Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50S (silver)
Manufacturer: Panasonic Part number: DMC-FX50
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- A decent camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50 is held back by less-than-decent photo quality.
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CNET editors' review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50S (silver) price range: $179.99
- Reviewed by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 11/29/2006
- Released on: 09/01/2006
The good: Optical image stabilization; large LCD; solid build quality.
The bad: Mediocre photo quality; some controls too small.
The bottom line: A decent camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50 is held back by less-than-decent photo quality.
It's not just attractive, it's smartly designed. A highly legible menu system with the occasionally helpful descriptor (under Aerial Photo, it cautions Please turn off the camera when taking off or landing) plus a large joystick control make it easy to use and navigate, no matter how challenged your eyesight or coordination. The buttons are a bit small, on the other hand, and some features you'll probably never discover without the manual. For instance, you can tweak the white balance presets toward red or blue, which you get to by selecting the up arrow--exposure compensation--three times.
For operation, you have a choice among automatic, more automatic (a Simple mode with plain-English options), and preset automatic (18 scene modes, including the aforementioned Aerial Photo for shooting from airplane windows and two Baby modes, which store a birth date each for age-stamping your kids' photos). It has two automatic ISO setting modes, the typical mode which optimizes for the scene exposure, and Intelligent ISO, which also takes into account subject motion, and therefore selects from a higher set of ISO speeds. Other Panasonic niceties include optical image stabilization and an LCD High Angle mode for shooting overhead. The lens is a limited 28mm-to-102mm, 3.6x zoom, though the wide-angle certainly comes in handy for vertical applications, such as real estate.
Though it's hardly a speedster, the DMC-FX50 keeps up with the rest of its class pretty well. After a brief 1.5-second wakeup-to-first-shot interval, it shoots 1.3 seconds apart in good light, and 2 seconds with flash. Typical shutter lag is on the high side at 0.6 second, but competitive in dim light at 1.1 seconds. Depending upon shooting mode, the DMC-FX50 captures a run of between 6 and 8 frames at about 1.7fps.
As is typical, however, Panasonic hits the wall on photo quality. It fares reasonably well when it comes to exposure, color, and white balance, and the lens is surprisingly good, with no distortion at telephoto and little at the wide angle. But if image noise had a sound, the FX50 would make my ears bleed. Its photos start out with significant amounts of noise at the lowest sensitivity setting of ISO 100, then just get worse. There's a switchover between ISO 200 and ISO 400, where aggressive noise suppression kicks in and changes the type of artifacts--from Seurat's pointillism to Monet's brush strokes. These photos are best viewed small.
If Panasonic could just nail the noise, the Lumix DMC-FX50 might stand a chance against competitors such as the Canon PowerShot SD800 IS and the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T30. As it is, however, you're better off letting the FX50 sit this one out.
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User reviews
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Easy to use, a perfect grandparent's snapshot camera
by phrelin on May 3, 2007
Pros: Incredibly easy to use even for video
Cons: Would like more telephoto power, but can't have everything
Summary: We've been around the block with digital photos. My wife and I each have a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. Before these we used a Nikon Coolpix 5000 and, in ...
Summary: We've been around the block with digital photos. My wife and I each have a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. Before these we used a Nikon Coolpix 5000 and, in 1998, we started with digital cameras using a Nikon Coolpix 900. In the era of film, we used a Canon SLR and had our film processed at Seattle Filmworks (now www.photoworks.com). In 1994 they started giving us digital images at 70 dpi on a floppy as well as prints. Simply, we love our DMC-FX50S for family events and general snapshot use. The 3" screen is a godsend for failing vision, snaps are great snapshot quality and decent at 5x7. If I need to shoot an image at an ISO over 400, need a telephoto shot, or need a serious enlargement, I use the Canon at the fine setting (2816 x 2112).
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Panasonic
- Part number: DMC-FX50
- Description: The DMC-FX50 is a remarkably stylish and compact camera. Its cool design and light weight make it easy to take it with you everywhere you go, for even more photographic fun.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Width 3.9 in
- Depth 1 in
- Height 2.2 in
- Weight 5.3 oz
- Enclosure Color Silver
Main Features
- Resolution 7.2 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 7,380,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 7,200,000 pixels
- Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in
- Light Sensitivity ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1250, ISO 3200, ISO auto
- Digital Zoom 4 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Food, Snow, Baby1, Baby2, Beach, Macro, Candle, Scenery, Fireworks, Soft skin, Starry sky, Night scene, Sports mode, Aerial photo, Party/indoor, Portrait mode, Self-portrait, Night portrait, High sensitivity
- Special Effects Cool, Warm, Sepia, Vivid, Black & White
- Image Stabilizer Optical
- Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.
- Max Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 60 sec
- Exposure Metering Multi-segment
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/3 EV step
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Shade, Cloudy, Halogen, Daylight
- Digital Video Format QuickTime
- Still Image Format JPEG
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture QuickTime - 640 x 480, QuickTime - 640 x 480, QuickTime - 320 x 240, QuickTime - 320 x 240, QuickTime - 848 x 480, QuickTime - 848 x 480
Memory / Storage
- Flash Memory 16 MB Flash - SD Memory Card
- Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card
- Floppy Drive None
- Image Storage Fine, Standard JPEG 3072 x 2304, JPEG 2560 x 1920, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 1280 x 960, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 3072 x 1728, JPEG 2048 x 1360, JPEG 1920 x 1080
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 2 ft - 13 ft
- Features AF illuminator
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 4.6 mm - 16.8 mm - F/2.8-5.6
- Focal Length 4.6 mm - 16.8 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 28 - 102 mm
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Auto Focus Points (Zones) 9
- Min Focus Range 19.7 in
- Macro Focus Range 5cm
- Lens Aperture F/2.8-5.6
- Optical Zoom 3.6 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Lens Construction 6 group(s) / 7 element(s)
- Lens Manufacturer Leica
- Features Aspherical lens
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Additional Features DPOF support, Audio recording, Auto power save, Built-in speaker, Cropping an image, Histogram display, Resizing an image, PictBridge support, 16:9 widescreen mode, Backlight compensation, Digital image rotation, RGB primary color filter, Takes photos while movie recording
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Built-in
- Display Format 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x DC power input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Software
- Software ArcSoft PhotoBase, Drivers & Utilities, LUMIX Simple Viewer, ArcSoft Panorama Maker, ArcSoft PhotoImpression
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Strap
- Cables Included 1, 1 x USB cable, A/V cable
Power
- Power Device Battery charger - External
Battery
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1150 mAh ( Included )
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
CNET Labs' Benchmarks
- Labs information All values are expressed in seconds. Please visit our labs information page for information on how digital cameras are tested.
- CNET Labs Flash shot to shot time 2.0
- CNET Labs Shot to shot time typical 1.3
- CNET Labs Shutter lag bright 0.6
- CNET Labs Shutter lag dim 1.1
- CNET Labs Typical burst speed 1.8
- CNET Labs Wake up time 1.5
Product series
-
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50S (silver)
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Specs: Compact, 7.2 megapixels, 3.6 x, 3 in LCD display, 16 MB - SD Memory Card
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX50K (black)
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Specs: Compact, 7 megapixels, 3.6 x, 3 in LCD display, 16 MB - SD Memory Card
Manufacturer info
- Panasonic
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Panasonic products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.panasonic.com/
- Address:
One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094 - Phone: 800/662-3537
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