First Use of a Panasonic DMC-FX150

Tue, 09/16/2008 - 19:36 — Alan

I've just purchased a Panasonic DMC-FX150. There aren't that many in-depth reviews around yet, I'd still like to see a detailed study at www.dpreview.com or similar.

To keep you going, I've uploaded some images from the camera so we can assess image quality. The camera was set to record in jpeg and RAW (.rw2), but OS X/Lightroom doesn't yet decode the RAW file, so I've only uploaded the jpeg files so far.

I used three cameras that I had to hand today and took the same photo with each. The different camera sizes and lack of accurate focal length measurements made it awkward. I tried to keep the metering and focussing options similar where possible.

Panasonic DMC-FX150
Nikon D80 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens
Canon Isux 400 (it's a few years old and is a 4MP point-and-shoot camera)

I've uploaded the following images:

Panasonic DMC FX 150

Nikon D80

Canon IXUS 400

All were taken at roughly 75-80mm (35mm equivalent) on a tripod using the 2 second timer available on each camera. The D80's images were in raw (.NEF) and only had the autotone feature in Lightroom applied. I never usually apply that, but in this case it gave the most similar tone compared to the Panasonic images. No out-of-camera sharpening or noise reduction has been applied.

Judge for Yourself.

You can see the images and judge the quality for yourself.

Initial Thoughts

The FX-150 is still a point-and-shoot. The sensor size is small - it's larger than most point-and-shoots - but it's still small.

Aperture Selection

The aperture selections are only available in manual mode. There's no aperture priority mode (or not that I've found one yet anyway). Ordinarily, that may not be a problem, but making all the selections of ISO, aperture and shutter speed is fiddly on this camera. In fact, ISO is in a completely different menu to aperture and shutter speed.

Aperture Options

Read the specs carefully. There are only two aperture steps per focal length; there are no steps inbetween the extremes. For example:

at wide-angle: f/2.8 and f/9.0
roughly mid-point: f/4.6 and f/14
at max zoom/telephoto: f/5.6 and f/18

I'll read through the manual at some point, but from what I can gather so far, getting a portrait image at roughly 70mm (35mm equivalent) with the f/2.8 is impossible on this camera. Say goodbye to ideas of a nice bokeh with portrait shots.

The Case

The tripod socket is metal and located off-centre, far to left-side of the camera. The battery and SD card are accessed through the same panel on the underside of the camera, to the right of the tripod mount. It feels flimsy. In fact, the IXUS 400 has a much nicer access panel. If the camera is mounted, then you won't be changing batteries or cards easily.

Overall, the camera casing is metal, but some of the switches have a plastic feel to them, especially in the travel before the press is sensed.

The casing is slippy and like a lot of compact cameras, it doesn't leave a lot to grip on to. There's a small square of raised dimples where a right-handed person would put their right thumb. By the looks of it, if you're left-handed, you're still going to have to put your right thumb there.

I'm convinced the included strap and eyelet will come in very useful.

Verdict

It's not a DSLR replacement, not even a 4/3 replacement. It is small, it's quick, it detects faces well and the jpgs so far have come out well. The lack of aperture-priority is very frustrating, probably because that's the normal mode for me. I intend to take it out and find out how well the f/2.8 aperture when the camera is in wide-angle.

For the size, I think it's great. I was looking at Canon G9 and similar, but they're too bulky for what I'm looking for right now, which is a compact camera that will fit in my pocket and is easy for anyone to use. It's also easy switch to the intelligent Auto mode, hand over to a novice and still achieve decent results. More than that, the scene modes (landscape, fireworks, portrait, night portrait, soft skin, etc) are all easy to understand so in many cases, I'd feel happy putting it on the scene menu and telling the photographer to select the scene mode they want

Update

There's no manual focus. That's not really much of a problem. The focus-lock will help avoid that most of the time.

The image quality is specific to the recording mode (movie, scene, manual, Program AE and intelligent Auto). RAW isn't available in intelligent Auto. Seems an odd omission.

Second Update

I've uploaded some images taken using an aperture of f/2.8.

Third Update

I've uploaded a video showing the speed from off to first shoot.

edit:
I've also posted a report on what it's been like living with the DMC FX-150 for 4 weeks.