Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 (Pink)

The good: Compact, lightweight design; wide-angle 3.6x optical zoom lens; optical image stabilization.

The bad: Mediocre image quality.

The bottom line: The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 is a cute compact camera that sports a nice wide-angle lens, but its so-so image quality keeps it from reaching its full potential.

Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FX55 is a beautiful little camera. It has a clean, simple, and solid design that should appeal to most camera buyers. But in the world of cameras, beauty is only body-casing deep and it's what happens inside the camera that really counts. Unfortunately, the images that are captured and processed inside the DMC-FX55 fall a little short of the competition. That means that while it does include a lot of nice features, photographers who value image quality first should look elsewhere for a sleek, shiny pocket camera.

The DMC-FX55's design defines simplicity. The 3-inch 230,000-pixel LCD screen leaves little room for buttons, but Panasonic includes a very nice, large joystick to access the mostly menu-driven controls. The joystick also provides quick access to exposure compensation, flash, the self-timer, and image review. Plus, pressing the joystick opens the menu. This makes operating the camera easy in that you don't need to learn the locations of buttons, but menu-driven controls can also be slower than the alternative. In the case of the DMC-FX55, this means that it takes seven button presses to change the ISO and get back to shooting. To Panasonic's credit, it did place white balance at the top of the menu, so that it can be changed quicker. I guess Panasonic thinks that users will want to change that more frequently than ISO.

While the large LCD looks impressive, it forces you to grip the camera along the narrow right-hand edge, especially since the indented portion on the front of the camera is very close to the edge as well. I found this uncomfortable. Panasonic would have been better off sticking with the design of the front of last year's DMC-FX50, which had a nook closer to the middle of the front of the camera. Of course, holding the camera with two hands, something I always suggest to keep the camera steadier, mitigates most of these gripes.

Like most compact cameras, the FX55 doesn't include manual exposure controls. Instead Panasonic includes a bevy of scene modes to cover shooting situations that might confuse the camera's auto mode. New to the Panasonic feature list this year is the company's Intelligent Auto mode. It activates the camera's optical image stabilization, Intelligent ISO Control, which automatically boosts the ISO to keep a fast shutter speed and combat hand shake, and Intelligent Scene Selector, which analyzes what's in the frame and chooses what it thinks is the correct scene mode for the given situation. This mode also activates continuous auto focus, so that you don't have to press the shutter button halfway to prefocus and the camera can capture a photo faster than if it needs to focus before snapping a photo. Meanwhile, the camera's Face Detection system can find faces in the frame and use them to set focus and exposure so that the camera won't try to focus or expose for something else in the frame instead of your friends and family.

An 8.1-megapixel CCD sensor is at the heart of the DMC-FX55's imaging system. A 3.6x optical, 28-100mm f/2.8-5.6 Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens feeds light to the sensor, while Panasonic's Venus Engine III processes the images captured by the sensor. Sensitivity ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 1,600 at full resolution. Panasonic advertises that the camera can extend to ISO 6,400, but you have to access a special high-sensitivity scene mode that automatically selects an ISO between 1,600 and 6,400, but also reduces the pixel resolution to 3 megapixels. Similarly, the camera offers a High-Speed Burst mode in addition to the normal burst mode, though that'll cost you even more pixels, reducing the pixel count to 2 megapixels. Since Panasonic is fond of marketing hype, the company misleadingly labels the digital zoom, another resolution-robbing feature, Extra Optical Zoom.

In our lab's performance tests, the Lumix DMC-FX55 fared well, but was no speed demon. The camera started up and captured its first JPEG in 1.4 seconds. Thereafter, the camera took 1.8 seconds between images with the flash turned off and a slightly sluggish 2.3 seconds between photos with the flash turned on. Shutter lag measured an impressive 0.6 second in our high-contrast test and 1.3 seconds in our low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. The camera did live up to Panasonic's claims in burst mode, capturing an average of 3.3 frames per second regardless of image size, though it is limited to 4 images per burst in fine JPEG mode and 7 per burst in the lower quality standard JPEG mode.

Though the FX55 fares well in some aspects of image quality--its exposure, white balance, and color are impressive--the camera's image quality falls apart when it comes to noise. I saw noise even at the lowest sensitivity setting of ISO 100. At ISO 200, Panasonic was already engaging a noticeable blur filter to keep noise from getting out of control, though at the expense of sharpness, which means a loss of fine detail. At ISO 400 noise increases more and more detail is lost, though there is still a decent amount of shadow detail present and you should be able to get acceptable prints. Noise increases precipitously at ISO 800, with even more loss of fine and shadow detail and finally plummets off the deep end at ISO 1,600. I recommend staying below ISO 800 when shooting with the Lumix DMC-FX55.

Noise has always been Panasonic's Achilles' heel and continues to dog their compact cameras. If they could only get that under control, they'd stack up better against the competition. As it stands, you'd be better served going for something along the lines of Canon's PowerShot SD870 IS or Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-T100.

(Originally posted on CNET Reviews)

Intro: The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX55 is an 8.1-megapixel, compact camera.Compared to other compact digital cameras on the market, it is expensive at around $305.

Noteworthy Features: Has a 3 inch viewscreen, which is somewhat larger than some similarly priced digital cameras.Also, this digital camera has an 8.1-megapixel resolution, which is higher than some similarly priced digital cameras.Weighing only 5.1 ounces without battery and media, this digital camera is rather light relative to its competitors.

Weaker Features: None noted, given available product data.

Suitability: A compact digital camera, suited for vacation and snapshot photography.A recommended use, based on key features, is framed photos for the home.The largest recommended print size, estimated from the camera's resolution, is 12x16 or larger.

Value: Overall, this digital camera's features are as expected for this price.

Suggestions: For more help in deciding if this is the best digital camera for you, visit the buying guide for digital cameras at CNET Reviews.

stabilizer: Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom.

ultracompact: A slim profile makes this camera easy to carry.

General Product Type Digital camera - Compact Color Pink Weight 5 oz Width 3.7 in Depth 0.9 in Height 2.2 in Main Features Resolution 8.1 megapixels Image stabilizer feature Optical stabilization helps prevent blurry pictures, especially for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or when using high optical zoom. Sensor resolution 8.1 megapixels Optical Sensor Type CCD Effective Sensor Resolution 8.1 megapixels Total Pixels 8,320,000 pixels Optical Sensor Size 1/2.5 in Light Sensitivity ISO 6400, ISO 200, ISO 800, ISO auto, ISO 400, ISO 1250, ISO 1600, ISO 100 Digital Zoom 4 x Shooting Modes Frame movie mode Shooting Programs Baby2, Candle, Starry sky, Macro, Night portrait, Self-portrait, Aerial photo, Sports mode, Snow, Soft skin, Fireworks, High sensitivity, Party/indoor, Sunset, Food, Beach, Portrait mode, Baby1, Scenery, Night scene Special effects Warm, Vivid, Black & White, Sepia, Cool Max Shutter Speed 1/2000 sec Min Shutter Speed 60 sec Exposure Metering Multi-segment Exposure Modes Automatic, Program Exposure Compensation ?2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps in 1/3 EV step White Balance Custom, Automatic, Presets White Balance Presets Shade, Halogen, Cloudy, Daylight Digital video format QuickTime Still Image Format JPEG Continuous Shooting Speed 2 frames per second=3 frames per second Color support Color Image Stabilizer Optical TV Tuner None Video Capture 320 x 240, 848 x 480, MJPEG - 640 x 480 Memory / Storage Flash Memory 27 MB Flash - Integrated (soldered memory - 27 MB ) Floppy Drive None Image Storage Standard JPEG 3264 x 2448, JPEG 2048 x 1360, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 2560 x 1440, JPEG 2048 x 1536, Fine, JPEG 3264 x 1840, JPEG 1920 x 1080, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 2560 x 1920, JPEG 2560 x 1712, JPEG 3264 x 2176 Flash memory 27 MB - Integrated Memory soldered size 27 MB Supported Flash Memory MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card Lens System Type Zoom lens - 4.6 mm - 16.4 mm - F/2.8-5.6 Focal Length 4.6 mm - 16.4 mm Lens Construction 6 group(s) / 7 element(s) Lens Manufacturer Leica Additional Features Self Timer Yes Self Timer Delay 10 sec, 2 sec Additional Features Cropping an image, Multi-picture burst, DPOF support, Audio recording, PictBridge support, 16:9 widescreen mode, RGB primary color filter, Built-in speaker, Resizing an image, Digital image rotation, Backlight compensation, Camera orientation detection, Auto power save, Date/time stamp, Histogram display Camera Flash Effective Flash Range 1 ft - 21 ft Type Built-in flash Flash Modes Flash OFF mode, Fill-in mode, Slow synchro, Auto mode, Red-eye reduction Red Eye Reduction Yes Effective flash range 1 ft - 21 ft Features AF illuminator Display Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 3 in - Color Mounting Built-in Resolution 230,000 pixels Digital Player (Recorder) Type None

Microphone Type Microphone - Built-in Connections Connector Type 1 x DC power input, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x USB Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card Lens Systems Auto Focus TTL contrast detection Type Zoom lens Focal length 4.6 mm - 16.4 mm Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 28 - 100 mm Focus adjustment Automatic Auto Focus Points (Zones) 5 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 : 7 Features Aspherical lens, Built-in lens shield Miscellaneous Cables Included 1 x A/V cable, 1, 1 x USB cable Included Accessories Battery case, Strap Min Operating Temperature 32 ?F Max Operating Temperature 104 ?F Power Power Device Battery charger - External Battery Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 1000 mAh ( Included ) Software Type LUMIX Simple Viewer, Photo Fun Studio, Drivers & Utilities

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