Panasonic has announced the successor to the popular 12x zoom lensed Lumix FZ5 in the shape of the DMC-FZ7. The main differences are the sensor (up from 5 megapixels to 6), larger 2.5-inch screen, ISO 1600 mode, longer battery life and the adoption of the 'joystick' control system first seen on the DMC-LX1. The FZ7 also offers a manual focus option, something missing from its predecessor.
Almost a year to the day since the introduction of the hugely popular FZ5 (and 4MP sibling the FZ4) - itself an upgrade to the FZ3 - Panasonic has announced its successor, the 6 megapixel DMC-FZ7. As well as a design facelift and an extra megapixel, the FZ7 introduces several handling and performance improvements over the FZ5, not least of which is the inclusion of manual focusing and significantly easier control over exposure settings via a new joystick (as seen on the DMC-LX1). We had a pre-production FZ7 in the office for a few days and - though we can't comment on image quality - we were very impressed with what we saw.

Major changes / improvements
6 megapixel sensor
Larger (2.5-inch) screen (lower resolution, however)
New joystick control for manual focus and exposure operations
Brighter LCD and EVF performance in low light
ISO 800 and 1600 options (not at full resolution)
16:9 movie mode
Body redesign
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/panasonicfz7/