The DMC-FZ7 features a lens with a remarkable 12x optical zoom, equivalent to a 36 to 432mm lens on a 35mm film camera. A film camera with an optical zoom this powerful would be so big and heavy, you couldn't handle it with one hand. However, the DMC-FZ7 is small, lightweight and easy to handle. It also has Panasonic's Extended Optical Zoom. While causing minimal deterioration by using the center part of the high resolution CCD, this function magnifies the image to give you total zoom power of 16.5x1. The DMC-FZ7 features a large, 2.5" diagonal LCD and the Power LCD function. The pixel-mixed readout method performed by the CCD increases the brightness level of the live image on the LCD, which greatly facilitates shooting in low lighting. Simply touch the Power LCD button and the display becomes about 40% brighter for easier viewing on sunny days.