of focus, exposure and shutter speed, adjustable with an independent omni-directional joystick.  This allows an easy shortcut to variables such as light metering, AF mode, white balance adjustment, ISO sensitivity, image size and compression format simply by pressing and holding down the joystick.

In line with its 'enthusiast' positioning, the DMC-FZ8 can save image data in the RAW format on SDHC or SD Memory Cards. The SILKYPIX Developer Studio 2.0SE software application comes bundled with the camera for editing images in the RAW file format - allowing you to freely adjust RAW data settings such as exposure bias, white balance, sharpness, tone and colour.

Panasonic has also strengthened the camera with a new metal mode dial.