Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is a remarkably good compact point and shoot digital camera with some features that even professional should appreciate.
Overview:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is capable of shooting 14.7 megapixel photos and capturing HD video with mono sound. The camera has a selection of auto modes and plenty of manual settings for less amateur photographers. When you add to it the above average battery life and good image quality it shows that Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is a strong performer.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 pros:
+ Good built quality
+ Elegant, stylish, compact, feature rich
+ Excellent Leica zoom
+ Excellent image quality
+ Manual exposure controls
+ Good battery life
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 cons:
- No optical viewfinder
- Noisy images
- Weird compass switch
The design:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 measures 3.8 x 0.97 x 2.1 inches and weighs 5.3 ounces. It has a metal body with plastic buttons and knobs all of which make a very good impression of above-average durability. As usual with the most recent compact digital cameras the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 has no optical viewfinder. The buttons might seem a bit small for people with bigger hand but as they are well placed they are easy to access and generally you can operate the camera using only one hand. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 has a 2.7” LCD screen displaying 230,000 pixels. The screen shows bright colors and automatically adjusts its brightness in dark areas. Moreover, it is clearly visible in direct sunlight.
Performance:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 has a very powerful battery which according to the manufacturer should take over 300 photos and it indeed does that. The shutter lag is hardly noticeable in bright light, but when you have to make use of the built-in flash it might take some time for the flash to recharge. So, all in all the camera has about average speeds. You can of course try to speed it up for instance by using three point high speed autofocus instead of 11 point standard AF. The zoom on has 18 steps and is fast and smooth. As I mentioned before the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is capable of taking 14.7 megapixel hoots, but it can also record movies (and you can use zoom while recording) in 1280 x 720 at 30 fps until you run out of space on your memory card.
Image quality:
The overall image quality in Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is very good. The camera produces sharp hoots with good contrast and a large amount of details. As you get a wide array of white balance settings the colors are always reproduced very well. Yet, as is always the case with such big photos there is often too much noise in higher ISO. What I liked about the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150, though, is the fact that is has very little barrel distortion, or chromatic aberration. Yet another similar pint-and-shot came is Panasonic Lumix ZS3 with 10x zoom lens and many other interesting features.
Menus / ease of use:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 has a quite simple menu structure which you should have no difficulties mastering in no time. It has a selection of auto modes and some manual settings for more advanced users. Generally, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 is a very decent point-and-shoot digital camera worth its price.
Selected Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 features and specifications:
| Sensor | 14.7 megapixel CCD, 1/1.72″ |
| Lens/Zoom | 3.6x (28-100mm) Leica DC Vario-Elmarit, f/2.8-5.6 |
| LCD/Viewfinder | 2.7″, 230K dot TFT LCD Display |
| Sensitivity | ISO 100-1600 |
| Shutter Speed | 60-1/2000 seconds |
| Shooting Modes | Intelligent Auto, Program AE, Manual, Motion Picture, Scene |
| Scene Presets | Portrait, Soft Skin, Transform, Self-Portrait, Scenery, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Food, Party, Candle Light, Baby1, Baby2, Pet, Sunset, High sensitivity, Hi-Speed Burst, Flash-Burst, Starry Sky, Fireworks, Beach, Snow, Aerial photo, Film Grain, Pin Hole |
| White Balance Settings | Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Halogen, Color Temperature, White Set 1, White Set 2 |
| Metering Modes | Intelligent Multiple, Center-Weighted, Spot |
| Focus Modes | Normal / Macro, Quick AF On/Off (On in Intelligent Auto), AF Area Select, AF Tracking |
| Drive Modes | Single, Burst, High-speed Burst |
| Flash Modes | Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced On, Slow Sync/Red-Eye Reduction, Forced Off |
| Self Timer Settings | 10 seconds, 2 seconds, Off |
| Memory Formats | SD, SDHC, MultiMediaCard |
| Internal Memory | 50MB |
| File Formats | JPEG, RAW, Motion JPEG |
| Max. Image Size | 4416×3312 |
| Max. Video Size | 1280×720, 24 fps |
| Zoom During Video | Yes |
| Battery | Rechargeable 1150 mAh lithium-ion, 330 shots |
| Connections | USB 2.0, AV output, HD AV output, DC input |
| Additional Features | Mega OIS Image Stabilization, Venus Engine IV processor, Intelligent ISO, Intelligent Scene Selector, RAW shooting, HD video capture, Image Leveling |
Other recently reviewed digital cameras:
Canon PowerShot G10, Canon PowerShot SX10 IS, Samsung TL34HD, Olympus 570UZ, Sony Cyber-Shot T500, Pentax K2000, Nikon Coolpix P6000, Canon EOS-50D, Nikon Coolpix S600.
Should you have any difficulties with the terms used in this review, have a look at the glossary of photographic terms.