Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90 (Black)
Manufacturer: Panasonic Part number: dmcfx90k
- CNET Editor rating: 3.0 stars Good
- Design: 0.0
Features: 0.0
Performance: 0.0
Image quality: 0.0
Overall score: 6.4 (3.0 stars) - Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- While adding Wi-Fi to a point-and-shoot is a solid way to compete with smartphones, Panasonic fumbles it a bit with the Lumix DMC-FX90.
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CNET editors' review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90 (Black) price range: $228.00 - $273.49
- Reviewed by: Joshua Goldman
- Reviewed on: 02/07/2012
- Released on: 10/01/2011
The good: The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90 has a bright f2.5 ultrawide-angle Leica lens and good shooting performance for its class. Its built-in Wi-Fi lets you back up photos and movies to your PC, send them to your smartphone or Panasonic AV device, and upload to sharing sites.
The bad: The FX90's convoluted Wi-Fi setup made me want to smash the camera to bits. For its price, its photo quality is disappointing.
The bottom line: While adding Wi-Fi to a point-and-shoot is a solid way to compete with smartphones, Panasonic fumbles it a bit with the Lumix DMC-FX90.
With casual snapshooters opting more and more for a good-enough smartphone instead of a dedicated camera, it's not a big surprise that manufacturers are hungry for ways to get point-and-shoots similar functionality. Currently, that means putting Wi-Fi in and creating applications so you can connect your camera to your smartphone. And that's how we end up with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90.
The FX90 is a nice ultracompact camera with an f2.5 ultrawide-angle 24mm Leica lens with a 5x zoom, a 12-megapixel high-speed CCD sensor, and a 460K-dot-resolution touch screen. It also has a one-touch record button for capturing clips at resolutions up to full HD in AVCHD format. But really, it's all about the wireless functionality, which sadly just isn't great. I mean, it does everything Panasonic says it does, but setup and use seem way more complicated than they should be. That's not good if you're trying to convince consumers that the FX90 should be the camera they reach for instead of their always-connected smartphone.
| Key specs | Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90 |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $299.99 |
| Dimensions (WHD) | 4x2.2x0.9 inches |
| Weight (with battery and media) | 5.3 ounces |
| Megapixels, image sensor size, type | 12 megapixels, 1/2.3-inch high-speed CCD |
| LCD size, resolution/viewfinder | 3-inch touch-screen LCD, 460K dots/None |
| Lens (zoom, aperture, focal length) | 5x, f2.5-5.9, 24-120mm (35mm equivalent) |
| File format (still/video) | JPEG/AVCHD (.MTS), MPEG-4 (.MP4) |
| Highest resolution size (still/video) | 4,000x3,000 pixels/ 1,920x1,080 at 30fps (progressive; 17Mbps) |
| Image stabilization type | Optical and digital |
| Battery type, CIPA rated life | Lithium ion rechargeable, 200 shots |
| Battery charged in camera | No; external charger supplied |
| Storage media | SD/SDHC/SDXC |
| Bundled software | PhotofunStudio 6.4 HD Lite Edition with Wi-Fi (Windows) |
The other thing is, if you're going to put down your smartphone and use a point-and-shoot, it should probably turn out great snapshots that are significantly better than what you get from the phone's camera. The FX90 is capable of doing that, but really only if you have a lot of light. At and below ISO 200 you can get some very good shots. However, as soon as you get above that, the color noise starts to make things look mottled with yellow blotches. Plus, the noise reduction makes subjects look very soft. If you're after great handheld indoor and low-light shots without using a flash, you'll probably want to skip the FX90.
Even though most of the cost of this camera goes to its lens, LCD, and Wi-Fi features, it's not unreasonable to expect decent low-light shots for the money. Photos taken at ISO 400 might be good enough for 4x6 prints and Web use at small sizes, but quality drops noticeably above that sensitivity.
Again, though, if you shoot with plenty of light, you'll get very good results. Colors are nice and pleasing, vivid but not unnatural. With the ultrawide-angle lens, you may notice some barrel distortion in photos and movies. Also, while the center of the lens on my review camera was sharp, it does soften out to the sides and in the corners; the left edge of my lens was noticeably softer.
Video quality is slightly better than you'd get from an HD pocket video camera: good enough for Web use and undemanding TV viewing. Panning the camera will create judder that's typical of the video from most compact cameras, and you may see some ghosting with fast-moving subjects. The zoom lens does function while recording and is quiet while moving so it won't be picked up by the mic.
| General shooting options | Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX90 |
|---|---|
| ISO sensitivity (full resolution) | Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 |
| White balance | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Incandescent, Custom |
| Recording modes | Intelligent Auto, Normal Picture, 3D Photo, Scene Mode, Cosmetic |
| Focus modes | Multi AF, Touch AF/AE, AF tracking, Continuous AF (movie only) |
| Macro | 1.2 inches (Wide); 3.3 feet (Tele) |
| Metering modes | Face, AF tracking, 23-area, 1-area, Spot, Touch Area |
| Color effects | Standard, Black & White, Sepia, Happy, Natural, Cool, Warm, Vivid |
| Burst mode shot limit (full resolution) | 7 shots |
The FX90's shooting options are geared for people who prefer to shoot in auto, which definitely makes sense. In the Mode menu you'll find Panasonic's Intelligent Auto, which handles just about everything for you, as well as a Normal Picture mode that gives you the most control over results, with settings for focus, color effects, white balance, ISO, and exposure compensation. If you like scene modes, the FX90 has 27 of them. The list includes familiar modes like Portrait, Sunset, and Night Scenery, as well as High-Speed Burst for action and High Sensitivity for low-light photos (both capturing images at 3 megapixels and below). You get a few creative shooting modes such as Pinhole and Film Grain to experiment with.
Beyond that you get 3D photo and Cosmetic modes. The 3D mode creates MPO files for playback on 3D-enabled HDTVs. You just pan the camera as it takes a series of shots and then it compiles them in camera into a 3D image. The Cosmetic mode lets you adjust skin tone for portraits. From there, you can enter playback and access Beauty Retouch options, including adding foundation, lip and cheek color, and eye shadow. You can also remove blemishes and shine, whiten teeth, give yourself a face-lift, and emphasize your eyes. Given the direct-sharing capabilities of the FX90, these are nice options to have, but you have to be careful not to overdo it with them, which is difficult to tell on the camera's screen.
One of the few things in the FX90's favor is shooting performance. While it's a little slow to start up and shoot at first--about 2.1 seconds--its shot-to-shot times are very good at 1 second without flash and 2 seconds with flash. Its continuous shooting speed is good, too, at around 3 frames per second at full resolution. If you're willing to drop down to 3 megapixels, you can get up to 10fps. Shutter lag is very good for its class as well. From the press of the shutter release to capture is approximately 0.3 second in good light and 0.6 second in dim conditions. These speeds might not be the best for regularly shooting active kids and pets, particularly indoors, but with practice they're good enough to hit a moving target.
The physical design of the FX90 is simple and attractive. As with many touch-screen cameras, the FX90's interface can be a bit trying if you change settings a lot, simply because it can take several taps to get anything done. But if you're not the type to tinker with shooting options then this certainly isn't a deal breaker, and if there are a couple of things you want fast access to, such as ISO, white balance, flash, or exposure compensation, you can add two of them to the left side of the screen. The right side has icons for shooting modes, playback, and a zoom control (which is cooler to look at than use).
The rest of the touch-screen experience is pretty solid. The screen is responsive (unless you're comparing it with the performance of a high-end smartphone) and can be calibrated to better respond to your touch. Being able to focus on a subject with a single tap is definitely a plus and tapping to focus and shoot is nice as well--just be careful not to shake the camera too much with your tap. In playback you can use the screen to flip through your photos and movie clips, make a quick crop, or tag them for sharing.
And then there's the Wi-Fi. Once you've got the wireless set up, it lets you back up photos and movies to your PC (once you've installed Panasonic's Windows-only software on your computer), send them to your iOS or Android smartphone (once you've installed Panasonic's free Lumix Link app) or Panasonic AV device (if you have one), or upload to sharing sites (once you've started up a Panasonic Lumix Club account and added information for your Facebook, Picasa, YouTube, and Flickr accounts).
Getting everything set up and running and then using it will be too difficult for a lot of people. Even as tech-savvy as I am, I'm still not sure I understand how to use the Wi-Fi after weeks of testing. To put it another way, Panasonic spends 24 pages of the FX90 manual explaining how to set everything up and use the features. That should make clear what the Wi-Fi experience is like with this camera.
Conclusion
While adding Wi-Fi to a point-and-shoot to compete with smartphones is a solid idea, Panasonic fumbles it a bit with the Lumix DMC-FX90. A big reason you'd want to have this Wi-Fi camera would be to have better photos than you'd get from your smartphone. And while they're better outdoors in good lighting, indoors, or in low light, the difference will be negligible for a lot of people, making the DMC-FX90 lens and image stabilization the only real advantages. Add to that the difficulty of setup and use of the wireless features, and overall it's a disappointing execution.
Find out more about how we test digital cameras.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Panasonic
- Part number: dmcfx90k
- Description: The stylish compact digital camera DMC-FX90 adds a Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11 b/g/n) to the superior camera performance in a slim, stylish profile. Considering the fact that many people take photos or videos not only for their record but also for sharing them with friends or families, the DMC-FX90 offers users a great ease and convenience for enjoying it more. Users can upload the photos and videos they shot right on the spot via the mobile network using a smart phone. They can get the Internet access anywhere without a need of searching a Wi-Fi hotspot. The wireless connection also makes it possible to copy the images to PC or to send the images via a designated access point at home. The DMC-FX90 is not just a communication camera but it features outstanding performance packed in a slim, stylish body. The Leica DC vario-summarit lens 24 mm ultra wide angle 5x optical zoom with F2.5 brightness excels not only in shooting dynamic landscapes with its wide angle of view but also in capturing moving subjects even in low-lit situations such as indoors or at night with its outstanding brightness. The 12.1-megapixel high-speed CCD sensor, the DMC-FX90 is compatible with high-speed, large-capacity signal processing required for 1920 x 1080 60i (NTSC, sensor output 30p) Full-HD video recording in AVCHD. Alternately, videos can be recorded in MP4 format to play it back directly on the PC or other portable electronic devices without a need of conversion. And the advanced image processing LSI, the venus engine, assures high picture quality in both photo and video recording. The sonic speed AF and a quick start-up time give the DMC-FX90 super high speed response that helps to catch even the most fleeting photo opportunities. With a smart touch operation, all control is possible by the touch operation - touch AF, touch zoom or touch shutter during recording and various playback functions including beauty retouch and art retouch mode. The iA (Intelligent Auto) mode lets users leave everything to the camera to take beautiful photo and video. The active mode in the MEGA O.I.S. suppresses blur when recording video at wide angle in shooting while walking. Together with the MEGA O. I. S. for photo and the outstanding brightness of the lens, the DMC-FX90 powerfully prevents any kind of blur - whether the blur is caused by a handshake or the subject's motion in both photo and movie recording. The face recognition recognizes registered human faces to set appropriate focus and exposure on the person even showing his/her name on the LCD. The intelligent scene selector automatically sets the scene mode among frequently used scene modes - scenery, portrait, macro, night portrait, night scenery or sunset. Also, face recognition, AF tracking, intelligent ISO control, intelligent scene selector and intelligent exposure work appropriately just by entering the iA mode for any user to take beautiful photos with maximum ease. Enjoy shooting high quality photo and video and sharing them anytime, anywhere with the Lumix DMC-FX90, it will be a great partner not only for private use but also for business purpose that requires a speed and quality.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Enclosure Color Black
- Resolution 12.1 megapixels
- 3D Technology Yes
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 12,500,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 12,100,000 pixels
- Optical Sensor Size 1/2.33"
- Wireless Connection IEEE 802.11b/g/n
- Digital Zoom 4 x
- Image Stabilizer Optical (MEGA O.I.S. with Active Mode)
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Auto Focus Points (Zones) Qty 23
- AE/AF Control Subject-tracking AF
- Digital Video Format AVCHD,
H.264,
MJPEG - Image Recording Format JPEG,
MPO - Max Video Resolution 1920 x 1080
- AV Interfaces HDMI,
Composite video/audio Exposure & White Balance
- Light Sensitivity ISO auto (1600-6400),
ISO 1600,
ISO 800,
ISO 100,
ISO 200,
ISO 400,
ISO auto - Exposure Metering Multi-segment
- Exposure Modes Program,
Automatic - Shooting Programs Candle,
Snow,
Beach,
Flash-burst,
Pin hole,
Film grain,
Sports mode,
Sunset,
Night portrait,
Party/indoor,
Self-portrait,
baby2,
High sensitivity,
baby1,
Panorama assist,
Night scene,
Starry sky,
Aerial photo,
Photo frame,
High dynamic,
Fireworks,
Food,
Scenery,
Hi-speed burst,
Pet,
Transform,
Portrait mode - Special Effects Cool,
Warm,
Vivid,
Black & White,
Sepia,
Happy,
Natural - White Balance Automatic,
Presets,
Custom - White Balance Presets Daylight,
Shade,
Incandescent,
Cloudy - Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 60 sec
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- Auto Exposure Bracketing 3 steps
Lens System
- Type Leica 5 x x Zoom lens - 4.3 mm - 21.5 mm - F/2.5-5.9
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 24 - 120 mm
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Min Focus Range 19.7 in
- Macro Focus Range 1 in
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Lens Construction 6 groups / 7 elements
- Features Aspherical lens,
Built-in lens shield Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Fill-in mode,
Slow synchro,
Auto mode,
Flash OFF mode,
Red-eye reduction - Features AF illuminator
- Effective Flash Range 2 ft - 19.4 ft
Additional Features
- Continuous Shooting Speed 3.7 frames per second,
10 frames per second (3MPix),
6 frames per second - Self Timer Delay 2 sec,
10 sec - Additional Features 1080i Full HD movie recording,
Scene Detection Technology,
In-camera red-eye removal,
Audio recording,
Resizing an image,
Cropping an image,
Subject Detection technology,
Face Recognition,
Date/time stamp,
Exif Print support,
AF lock,
Intelligent Auto (iA),
DPOF support,
Face detection,
RGB primary color filter,
Built-in speaker,
YouTube capture mode,
Text input to Exif header,
Motion Detection Technology,
AE lock,
Auto power save,
Touch-screen control,
Face Detection AF/AE,
Histogram display,
Anti-motion Blur Mode,
Intelligent Scene Selector,
PictBridge support,
USB 2.0 compatibility,
Direct print Display
- Type 3 in LCD display
- Display Features Built-in
Microphone
- Microphone Operation Mode Mono
- Microphone Features Wind noise reduction
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x Hi-Speed USB,
1 x Composite video/audio output,
1 x HDMI output - Memory Card Slot SD card
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Peripheral Devices USB port,
CD-ROM drive Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Battery charger,
USB cable,
Pen stylus,
Hand strap,
Audio / video cable Software
- Software Adobe Reader,
Apple QuickTime,
Panasonic PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.4 HD Lite Edition with Wi-Fi,
Drivers & Utilities Battery
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 680 mAh ( Included )
- Battery Life Details Photo shooting
Memory / Storage
- Supported Memory Cards SDHC Memory Card,
SD Memory Card,
SDXC Memory Card - Internal Storage 70 MB Flash
- Image Storage JPEG 4000 x 3000,
JPEG 4000 x 2672,
JPEG 4000 x 2248,
JPEG 3264 x 2448,
JPEG 3264 x 2176,
JPEG 3264 x 1840,
JPEG 2560 x 1920,
JPEG 2560 x 1712,
JPEG 2560 x 1440,
JPEG 2048 x 1536,
JPEG 2048 x 1360,
JPEG 1920 x 1080,
JPEG 1600 x 1200,
JPEG 640 x 480,
JPEG 640 x 424,
JPEG 640 x 360 - Video Capture AVCHD - 1920 x 1080,
AVCHD - 1280 x 720,
MJPEG - 1280 x 720,
H.264 - 640 x 480 Dimensions & Weight
- Width 4 in
- Depth 0.9 in
- Height 2.2 in
- Weight 4.3 oz
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Panasonic products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Panasonic
- Address:
One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094 - Phone: 800/662-3537
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