Latest in line from Panasonic offers 12.2-megapixel resolution
Jim Jamieson
Province
What is it? Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100 digital camera
Price: $499
Why you need it: You’re looking for a versatile point-and-shoot that takes very good, croppable pictures but don’t want the expense of a single lens reflex.
Why you don’t: You’re waiting for SLRs to come down some more so you can jump in.
Our rating: Four Mice
It seems like camera makers are trying to pack more into smaller packages.
Panasonic recently added the DMC-FX100 to its Lumix line and the offering is impressive.
The combination of small size (54millimetres x 97 mm x 24 mm), a digital lens that is the equivalent of 28-mm to 100-mm and a whopping 12.2-megapixel resolution makes this camera and its Leica DC lens very intriguing.
It has the usual smorgasbord of features you would expect from a fully-loaded camera: f 2.8 brightness and a 4.8-millimetre LCD, optical-image stabilization — including a technology that fights motion blur by detecting if a subject is moving and and adjusts the ISO setting and shutter speed — and a high-speed burst mode that allows for eight shots per second.
Both still and video will also fit the ever-more-popular 16:9 wide screen-aspect ratio for displaying on the television.
The Lumix DMC-FX100 has the ability to offer ISO settings up to 6400, but there have been some quibbles regarding low-light shooting. Others, and these are niggling, is the lack of a zoom in video mode and that there is not facial-recognition feature.
Don’t think this unit will do everything an SLR will do, but for the size, convenience and array of features the DMC-FX100 is worth taking a look at.
Available at electronics and camera stores.
© The Vancouver Province 2007