Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 K 10.1MP Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle MEGA Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
10.1 MegaPixel / 5x Zoom / 3.0" LCD Touchscreen / HD Movie / Picture Adjustment .The Lumix DMC-FX500 is Panasonic's first digital camera with a 3-inch touch-screen LCD, and also features a 25mm ultra-wide-angle Leica DC lens, 5x optical zoom and 10.1-megapixel resolution. With a dual control system using both touch-screen and joystick operation, the ability to record high-definition video and advanced Intelligent Auto technologies, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 packs both innovative features and intuitive design.
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has a hybrid control system that combines joystick control with touch-screen operation, so users can make fine adjustments by touch, using their finger, or the included Lumix stylus-pen. In manual exposure mode, adjustments can be made using the on-screen sliders to adjust aperture and shutter speeds. You can also set the auto focus and exposure in frames by simply touching the subject, on screen, while recording. In playback mode, a new Easy Organization menu allows for photos to be selected and viewed by scrolling through the thumbnails located below the main window. Then, users can edit the titles using an on-screen keyboard.
Plus, with an ultra-wide-angle, 25mm lens, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 can capture almost double the photo area at the same shooting distance compared with a conventional 35mm lens. Also new is Auto Focus (AF) tracking, a feature that tracks the photo subject even if it moves after the AF is set -- especially helpful for catching active children or pets.
Panasonic’s iA (Intelligent Auto) mode is an advanced system of technologies that engage automatically, so the user does not have to change any settings. Maximizing the iA mode, users can go a step further and easily set auto focus and exposure by simply touching the screen. This kind of quick, easy operation is made possible with the touch-screen technology.
Additional Features
- Intelligent Exposure: To help correct photos from being under- or over-exposed, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 instantly analyzes the framed image and adjusts the brightness in areas that are too dark because of dim lighting, backlighting or the use of the flash.
- Digital Red-eye Correction: Helps eliminate the red-eye problem that sometimes results when taking flash shots at the night. Incorporated into the built-in flash, the camera emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects red-eye and digitally corrects it.
- MEGA O.I.S.: Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image.
- Intelligent ISO: Determines if the photo subject is moving and changes the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly.
- Intelligent Scene Selector: Senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and automatically selects the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode.
- Face Detection: Detects faces anywhere in the frame and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces, Panasonic’s Face Detection can even track a face if the subject is moving.
- Continuous AF: Maintains focus on the subject even without the user pressing a shutter button halfway, thus minimizing the AF time.
Technical Details
- 10-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality poster-size prints
- 5x optical zoom; 25mm/f2.8 wide-angle Leica DC lens
- 3.0-inch touch-screen LCD monitor
- Face Detection; Advanced Optical Image Stabilization and Intelligent ISO
- Capture images to SD/SDHC/MMC (not included)
Customer Review By Mike Bartlett
This is my fourth Panasonic Lumix and each has been excellent from the FX01 to the FX 07 and FX 100 they have all been first rate products. I moved to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 because I wanted the 25mm wide angle view and have now taken roughly a 100 pictures in the 10 meg size. No problems it's a great camera sufficient battery life easy to charge, simple to use and good pictures. I found that Microsoft has a program to update a computer SD slot to SDHC so I flip the 8gig card straight to the SD slot on my laptop. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 is slightly larger than my earlier Panasonics so I needed a new case and yet the battery is smaller so I can't share my chargers. I've no reservations about recommending this camera it is excellent. Note an English version is cheapest in America the export models overseas are more expensive while there are Japanese language only versions deeply discounted.
