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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 Review

Introduction

The Panasonic Lumix series in one that has always interested me due to there reputation for great build quility and great functionalility they are widely considered to be some of the best devices available in the compact camera market, so will the DMC-FX35 continue this reputation or be a bog standard average compact?

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35

 What’s in the box?

• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 Device
• Mains Battery Charger
• AC Cable
• USB Connection cable
• AV Cable
• Software CD-ROM
• Strap

Panasonic DMC-FX35 Specification:

• 10.1m Pixels
• 4 x Optical Zoom
• 4 x digital Zoom
• Wide Angle 25mm lens
• 2.5” LCD Screen
• Optical Image Stabiliser
• 15 Face, face detection
• HD Movie capture with sound

General

The FX35 is very similar to its predecessor in the looks department however it is very much what is inside that counts and the FX35 is certainly an improvement and adds allot of features and functions which are welcome improvements and combine to create a great looking camera that performs in many departments.

The front is almost identical to the FX33 however it houses that fantastic lens for a camera of this size which is certainly a huge draw. The flash is housed above this and the self timer indicator to the left of the lens.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 front view (click images to enlarge)

The back is home to a great looking 2.5 LCD display, to the right of this is the menu/set button which is surrounded by four buttons used for features such as flash, brightness, etc. Below these are the display and quick menu buttons. The record/playback slider is housed above this. A simplistic back which works well with the overall sleek design.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 back view

The top is similar to many compacts on the market in that it houses the on/off slider shutter button which is housed within a great zoom lever which works really well and doesn’t look bad either. The mode dial is to the right of this the microphone and speaker complete the top of the device.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 top view

The bottom of the device is where the ever useful tripod connector is found along with the card/battery cover which flips open to reveal the battery and the SD card slot.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 bottom view

 The right hand side of the device contains the strap loop but slightly more exciting than that is the flap that houses the Component out, AV Out and DC In.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 connectors

Highlights

+Great Functionality & Features

+25mm Wide Lens

-HD Movies do not compare to a camcorder

Review

When I was asked to review this product I was very excited as although I had not used the FX35 predecessor the FX33 I had heard allot about the Lumix series and there fantastic build quality and overall functionality.

Right out of the box this camera looks great it is simplistic in design which works well and is small enough to fit into any pocket, the camera feels well built and sturdy and things such as the flip door hiding the connections does not feel flimsy and loose but feels very well finished. However you should never judge a book by it’s cover so lets find out the device performs.

Starting with picture quality the Panasonic is certainly above average it boasts 10.1m Megapixels which leads to great looking shots combined with the great array of features and functions for many different occasions where light may differ the camera offers modes for parties with low lighting, sports for moving subjects even a snow mode allowing for the crispest white snow to be picked up for those skiing holidays. All these modes allow for high quality clear sharp images to be taken in almost any setting or environment. Video quality is acceptable but is no competition for an HD Camcorder, playback on the actual device is not fantastic due to poor sound quality however when connected to a PC or Mac it looks and sounds perfectly acceptable for a compact camera.

The lens is obviously a huge draw for a compact camera such as this one, it is very useful when taking landscape shots and allows you to finally capture your entire extended family in one shot without cutting an entire generation off the side, it performs well overall with little shutter delay and is ready as soon as the device is switched on meaning you will never miss a moment again.

The device is fairly easy to navigate around given the large number of colour settings and functions etc. many of which I am sure you will never use it was surprisingly easy to find what I was looking for switch form still to movie is easy with the mode dial and functions such as the flash and adjusting exposure as well as controlling the self timer etc.. is similar to many compacts which means less time getting used to new controls and of course if you have owned or used the FX33 you will be at home as the controls are almost identical. The zoom wheel is a great and easy to use and it is little things like this that make this camera a joy to use. It also comes in helpful when looking back at your photos allowing you to zoom in on certain areas etc.

The optical image stabiliser works very well for a compact camera and is very useful for those who are a little shaky without a tripod which lets face it when at a party or event who isn’t. The face detection is also a welcome feature as it allows for more central images and is great at picking up those important people.

The software included on the disc is the sort you can expect with any digital camera included is arcsoft which is actually not bad as far as free provided software goes however I would recommend using software you feel most comfortable with and not feel complied to use the provided software just because it is there.

I personally hate cameras that run on standard batteries such as AA as they drain them before you even get the thing out of the bag well maybe not that quick but you get the idea. Well to my relief the Panasonic DMC-FX35 comes with a rechargeable 1000mAh Li-ion battery which performs well allows for around 300 shots to be taken from a 2 ½ charge of course it all depends on the frequency with which you use the device throughout these 300 shots etc. but overall a decent return with regards to shots from charge.

Conclusion

Overall the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35 is a great addition to the Lumix series and a worthy upgrade from the FX33, with the added features such as the superb wide angle lens and the cameras ease of use and excellent choice of feature and settings to play around with to get that perfect 10m Megapixel shot every time or to capture those quick little video moments with sound. The range of settings Panasonic have given us on this model is great and allows for suburb results in all situations including low light and with the image stabilisation prevents any blurry shots which for those nights out may not be a great thing as now everyone can see you in your drunken glory. I think this camera would be perfect for anyone who attends allot of events such as music events etc. simply because of the image stabilisation however that is just one feature the large amount on offer here makes this a compact suitable for anyone from amateurs to the camera pro, a great camera with many draws and will certainly appeal to those of you looking for a higher spec compact camera.

Review by: Nick

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 Review

Well, I’m sure by now you have all seen the adverts from Panasonic showing the Golden Gate bridge shrinking in size to allow people to take a picture with their “ordinary” cameras. Panasonic are pretty much singing the virtues of their wide angle lenses that adorn most of the new Lumix range.

I tested out the L10 quite a few months ago and today we will be looking at the camera seen in most of the latest adverts, The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

Introduction

There are a whole host of pocket size high mega-pixel cameras on the market these days making choosing a new camera a very difficult process for many people. Most camera shops point of sale advertising seems to always go on about pixels, pixels and more pixels, without really explaining to users that for most of us printing out standard sized images, 3Mega Pixels is probably enough.

Although having a higher pixel value: The DMC-TZ4 has 8.1 Megapixels – (Compared to the older TZ3 with 6 and the TZ5 offering 9.1). The huge difference Panasonic have done with this new camera is drop in a massive 10x Leica Optical Zoom lens with image stabilisation in a very small hand held camera.

This should certainly offer a differentiator compared to the multitude of reasonably priced pocket digital cameras.

What’s in the Box?

Once again with Panasonic, a rather stereotypical camera box hides the TZ4 camera, slightly larger than many of the pocket handheld cameras at 5.9x10x3.6cm but with a 10x Optical Zoom lens packed in it’s a pretty small sized camera.

Standard battery, charger, leads and manuals accompany the camera. See Matt’s Unboxing video for more.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 specification:

• 8.1-megapixel effective CCD for images up to 3264×2448 pixels
• Leica DC Vario-Elmarit Lens 10x "Wide" optical zoom, covering 28-280mm (35mm equivalent)
• MEGA O.I.S. (Optical image stabilization) system
• Intelligent Exposure and Digital Red-eye Correction
• 9-point AF system with focus-assist lamp
• 2.5-inch TFT color monitor with (230k pixels)
• Program AE, Macro, Intelligent AUTO + 21 scene modes
• Burst (3fps @ 8M; 10fps @ 2M) and AE bracketing capture modes
• 640×480/320×240 (4:3) or 848×480 (16:9) QuickTime movies, 30fps or 10fps with audio
• Shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 8 seconds
• Built-in flash with auto, fill, slow synchro and red-eye reduction modes
• TTL Auto White Balance, 5 presets and custom set
• 27MB of internal memory plus SD/SDHC/MMC memory card slot
• Plug-n-Play USB, Mass Storage compliant
• PictBridge Direct-Print compatible

General

The look and feel of the DMC-TZ4 is pretty good, a sturdy looking camera that certainly looks like it would stand the test of time and the odd drop or two (although don’t worry Matt, I didn’t try this…). Packing that 28mm Wide Angle lens with 10x Optical zoom really puts this camera into a different league with very few rivals at this time. This should allow many users to compose such a wide variety of shots without having to move their location!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

Any users of other Panasonic Lumix camera equipment should have very little trouble operating the TZ4 as the vast majority of controls and functions are the same across the range.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 top controls (click to enlarge)

Located on the top of the camera is the now standard thumb wheel control used to select features such as iA (Intelligent Auto), Scene Selections, or Video Mode . The On Off switch is located just alongside the thumb wheel but does require some effort to turn on and off so there should be no accidental power issues. The Shutter Control is on the right hand side of the camera and located around this is the zoom control – I liked this position as it enabled control of the shutter and zoom functions easily with just one hand (or finger even).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 back view

The rear of the camera contains the remaining controls for accessing the camera menus, setting changes and viewing modes. The display screen is also of a very good size 2.5” screen with excellent resolution and viewing angles.

A very simple “Play/Record” button at the top right offers a quick way to review images or take images without having to fiddle with the main thumb control wheel.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 connectors

Connectors on the side offer the standard USB connectivity and Video out.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 battery & memory compartment

The battery compartment is located at the base of the camera, with a slot for SD/SDHD memory Cards. The camera does have 27MB of storage built in which will hold a picture or two in an emergency.

Highlights and Lowlights

I already use a Panasonic Lumix FX-33 camera for standard point and shoot pictures when out for the day or at events. Like many people, the convenience of being able to slip a camera into a pocket does certainly have advantages compared to a bulky SLR, but many of the smaller cameras don’t quite have the zoom capabilities.

I tested the camera in a wide selection of environments, from indoor low light shots, to bright sunny days (well, sunny as they can be in the UK).

Highlights

• The Leica Lens is an excellent wide angle lens (28mm) having the 10x Optical zoom (280mm equivalent) is a real benefit against standard 3x zooms offered by many cameras.
• The colours are very vivid and dynamic, this seems to be a pretty standard feature across the Panasonic range I have tested so far.
• Very sharp pictures from the Leica lens and sensor
• Very small lens distortion on edges
• Good flash pictures indoors
• Really bright infrared zone for focusing in dark environments, although this may be a little disconcerting for some being lit up bright red!

Lowlights

• Although a small camera considering the Lens Zoom size, it is not tiny like some cameras and not quite as easy to slip into your pocket. With a large lens, it is also quite heavy.
• The camera still offers Panasonic’s standard selection of scene modes (such as Night Time, Snow, Beach) and still has Baby 1 and Baby 2… I may be missing the point here but after trying many of these scene options I really can’t see a great deal of difference.
• The use of scene modes I found was questionable even further when using the Intelligent Auto mode and the Intelligent Exposure feature. These two features seem to pretty much compensate for almost all picture taking opportunities.

REVIEW

As usual with reviews, they tend to start quite late in the evening once normal day to day activities have taken place, monsters have gone to bed and everyone is happy…. This tends to lead to the usual unboxing on the Kitchen table and the first few shots taken of really interesting things such as the washing up….

Actually, this really wasn’t a bad place to start with the usual washing up some 4 Metres away I tried the 10x Optical zoom and pressed the shutter. (This is when I noticed the high intensity Infra Red focus aid light half the kitchen). For a close on 300mm zoom lens, inside the house with the inbuilt flash, I was really surprised with the quality of the first few shots. Never before has “Microwave and Dishwasher Safe” been readable from the other side of the kitchen. Even zooming in on the picture in preview mode should no real blurring or lost focused (I’m sure there is some appropriate photography name for this).

The lens action was quick zooming in and out and the focus was certainly quick considering the amount of light that was available.

Rather than stay with pictures of pots and pans, a rare summer moment arrived the following day allowing a variety of photographs to be taken. Again, the Panasonic DMC-TZ4 did pretty much exactly what it said on the tin. Clear sharp images and pretty fast shutter speeds. The focus was also much faster than the L10 SLR I tested a few months ago.

The colours taken on the camera were really consistent throughout the day, however, as with many cameras, the colours looked far better towards the end of the day (This is really more to do with the light levels and the fact pictures tend to look more realistic out of really bright light rather than the camera)

Shooting into the evening and towards dusk the camera still performed well. The shots taken with flash were realistic and didn’t tend to suffer from over exposure or unnatural “whiteness” I think this must be the Intelligent Exposure settings as I didn’t have to change any settings at all.

After taking a few more shots I decided to try out some of the scene settings and additional features. From what I could see, the majority of the scenes and settings were the same as the Lumix FX33 I use at the moment. The same strange options for Baby1, Baby2 scene settings were available. If anyone wants to let me know if they have used these settings or seen any advantage I’d love to know! Saying that though, the night setting does help and work well providing longer exposure times for dark backgrounds but still a difficult setting to master and achieve the best results.

For me though, the Zoom lens was really the best feature of the camera, and was the only real thing to set this camera apart from the other cameras in the Lumix range who all have similar pixel sizes and facilities. Having such a large zoom in a compact camera really allowed a much wider range of shots to be taken, and the image stabilisation worked fantastically. Couldn’t take some of the shots I did on full zoom in quite low light on the older Canon DSLR for sure without lots of shake.

Conclusion

As you can tell, I’m not a true fan of scene modes, so for many of the shots taken, I used Intelligent Auto mode. Yeah, I know, allowing the camera to do everything for you will probably be frowned on my some of the higher end photographers out there, but I am not a photographer, I just like the ease of pointing a camera at something, pressing the button and pretty much getting better results than I would if I had played with the settings.

This allows me to take more time to think of the things that tend to mess up pictures more, making sure the composure is ok, trying to work out what the heck the 1/3rds rule is all about and making sure some large tree is not sticking out from behind people’s heads.

May be they won’t let me review camera’s again or the professional photography guys will come after me, but, as I said, I’m not a professional camera man – I just want to take simple shots and get the best results that look good to me at least.

The Panasonic certainly helps achieve this with its automatic mode and excellent zoom capability – Photography for the masses.

So – Will I be trading my FX33 in for the TZ4, well, no. Not because there is anything wrong with the camera I could find very little to fault. If I was looking for a new camera the TZ4 would definitely be right up the top of the list, but as a compact camera it just seems that little large to slip in the pocket compared to the DMC-FX33 and I really don’t like carry things around with me!!

Despite that, the Zoom mode will really win a huge amount of people over and this camera has to be a really good choice for someone who doesn’t mind their compact cameras a little bigger

Review by: John

Panasonic RP-HS33 headphones (mini) review

Panasonic Lightweight Sport Clip Earphones with Sweat-Resistant Earbuds (RP-HS33)

GENERAL

How often do you go running, either in the gym or where you live? For me the answer is not as often as I should, ok it’s never. I don’t but I’m more of a cyclist, however I still get the same problem as runners; your headphones keep falling out. Not only is it really annoying but can be quite dangerous as well. So when Panasonic sent the RP-H33’s to test out I was happy to get on my bike, so to speak.

Panasonic RP-HS33 headphones

HIGHLIGHTS:

LOWLIGHTS:

Panasonic RP-HS33 headphones specification:

REVIEW

Ok so the colour choice is orange or green, the colour is one thing that many people who have seen them have commented on. The target consumer group the RP-HS33 are aimed at do not care about colour and here’s my thinking as to why! Imagine this for a second, you’re running along listening to your music through your orange RP-HS33’s then out of nowhere a car pulls up along side you. The window rolls down and Claudia Schiffer or Brad Pitt (whoever takes your fancy) pops there head out and asks you directions. Do you then panic about your orange headphones or are you more concerned with sweat all over you and a bright red face? You see my point.

On the subject of running and cycling I have found a little bug bear but only a little one. They are designed to stay in your ear so you can exercise without worrying about them keep popping out, however there is no clip to stop the wires moving about.

I don’t have a vast knowledge of isolation (db), impedance (ohms) or even the Frequency response (Hz), however I know what music I like and how I want it to sound.

The RP-HS33 are lightweight and designed for active people at 23g (inc cable) they are light and you hardly feel your wearing them. However they are still robust enough to be thrown in a bag everyday for a month and still look and sound as good as when you got them.

To the quality now, the mid to high range makes most music sound crisp and clear, but the bass impact is quite poor, I love my bass and was a little disappointed. I listened to a few songs through iTunes on my laptop, True Colors by Phil Collins, Sandstorm by Darude and In The End by Linkin Park these where probably my widest range of music. True Colors sounded clear and as it should be with no complaints, Sandstorm was very crisp and clear but lacked the punch of the bass which is essential for dance music. In The End also had the same problem as Sandstorm where the sound was clear but lacked any punch in the bass.

CONCLUSION

I like these headphones, maybe it’s because they feel like you could stand on them and they would still work (please don’t test this theory out though) or maybe it’s because I can finally concentrate on my cycling instead of counting the time between my headphones falling off. The bass is a big issue for me but I still like them and for any sports enthusiast I would definitely recommend them.

Review by: Russell

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Panasonic, RP-HS33, Tracy & Matt]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 review

Panasonic have some of the most innovative digital compact cameras on the market, but how does their latest “suits-all” camera fair?

INTRODUCTION

Let’s start with some honesty – I really like Panasonic cameras. I use my personal TZ3 camera often, and absolutely love it. The LS80, along with most in the range share a lot of common features, and a standard UI within the menu.

Although the LS80 is more entry level than my TZ3, I was interested to find out what Panasonic had updated and improved in this latest addition to the range.

You’ll also notice that I’ve deliberately written this review in a rather non-technical way. The reason for this is that the LS80, although a capable camera, is designed to be a simple to use non-technical camera. So if you are looking for complex features then the LS80 probably isn’t for you.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80

What’s in the Box?

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 Specification:

General

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 is a fairly conventional looking digital compact camera. The rear of the camera houses a generous 2.5″ TFT colour screen which displays both live and saved images as well as the cameras menu system. Also on the back you’ll find the main controls for the cameras settings.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 back

On the right hand side you’ll find a flap covering the SD/SDHC memory card slot.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 right side

The left hand side has a rubber flap covering the USB/AV connector. The connector is proprietary as it carries both USB and AV signals.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 left side

As with every other camera on the market, the top right of the camera has the zoom and shutter release controls as well as the power switch and e.Zoom button (more on that later).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80 top

REVIEW

The first thing I noticed when unboxing Lumix DMC-LS80 was the lack of the customary (And propriety) Panasonic battery. 2 standard AA batteries are included instead, and although I’m guessing this could vary, my opinion is that this is decent improvement. Although replacement batteries weren’t expensive, I’d much prefer the AA standard batteries – if only for an emergency dash to the supermarket to buy replacements. Obviously the chances of finding a specific Panasonic battery on the high street are very slim.

I’ve also used an FX12 camera from Panasonic, and although another great little camera, the LCD display was a little lacking in some aspects, especially as none of the mentioned cameras have viewfinders. The LS80 has a large, higher quality 2.5 inch screen which is as good as I suspect you will ever need.

The camera is nearly completely menu-driven. The dial switch found on most Panasonic compact’s is missing here, and instead you need to use the menu. Some functions, old and new, do still have dedicated buttons.

Almost all new camera’s in the Panasonic compact range include an extended zoom function. It sounds straightforward – lower the megapixels, and use the spare to increase the zoom. Strangely I believe only Panasonic bother to add this as a feature. While it may not be a regularly used features, I’d rather than that, than the utterly pointless digital zoom techniques found elsewhere. In this instance, e.zoom takes the acceptable 3x zoom, upto around 4.5x.

As mentioned, the screen is much improved, and extremely high quality. Extra modes are available for high level shooting, and a full-brightness setting (expect this to kill batteries!)

For a ‘cheap’ £100 camera, the shot quality is excellent – as you might expect from a Vario lens. Colours are produced well, and images while slightly soft in some cases, are hard to beat with anything close to this price bracket. At 8.1 megapixels, it won’t be “out of date” anytime soon, and will be an excellent first camera, or a secondary “put-in-pocket” camera as well.

It’s hard to find any real faults with it considering the price point, although personally I think it’s a shame to have lost the dial mode switch. I guess the main reason for this, is that the dial simply doesn’t fit within the chassis anymore!

The menu system and associated scene selection screens work as easy as any other. Lists are clear and easy to understand, and the layout of options are clear and concise. The “new” dedicated switch between record and playback is a good move, especially as it wasn’t always completely clear (believe it or not) on some of last years models. Weirdly the TZ3 I have has 2 different playback modes, each with a subset of the other’s functions!

Highlights:

Lowlights:

Conclusion

In the price bracket, for me the Panasonic quality and Vario excellence makes this a no-brainer. Buy it as a new large megapixel camera, or buy it as a second camera to shove in your pocket when your DSLR is too big. Its an exceptional camera, with many features you’d only expect higher up the range.

The new, and older Panasonic-exclusive features are actually genuinely useful, rather than just another pointless acronym and sticker on the box. If this is the standard for Panasonic’s 2008 cameras, I’m looking forward to getting a TZ5 from them to review soon! 😉

Review by: Mark

[Post tag(s): smartphone news, Pocket PC news, Tracy & Matt, panasonic, LS80, Digital Camera]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 review

After the huge success of Panasonic’s Lumix range of Compact Digital Cameras, can they repeat this success with the specialist Digital SLR Market with their second DSLR release the D10? Panasonic’s Lumix DMC L10 comes under scrutiny in our review.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10

Introduction

Panasonic released their first DSLR camera, the L1, to the market in 2006, a rather unusual looking camera for sure but they have certainly come “back to the norm” with the look and styling of their latest release, the L10. That’s where the comparison with current DLSR cameras on the market changes as Panasonic have attempted to build in many of the features found on a compact Digital Camera.

Whilst many purists may have issues with this technology on a Digital SLR camera, I’m sure it has been aimed at helping users migrating from a small compact camera to get good pictures straight from the box.

Lumix L10

What’s in the Box?

Well, a rather stereotypical silver camera box hides the Panasonic L10 camera, and the rather special Leica lens. The L10 we reviewed was part of a Kit with the body, battery, and LEICA D Vario-ELMAR 14-50mm f3.8-5.6 lens. This lens has Panasonics/Leica’s Optical Image Stabilisation built in. More on this later. Please have a look at our unboxing video which can be found HERE.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 Specification:

General

Looking and feeling like a pretty generic DSLR Camera, the L10 has many of the standard buttons and controls you would expect. Starting at the top of the camera we have the following controls:

Lumix L10 top view

Located on the right hand side is the standard thumb wheel used to select standard SLR features such as Automatic, Manual F settings and Shutter speed. The On Off switch is located just under the thumb wheel (Watch this as you can manage to turn the camera off by accident whist using the thumb wheel). Just to the right of this is the Film Mode select. Again, watch changing these settings by accident.

The shutter button is located at the front if the camera in a very comfortable easy to use position. Just below this is a standard thumb wheel used to control additional settings on the camera depending on the mode selected.

A TTL based external flash unit can be mounted on the hot shoe. The built in flash can be flipped out by using the catch to the left of the hotshoe.

The rear of the camera contains the remaining controls for accessing the camera menus, setting changes and viewing modes.

Lumix L10 controls

To the left of these controls we find a world first in DLSR cameras, the 270 degree rotating LCD viewing screen. This flip out screens allows simple shooting from the waist, above your head as well as well as being used for self portraits etc. I do have to say though, this excellent screen is let down by the appalling catch mechanism used by Panasonic on this screen. Its can be quite painful flicking the screen out as the catch holding the screen seems way too stiff and the catches dig into your fingers. Perhaps this may improve as catches start to get worn for example?

Lumix L10 live view screen

The remaining connectors are located to the right of the camera for SD cards and the DV out and remote shutter controls.

Lumix L10 USB and DV connectors

Lumix L10 SD card slot

Highlights and Lowlights

Using the camera in a wide range of environments has shown a number of really good features with this camera, as well as a number of items that Panasonic may wish to look at in future firmware or product changes:

Highlights

Lowlights

Lumix L10 front view

Review

Well, I have to admit to own one of the original Canon 10D DLSR’s as well as a Panasonic Lumix FX33 Compact Digital camera so I was interested to see how these would compare in action. Never claiming to be the world’s expert in photography, I also invited our good friend Steve Davis an excellent photography to cast his eyes over the camera to get some different feedback.

After taking the camera out of the bag, my first impressions were of an excellent well built and constructed lens (The Leica D) and a lighter weight quite plastic feeling DSLR Camera. Once hooked together the overall weight and balance was however very good. The camera uses the Four Thirds standard for its lenses rather than the typical 35mm used by some. Designed for Digital Cameras the Four Thirds system has a good following and many lens manufacturers allowing scope for change and upgrades.

Switching the camera on and dropping into automatic mode and we were off shooting within seconds. Warm up time is sub 1 second allowing very quick impromptu shots if your camera is every switched off.

Flicking out the LCD screen, (as mentioned previously please, please Panasonic sort out this catch and mechanism…) allows a good view to the side of the camera. This allows taking shots at various camera heights and by simply tilting the screen getting a good view of the proposed shot. Panasonics LiveView incorporates a mirror in front of the sensor so the LCD screen shows the image live. A feature of course standard in Compact cameras but far more difficult to incorporate with an DSLR.

Lumix L10 front view

The other advantage of this LCD screen is it can be placed back on the camera with the LCD facing inwards – Protecting the LCD screen very well.

Shooting in a rather overcast garden still produced quality shots with excellent colours. The automatic mode copes with most circumstances we could find and unless you want to be “artistic” will probably stay in this mode for most users.

Maybe it’s the old school approach but I still found myself using the view finder on most occasions. The LiveView is very good in what it does. But the down side is the additional time taken to take shots if this is enabled. The camera has to move the mirror first and you may miss that split second moment. Talking with Matt he has found the LiveView very good with macro photography (Close Up Work) so this may be a good use for this facility.

After taking a multitude of shots, we decided to try out some of the scene settings and additional features. This is where the camera tries to incorporate many of the features of a compact digital Camera.

Moving the thumb wheel onto the SCN selector changes the LCD so we can now choose the type of scene. This is where Steve and I looked at each other slightly surprised. The Scenes on offer start with the typical Sunset option and then bizarrely give options for Food, Baby1, Baby2 and Pet. Now, please don’t get me wrong – If you were at a Baby’s Christening, with your Pet Dog and eating food this would pretty much cover your whole days camera settings. For day to day work you may understand our surprise at these choices.

However, there are different automatic settings on the camera and these include, Portrait, Scenery, Macro, Sports and Night Scenery.

This does give a more useful range of options such as indoor settings, outdoor settings and a “Creative” setting for each option. The Creative Setting allows the thumb wheel at the front to be used to change the look and feel of the picture. In SLR terms all this actually does is change the F setting and shutter speed to increase or decrease the depth of field. An option available at all times from the manual modes on the Thumb Wheel. I found the manual changes were easy and required less menu navigation than the Creative Settings.

Lumix L10 body

Knowing Panasonic have aimed this camera as a transition from Compact Digital, I can’t help but feel the menus could have been made a little user friendly. They are very easy to navigate and quite uncluttered, however they seem to lack information. For example, changing the picture quality simple gives L,M and S for Large Medium and Small. Maybe it’s the techie side of me, but I would rather have been provided with a little more information or in a different way. For example – 10Mpixel, 5Mpixel and 2MPixel. I feel this would give the user a better understanding of the option they are choosing without having to RTFM. (Read the manual…)

After taking a great deal of shots, we thought we would try indoor use. The popup flash performs extremely well in a whole range of low light conditions. The infrared sensor kicks in to help focusing at low light levels (This can be painfully slow as the infrared light does not seem very intense and the lens does have to hunt a while before getting focus). On general pictures, portraits etc the light balance was very, very good. The downside we noticed though was the colour saturation, especially red was a little over the top on flash shots and may require external editing of the images to reduce this.

The Leica lens however is the star of this show. It’s extremely well made and the 14mm Wide Angle will easily allow excellent coverage of the inside of many rooms. Under normal light conditions the focus is very fast and the outstanding Optical Image Stabilisation can save many a tricky situation, even allowing good quality low light shots to be taken without a tripod and showing very little evidence of camera shake. It’s important to remember the stabalisation is built into the lens and not the camera so change lenses and you lose this option.

Lumix L10 Leica Lens

Conclusion

The Panasonic L10 is only available in kit form with the lens and body and is priced at a recommended £900. Compared to a number of other DSLR cameras on the market, this is quite high and needs to pull something special out of the bag to compete. The camera is quite easy to use and very quick to start to take images. The overall look and feel of the camera is quite lightweight and plastic but the controls are in good positions and apart from the on off switch being located under the tumbwheel perform well.

The plastic feel is finished off by the terrible catch on the lcd screen, perhaps a little more research or design work could have prevented this.

Picture quality is outstanding across the board with only the high concentrations of red on some flash shots letting the camera down slightly. The sensor is obviously very capable and the compression software quick and effective.

Battery life is some 450 standard shots so that should last most outings and couple with the powersave features and ability to turn the lcd off should certainly help.

I have heard a rumour that Panasonic are planning to sell the lens separately at £600, which is 2/3rds the cost of the kit. This would help explain the obvious differences in quality and look and feel of the camera and lens.

The package overall does work well, I’m not convinced on some of the compact digital camera features that have been added (although face detection is a worthwhile addition for sure). But for high quality pictures and if you stick to Auto mode simple ease of use its not half bad. There are however many exceptional camera kits in this and lower price ranges that split the costs of the camera and lens more evenly, with the L10 it looks as though you are really buying an excellent lens, with a digital SLR bolted on.

Review by: John

[Post tag(s): Lumix, Digital Cameras, Tracy & Matt, DMC-L10, DSLR, Panasonic]