- 10-megapixel resolution captures enough detail for poster-sized prints
- 4x wide-angle optical zoom; Mega Optical Image Stabilized
- 2.5-inch Intelligent LCD screen; Face Detection
- Advanced Intelligent Auto mode
- Captures images to SD memory cards (not included)
Product Description
With four aspherical lenses and six aspherical surfaces, including an EA (Extra High Refractive Index Aspherical) lens, Panasonic’s DMC-FX35 Lumix digital camera features a 25 mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens with a 4x optical zoom that’s compact enough to fit in a slim, stylish body. This advanced lens system allows you to capture images with a sense of spatial breadth and depth that simply isn’t possible with a 35 mm camera.Set the FX35 to iA mode and let the five intelligent auto functions team up to help prevent shooting errors. Intelligent exposure corrects lighting differences, so images come out just the way you see them; intelligent scene selector chooses the mode that best fits the situation; MEGA Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) helps prevent blurring from hand-shake; intelligent ISO control helps prevent motion blur; and face detection helps produce clear portraits by optimizing the focus and exposure settings.Watching a slideshow is a great way to enjoy your photos. This camera will even add background music, giving you a choice of natural, slow, swing or urban.
$242.22
4.5
23
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35K 10MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
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The camera arrived in a small box, with accessories, i.e., USB and AV cables, battery with its storage case, battery charger, CD, wriststrap, software pamphlet, and a 125 page printed Operating Instruction Manual.
The battery needed to be charged before the camera could be used. This took about two hours. The camera was easy to use even without reference to the instruction manual. I’ve used earlier Panasonic models so others may have a different first impression. On my Vista system, the image transfer software installed quickly and automatically when the camera was first connected to my computer’s USB port.
A short while back I took interior pictures using a 28mm wide angle zoom. I recently took photos of the same locations using the FX35 at its 25mm settings. It might seem that the photographic difference between 28mm and 25mm would be small. However, visually the difference was obvious. The 25mm setting produced almost panoramic wide angle coverage. The camera has worked well at the wide end, but the telephoto end is, for my uses, probably about 20mm too short. Fortunately, the image quality at lower ISOs allowed for modest crops in Photoshop to get the results I wanted.
Considering the relatively small sensor, noise was reasonably well controlled at ISO settings below 400. At lower ISO values images are very good. ISO 100 images hold up well under considerable enlargement. I found ISO 400 was the highest level at which I achieved acceptable, although slightly grainy, images. Above ISO 400 noise is obvious and distracting, with a significant loss of image detail. At ISO 800 noise already shows a rough texture. At ISO 1,600 shadow areas showed large blotches of color noise. My longer zoom Panasonic camera with Venus III LSI processor occasionally smeared fine details. Happily, the FX35′s Venus IV engine seems to do a slightly better job of detail preservation.
The camera has a very nice array of quite useful features as well as some, arguably, ‘gimmicky’ ones. The 25mm ultra wide angle, 1280 x 720p HD movie mode, and the Advanced Intelligent Auto Mode, which actually works to correct an array of common problems, all proved to be of real value. The Optical Image Stabilization, set to Mode 2, was very effective; pictures hand held at 1/4th of a second were blur free. The covers to the cable compartment(DC in, Audio Visual, and component out cables), and battery and SD memory compartment are solid, unlike covers on some other cameras. I like the dedicated switches on the back of the camera for playback, and exposure compensation. I also appreciate the dedicated Q(uick) Menu/Delete button. Pressing this button selects the quick menu in record, and the delete menu during playback. During record this button provides access to options appropriate to the current mode. For example, in Intelligent Auto mode the camera makes most of the choices, so only four main categories of options are provided for the user to select from. In Normal mode, where the user has more choices, eight main categories are provided. Main categories include ISO, picture size, white balance, LCD brightness, etc. JPG images at the highest quality setting run around 3.5 to 4.5 MB, with the occasional smaller or larger file. On my single core computer, USB data transfer speed from the camera was about 2.6 MB/sec.
The camera is not without some disappointments. In high contrast situations, small sensor cameras typically blow out highlights or lose shadow details. The FX35′s “intelligent exposure” is designed to correct this. However, I didn’t see a major improvement in the few high contrast situations I recently faced. Some omissions are understandable even on a relatively expensive point-and-shoot, e.g., lack of raw mode, and manual aperture and shutter adjustments. Although clearly desirable, they are less important to many buyers. However, its quite disappointing to find the zoom can’t be changed while recording movies. This serious omission might be due to the proximity of the zoom mechanism and the microphone. None-the-less, I would have liked to have seen this option included. Another disappointment is the slightly small, although acceptable, 2.5″, rather than 3.0″, LCD. Canon, Fuji, Nikon, and Kodak are able to package larger displays in some of their ultra compacts. I would also have liked even a minimal optical viewfinder. It would be useful for sunlight scenes where the LCD brightness is insufficient to make for easy screen viewing. The maximum telephoto aperture of F5.6 is relatively small. The EXIF data recorded with my photos shows aperture values from F2.8 to 8.0 at 25mm, but only F5.6 to 8.0 at 100mm.
The FX35′s on/off switch is somewhat poorly designed and positioned. Unlike some models where this switch is located in a raised well, or others where it needs to be pressed in to turn the camera on, the FX35′s slide switch is raised above the camera’s top, and can be inadvertently turned on when inserting the camera into a pocket or carry case, causing the lens to extend. This potential problem can be solved by moving the play/record switch on the camera’s back to play before storing the camera. Set to play, the lens will stay retracted if the camera is turned on.
An earlier sharp-eyed poster noted that the legend around the camera lens in the picture says 28mm rather than 25mm. Fortunately, the picture posted is essentially identical to my FX35, except for the legend error and the AF Assist Lamp/Self Timer LED indicator missing from the top right front of the camera. There’s also a minor discrepancy between Amazon’s listings of “27MB Internal Memory”, and the Manual’s “Approx. 50 MB” of built in memory.
The Bottom Line: The camera is fast and responsive. Image quality at low ISO values is higher than I anticipated for a sensor this small. It has a truly exceptional wide angle lens, and nicely implemented HD movie mode. Exposure, focus, and scene mode capabilities usually worked flawlessly. Although there were compromises, notably higher ISO performance, deficiencies are minor compared to the totality of the camera’s capabilities. Its state-of-the-art zoom lens produced excellent images. In most shooting situations the FX35 made the right decisions to produce superior results. Its well-chosen selection of dedicated controls makes it particularly easy to use. Outfitted with an 8GB SDHC Extreme III card, useful in HD movie mode, the camera will record about 1,600 photos at its highest quality setting. Overall, this is an excellent camera.
Rating: 5 / 5
I received my camera a few days ago after deciding to buy it based on the reviews of quite a few cameras in its general class. I was looking for something quite specific – a small, easy-to-use camera with good image quality and, most particularly, the widest-angle lens I could find. I was looking for a pocket-sized camera with a wide-angle zoom starting at 28mm (in terms of equivalence to 35mm film camera lenses) when I noticed that the Lumix FX35 has a zoom range starting at 25mm. That was the main selling point for me.
My main use for this camera will be for taking pictures of properties as my wife and I start looking for a new house. I have found it very helpful to have a camera that will let me get the whole front of the house and front yard in the picture without having to stand too far back. Also, for interior shots it can be difficult to capture a useful image of a room without a good wide-angle lens.
Having used the camera for a few days now, here are my impressions. I have never had a Panasonic camera before, so the camera’s controls and features were new to me. I have used mostly Canon Powershot cameras, and a few others, with somewhat different systems of menus and controls. So, my impressions are those of a first-time Panasonic user, and I can’t compare this model to previous Panasonic models or to other cameras.
This camera is very small, about 3 3/4 inches wide by 2 inches tall by 3/4 inch deep, and light. It feels solidly built and feels good in my average-sized hands. The LCD screen of 2.5 inches is not as large as those on some cameras, but is perfectly adequate. The camera has no separate viewfinder, and it can be hard to see the LCD in bright sunlight, but I found I can see enough of the image to compose the picture, even in bright sun.
I particularly like that the menu system is easier to use than the system on some other cameras. I found it to be quite intuitive and sensible, without a huge number of options to sift through. You can set the shooting mode, ISO sensitivity, backlight compensation, etc., but there is no real manual mode; the camera is essentially automatic, which is fine for my purposes.
One point confused me at first — there is a setting for “minimum shutter speed,” which is initially set to 1/8 of a second. So, when I tried to take pictures indoors with the flash forced off, the shutter closed too quickly, and the picture was always too dark. I finally realized I had to reset the minimum shutter speed to one second (its longest setting), and then I was able to take pictures indoors without flash, at least as long as there was a fair amount of ambient light.
There are several useful buttons on the back of the camera that let you control the flash, exposure compensation, macro mode, and self-timer, so you don’t have to memorize menu settings to make those adjustments, which is nice. Also, there is a “quick menu” button, which lets you get quick access to just a few of the most common adjustments while shooting, including image stablization, burst shooting mode, auto focus mode, white balance, ISO, and image quality, which is a helpful and welcome feature if you want to set up a shot rapidly without going through many menu screens. I found that the quick menu system really adds to the camera’s usefulness for everyday shooting, especially for someone like me who does not use the camera constantly, but likes to have it ready to use easily when needed.
The camera has many features, including HD video capability, which I have not tried. It sounds like a good thing to have, but as of now I haven’t had a need for it.
I tried the audio recording function, which left something to be desired. If you set the audio record function to on, then, whenever you snap a still picture, a microphone icon appears on the screen, and you have about 5 seconds to record your voice or any other sounds. I found it difficult to gauge exactly when to begin and end my talking, so my voice got cut off at times. This could be useful for quick and dirty audio notes, such as, in my case, stating the address of a house whose picture I’m taking, but it would be more useful if you had the option to start and stop the recording on your own terms, rather than being limited to the 5 seconds allowed by the camera.
The camera accepts SDHC cards, which have a capacity of up to 16 GB. I purchased a Transcend 8 GB card, which has worked fine so far. The camera also has a small internal recording capacity of about 50 MB, so you can record some pictures even if you don’t have a card, which is a nice feature. You can only use a card of up to 2 GB capacity unless it is an SDHC card.
As far as criticisms of the camera are concerned, I don’t have any really serious ones. I think it’s obvious that any camera in this class, with a fairly high mega-pixel count (10.1 in this case) and a small image sensor is going to have some compromises. The image quality is perfectly adequate for my needs, and the pictures look great to me, though I’m not scrutinizing them from a technical point of view. There is a noticeable increase in image noise at ISO 400 and above, but if that’s not a big issue for you, the pictures are still fine records of what you snapped; there just is a little fuzziness. The lens has a maximum opening of f/2.8, so you can set the ISO to 100 when shooting outdoors and get good results in most cases. (Oddly, the minimum aperture is f/5.6, so there is not much of a range in lens openings. I don’t know how that compares to other cameras nowadays; that just seems strange compared to lenses I used in the past with openings down to f/22.) The manual suggests you use the “natural” color mode setting to minimize the effects of the noise.
Overall, I’m very glad I found this model, and will be sticking with it for the foreseeable future. It has several other features I have not experimented with, such as face-detection, red-eye prevention, and “intelligent auto mode.” Those might be added reasons to get this camera, but for me, I am very pleased that the camera feels solid, is very easy to use to take pictures quickly, yields excellent images, and, most importantly, has the great wide-angle lens. I am giving it four stars instead of five only because of the noisy images at ISO 400 and above. That’s not a big issue for me, and I believe it’s an issue with other cameras in this class as well, but it’s something you should be aware of.
Rating: 4 / 5
Here are the positives and negatives.
Well, no camera is perfect, but this one is overall excellent. The images have depth and clarity, the hd video is truly hd, and the super fast multi-burst option will probably be used more than I had intended. Also the long 30 second exposures for the night time are beautiful (also likely to be used more than expected). One great thing that I discovered, and never read anywhere, is that your settings for one mode do not apply to another. I think this is awesome as you can have 16:9 Hi-def video, then have 3:4 10mp resolution for manual, and say a 7mp saturated, high exposure with 3:5 for automatic! In addition, the lens is great, the camera is small and solid, and lastly, it has an internal 50mb memory as a back up if your sd card gets filled.
Negatives? Well, the 16:9 photo format is 7mp, will not shoot at 10. Also, what I assumed to be a usb mini, is in fact some weird version of a usb mini with a custom size jack, so if you lose your cable, then you must order another from Panasonic – of course using a card reader as I do will solve this problem. Lastly, the brighter the light the better the photos, same with the hi-def video. It only “looks” hi-def with solid lighting, so don’t expect great results at your kid’s birthday party unless its 12 in the afternoon in the summer. That might be an exaggeration, but it really makes a difference. Most digital cameras are terrible in low lighting anyway, so this isn’t a big surprise, but something to be aware of.
My background is in architecture and design, so while I’m not a professional photographer, I make a living by producing quality images. I don’t really want a camera that is completely manual, but I need something that can go beyond point and click. This camera will easily accommodate the complete novice, but it also contains the tools to produce more sophisticated imagery if the need was to arise.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’ve been a photographer since I was 14 and started working in my own darkroom. In the forty years since I’ve owned a lot of cameras including digital SLRs that I use for art and nature photography. But for an anticipated trip to the middle east I wanted something light and slim (that I knew I wouldn’t hesitate to grab on the way out the door). This camera was my choice and it’s been great for that purpose.
Photo quality, excellent, except that they are .JPG, not RAW, which I would prefer. Video quality, a surprise, really good, at 1280 pixels too. Battery life, excellent, I did my whole trip without a recharge. I bought a 2GB card and still have plenty of space after my entire middle east trip ended, some 200 photos and 9 minutes of video later.
Down sides, if any, limited zoom, but I knew that going in, preferring a wider angled lens (this one is great!) to a telephoto which would have added bulk. Biggest complaint – non-standard USB cable jack. C’mon, would it have so hard to include a standard jack? That would make this a 5 review. Excellent camera. Buy it and enjoy.
Rating: 4 / 5
The camera shown here has a 28mm lens. The FX35 has a 25mm lens. The only wider point and shoot camera is the Kodak v570 and v705 (hard to find).
And yes, 28 vs 25 does make a difference. Especially for real estate photography.
Frank
Rating: 5 / 5