Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500S 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
- 3″ LCD Touchscreen
- 25mm/f 2.8 wide-angle Leica DC lens
- Advanced Optical Image Stabilization and Intelligent ISO
- Autofocus/auto exposure Face Detection
- HD Motion Capture with component output
Product Description
3.0″ Touch-Screen LCD Offers Easy, Intuitive Operation
The DMC-FX500 Lumix compact digital camera features a hybrid control system that combines joystick control with touch-screen operation. Use the joystick for basic settings and the touch-screen for others like AF/AE, Manual Operation and Slideshow functions, which can be adjusted by touching or moving a slider on the screen with your finger or with the included stylus pen.
25mm Wide-Angle LEICA Lens with 5x Optical Zoom
With both a bright F2.8 25mm wide-angle Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens and a 5x zoom, this is one camera that does it all. The sophisticated lens system lets you capture dramatic images that convey an impressive sense of breadth and depth - remarkable for such a compact camera. The 5x zoom is great for small or distant subjects, and there’s also an Extra Optical Zoom function that boosts zoom power to 8.9x in 3-megapixel resolution mode.
Intelligent Auto Mode Helps Get Great Shots in Every Situation
Set the FX500 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.
This camera has been crippled from the get go by removing ZOOM from the video mode (except for 10 fps mode, which does not count). If this is the business model Panasonic wants to practice (so as not to compete with their camcorder dept.) that’s fine with me, but they should explicitly state so, otherwise their “5 x zoom” marketing is misleading and deceptive. A month ago I bought Canon SD870IS and was happy with it, except for its 3x zoom (too small for lots of professional dance shots that I make). Then I read the announcement for the upcoming FX500s. They sold me on the 5x zoom and HD movie resolution (that Canon lacks). I was in a 14 day return period so I decided to part with Canon and wait a month for this one. Today I gladly received Lumix DMC-FX-500S, but was dismayed and upset that having decided to sell it as the most advanced pocket size cam on the market (e.g. manual exposure that e.g. Canon lacks) Panasonic has decided to drop zoom mode while filming (you set the zoom prior to the recording but not during it, which is outright dumm). I hope there will be more returns like mine (sorry Amazon) so they can learn their lesson the hard way and be forced to rethink their modus operandi and perhaps upgrade the firmware. I am sorry, but as it is now, lack of the zoom in video recording mode is a deal breaker for me. For others who don’t mind this may be a superior product.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is a bare bones camera with a great picture quality. It only takes still shots, but the pictures are beautiful. I would like to have a video mode like my other Lumix, but for the price, this camera is well worth it. Cheers.
Rating: 4 / 5
This camera operates as advertised. It is a fine point and shoot camera with enough options to keep one learning and improving for a long time.
Rating: 5 / 5
This camera is okay. However, its 5x optical lense doe not produce anything better than the 3.6x lense of FX01.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is an amazing camera. It is very easy to use and takes great pictures.
Rating: 5 / 5