Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Review

Panasonic digital cameras, in my opinion, aren't as famous as its counterparts in the Canon and Nikon brands, to name a few. They are more popular with the rest of their electronic products such as televisions and the like. Therefore I was a little apprehensive when someone involved in the digital camera business that is also a personal friend of mine gave me a Panasonic camera and asked me to try it out (since she knows I love writing reviews about the products that I have tried out). After using it, this is what I think of the camera.

The camera that I tried out is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500. It is classified as an ultra-compact camera i.e. an extremely small model. True to its classification, it measures a mere 95mm x 57mm x 23mm. However, for its size, it is surprisingly heavy. At around 176 grams, it is way too heavy for my liking (for an ultra-compact digital camera that is). It is a little too cumbersome to be carried around, despite its small size.

Now for its picture taking capability. It takes pictures of up to 10 megapixels. The pictures are extremely detailed when viewed on a computer and is colorful too. The videos taken can have a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The videos are sharp, detailed and does not lag when played back either on the camera's display screen or a computer.

The camera is capable of 5x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom. This is a large value when compared to the average zooming values of the digital cameras found in the market now. Though not as good as professional zooming cameras, this camera can still zoom on faraway objects and still deliver very detailed pictures. There is very little image noise (those green or multicolored dots that appear on pictures) when zooming is done too. The pictures and video taken are viewed on a 3" LCD display screen. The display is as good as a computer's display. The screen can be viewed both indoors and outdoors.