- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 22 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
28 out of 28 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Possibly THE BEST travel camera"
Pros: Image stabilization, 28mm (35eq) wide angle zoom
Cons: no manual mode, no optical finder, does not fit in mint tin
Summary: Some background: I have 25 years of photography behind me, I am an optical engineer, I once worked for Leica, and this is my 4th digicam, and the 3rd compact one. My Fuji is retired (but still works!), my Olympus Stylus is now my girlfriends camera, and my big camera is a Lumix DMC-FX20. Last September I was cycling around Holland, and the Stylus was just not up to the task of photographing inside cathedrals and art museums (no flash allowed). And sometimes the quarters were too short to "get it all in", so I ended taking mosiac pictures and stitching them together afterward. I am going back this September, and I am looking forward to taking the FX-01. With the image stabiliztion, I will be much more succesful in my indoor shots, and if that does not work, there is a special pixel-binning mode that increases the sensitivity by 4x (although at 1/4 the resolution). And that 28mm (35mm camera equivelent) will really reduce the amount of mosiacs I have to take (and stitch later on). Speed is very good by digicam standards (nothing beats a 35mm M3), sensitivity is good, noise is quite good, and accuracy is very good. I bemoaned the lack of manual mode, but the various modes, and the ability to bias exposure by up to +/- 2 stops means I hardly miss this feature. The Li-Ion battery lasts a long time (you will probably fill a 1GB card first). The final icing on the cake: an underwater housing will soon be available. I bought both of my kids Pentax Optio S5 cameras, the ones that fit in an Altoids mint tin. This camera is a bit too large for that trick, but I think the image stabilization and the "28mm" wide angle zoom more than make up for that.Updated
I went to Europe again this September, this time with the FX01 as my only camera (no FZ10 this time). Netherlands, Belgium and France. The camera performed brilliantly, was always in my pocket (so small, I always took it). I took over 4,000 photos (over 9GB worth) which was probably a few to many. As usual I took a few "insurace pictures" but in almost all cases they were not needed - the first photo was just fine. This "high yield" of good photos will change my picture taking habits with this camera - I will take most shots once with confidence (the exception being people, where expresions change and a bad photo is a clear crisp picture where somebody blinked).
- 1 reply to this review
-
I appreciate baldwinl's evaluation of the Panasonic DMC-FX01. Could we persuade him to compare it to the DMC-FX07? OR has anyone else with his kind of expertise used and is willing to compare the two?
Thank you!
Where to buy
Panasonic DMC-FX01 (black):
$473.21
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amazon.com Marketplace
|
$473.21 | Yes |
|
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/panasonic-dmc-fx01-black/4864-6501_7-31736744-1.html){kind=small}